Rebecca Brabant_TEDxJNJMainEvent_YOU_5.06.2015

When was the last time you intentionally made time to alleviate stress, to relax? If you're like me, this usually looks something like this. I'm sitting on the couch with my significant other. We're watching TV. A commercial comes on. I reach for my phone. I check my email. I text a friend. Then suddenly a commercial comes on, and this Sunday's Mother's Day and I forgot to order flowers for my mom. How many of these moments where we're actually trying to relax are we actually inundated with information and thought? The average human has 50,000 thoughts a day. And most of these thoughts are actually spent thinking about the future, so planning, going through your to-do list, or thinking about the past, thinking about that family vacation, thinking about that presentation you gave earlier like this one and did it go well? And this is what scientists call rumination, and it's this idea that we're going over the same thoughts in our heads over and over again. Amazingly enough, 85% of the things that we ruminate about actually have a neutral or positive outcome. This means that the things that we're thinking about, that we're worrying about actually end up turning out all right. So how do we break the cycle? How do we change things up? And so what I'm here to talk to you about, and what we just did, is something called mindfulness meditation. And I just said the M word, and I don't mean mindfulness. I mean meditation. [laughter] And for so often, meditation conjures up visions of tree-hugging, granola-eating, vegan hippies sitting on the floor cross legged saying, "Om." [laughter] And don't get me wrong, I am totally into that. That is my type of thing. [laughter] But what I am talking about is something so much simpler. What I'm talking about is being mindful and being present. So my challenge to all of you is for the next month, for the rest of May, on your way into work, on your way home, on your commute, turn off the radio, turn off the music whether you walk, bike, take the train or drive, and just simply focus on being present. Focus on your breath. If you find your mind going and thinking about the future, going through your to-do list, accept where you are, be kind to yourself, and bring yourself back. Now get moving.