The author David Rock, spent three years talking to neuroscientists about how the brain functions and why we act and react the way we do at work. One of the insights from the book refers to our pre-frontal cortex - the part of the brain that controls 'conscious thought' - those activities that require mental effort. David's research found that this cortex is a hungry beast and uses up a lot of glucose or sugars when it is hard at work. These sugars deplete quickly which explains why we reach for sugary drinks or cakes during the afternoon lull.

Essential to the proper working of this cortex is giving it a refreshing break now and again and using other areas of our brain either through physical exercise or meditative practices.

With that in mind (no pun intended!), here are 4 digital ways to get your Zen on at work:

1.   Equanimity App 

Equanimity is a neat little app for the iPhone. Set a meditation time, for example 5 minutes, and a Tibetan bowl will ring once. Sit quietly, eyes closed and focus on your breathing. Focus on the sound of the breath as you inhale and exhale. Feel the cool air of the in-breath and warmer air of the out-breath as you breathe. 

After your time is up the bowl rings three times and it’s time to get back to work. A great way to refresh and refocus during the day.

2.   Just-a-Minute Meditation 

If guided meditations are more your thing, then have a look at Just-a-Minute with their free one minute guided meditations, with or without background music. Choose a concentration meditation at the beginning of the day to get you focussed on your important work. Listen to an energising meditation after lunch to counteract the afternoon lull. Follow a relaxing meditation during stressful moments in your day. 

Meditations can be played direct from the site or downloaded to your iPod or smartphone for listening on the go.

3.   Shibumi App

Shibumi is a Japanese word with its roots in the Zen aesthetic ideals of art and architecture, encompassing ideas such as elegant simplicity, effortless effectiveness and beautiful imperfection.

Matthew E. May wrote a book, The Shibumi Strategy, about these concepts and how they can be applied to everyday life, and there is a handy app to go with the book. Part of the app is the shibumi card deck with 52 cards. The 11 Principle cards contain explanations of Zen aesthetic and design ideals such as Kanso (simplicity), Datsuzoku (break from routine) and Fukinsei (imperfection). Practice cards lead you through Japanese business techniques such as Hansei (reflection) and Mantra (purpose). Path cards contain introspective questions to help you on your Shibumi path. Philosophy cards contain inspirational quotes.

I use Shibumi if I am stuck on a problem, having a frustrating day or simply looking for some inspiration. I flick through the beautifully designed cards on my phone, reflect on the concepts, and usually find something that inspires or helps me move forward.

4.   Meditation Reminders 

There are a host of meditation timers and reminders that you can either download to your desktop or set up in a web browser and set them at specific or random intervals to chime. I use them as a reminder to stop what I am doing for a moment and recalibrate. I ask myself: "am I working mindfully and with intention or am I just being active and busy?". I also use them as reminder to get up from my computer and take a walk around the room or even just stretch my neck and head to ease tension from sitting hunched over the laptop.

Two good reminders are this one from Dart Frog Media which sits on your desktop or this browser or desktop based one from Mindful Technology.

I hope you have a Zen day!

[image with thanks to pittaya via CC]