For years, I’d get the Sunday Scaries. That feeling of anxiety that set in when I started to think about going back to reality after the weekend. I’d have a sense of sadness and dread. It would be difficult to wind down and fall asleep on Sunday night. The anxiety would spill over into Monday morning as I’d trudge back into the office...have you been there?

Typically, I’d be fading out of a hangover that started at happy hour on Friday night. I’d meet up with my other young, successful contemporaries and we’d lament about the workweek with a few cocktails, eventually staying up until the late hours of the evening. 

Often, we’d each rise the next morning feeling less-than stellar and start a plan to meet up for brunch (read: mimosas and bloody Mary’s) to quell our hangovers, perhaps repeating the entire saga for Saturday night.

I never questioned this process...it’s just what single people in their 20s and 30s did. We were all successful, properly functioning people who’d unwind and celebrate the week by tying it on hard during the weekend...again, I ask: Have you been there?

If so, let me share my two-part antidote for beating the Sunday Scaries with you. But first, let me warn you that my approach goes against the grain just a bit. But, if you’re curious and brave and have even the tiniest bit of a feeling you are meant for something extraordinary in this life, I invite you to keep reading with an open mind.

This weekend I had the pleasure of hearing a wonderful talk about mindfulness by a local female entrepreneur who I deeply admire. In her work, she often speaks to corporate offices whose team members would benefit from interrupting their daily grind with a bit of mindfulness. Indeed, mindfulness can help you to re-wire your brain and shift the way you respond to everyday stressors.

I believe that everyone can benefit from mindfulness practices and that it’s so valuable to have our minds open to new and healthy ways of processing our realities. There’s only one problem...I also note that many of the organizations who bring in mindfulness practitioners and other self-care experts tout company kegs, bar carts and frequent happy hours as benefits to being a part of their company culture.