Stressed and overwhelmed? Feeling lost? Who isn't?

There's something you can to help. It's quick, easy, and free. It can be done anywhere, anytime.

Breathe.

Oh yeah, I know you're always breathing. I mean with purpose, mindfully. Here's how:

Think of something you want more of in your life.

I'm not talking about money, getting a job, or paying the rent. Those are things we all want, and they might be top of mind for you, but you have little control over them. I also don't mean tasks or other to dos, like networking, doing cold outreach to hiring managers, or applying to more jobs. Those are great goals, and if you use them to motivate you, awesome.

I mean an intention, something you want to feel. Something that, when increased, will be beneficial. Like calmness, strength, focus, or compassion.

Mine is contentment. Accepting and being happy with what I have.

Now think of something you want to (need to?) let go of.

You may be carrying anger over the unfairness of your situation or frustration about biases in the hiring process. In this high stress, low success time, there might be lots of emotions and attitudes working against you. Pick the one that most needs to go.

For me, that's tension. Physically, it manifests as the tightening of my shoulders, especially the right one, along with the feeling emotionally that things are pulling in and crunching up.

Got yours?

Breathe in slowly while thinking about what you want more of. Focus on the word and imagine your intention coming into your body as you inhale.

Now, breathe out, and release what you don't need. Again, concentrate on letting it go— actually envision it leaving your mind.

Repeat this, the intentional inhaling and exhaling, each time thinking about what you want to receive and what you want to ditch. (Breathe in contentment, breathe out tension— but with your words.) Do this for a minute or two.

Will it fix your problems? Of course not, we all know that.

But it is a moment of peace, a respite. And maybe you'll hold onto a tiny bit of what you need and truly let go of what's weighing you down.

Check us out at ZenSearch.jobs and share our platform with anyone looking for something new. Together, we can make job searching a little more zen.