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The idea of meditating can be intimidating. Beginners may imagine sitting uncomfortably in silence while breathing deeply and scrubbing all thoughts from their minds. The prospect of trying those techniques at work may feel embarrassing. But there are ways to bring short, inconspicuous sessions into the workday if you want to see if meditation can help you deal with challenging customers or reduce anxiety while preparing for a presentation. And experienced practitioners say there’s no right or wrong way to do it. Meditation is quite easy, as a matter of fact. I think theres a stigma around it, that you have to be in complete silence, and you have to have some room setup, or do some chanting, or some serious breathing, said Michelle Beyer, a wellness coach who owns the Brooklyn womens gym Alana Life & Fitness. Theres one-minute meditations you can do to make yourself feel great. Nobody will even know youre doing them.” While there are different meditation techniques, many traditions encourage focusing on breathing to help calm the mind. When thoughts pop up, imagine letting them go. Practitioners say meditating before or at work helps them maintain focus, sit still and reduce stress. There is a calm that I am definitely missing when I have forgotten to do it for a few days, said Brianna Healy, who meditates for 10 minutes daily before starting her job as assistant director of strategic initiatives and data solutions at Naropa University, a college in Boulder, Colorado, that is inspired by Buddhist principles. I can always tell the difference in my demeanor.” If you feel pressed for time, try fitting meditation sessions into breaks. You can set a timer and focus on breathing while sitting at a desk, in a restroom, inside a vehicle or outside, Beyer said. Here are some easy mini-meditations to try out on the job. A pre-work pause Commuters can consider getting to work a little early and taking a pause in their cars or a quiet location to decompress from getting out the door and to your destination, said Kathryn Remati, a meditation teacher and author of Befriend Yourself. If you only have a minute or two, that’s still enough time to try Remati’s instructions for a quick reset. Close your eyes and take a long, slow, deep breath to fill your tummy and lungs with air, she said. Hold the breath for a second, and then slowly breathe out like you’re blowing out a candle. “Youll immediately feel a shift and youll feel like a human again, Remati said. While repeating that process, consider setting a positive intention, or goal, for the day. Instead of focusing on a to-do list, think about how you want behave towards others, she said. Some intention examples are, Today Im going to be productive, but Im also going to a good listener or I want to have a positive attitude, she said. Picture your bliss Visualization is another technique that experienced meditators use. Picture yourself succeeding at the challenges youll encounter that day. If theres an upcoming deadline, envision yourself finishing the task 10 minutes early. Jumping for joy. Get specific like a movie director and imagine the colors in the room or the feeling of wind on your face, Remati said. Throughout the day, you can bring up that image anytime you need it to refocus, she said. You can also use visualization to reframe your perspective on colleagues or clients. A technique Remati recommends putting into practice before meetings may seem quirky: Envision a white light over the meeting room’s doorway that showers the people entering with brightness. Remati says it may help you imagine them in a better light. You can even put some sort of pink bubble around people,” she added. Body scan Another short meditation that can be done almost anywhere involves breathing deeply and mentally scanning your body for sensations, a technique popularized in the U.S. by mindfulness practitioner Jon Kabat-Zinn. Depending on your location and comfort level, you can keep your eyes open or closed. Inhale through the nose and out through the mouth. Start with your feet and work your way up, noticing any areas with pain, tightness, tingling, warmth or other sensations. Think about relaxing the muscles of any spots where there’s tension. Youre intentionally scanning your body, Beyer said. Youre thinking about, how do your feet feel in your shoes? How do your ankles feel? Knees, hips, ribs, shoulders, neck, head, and by the time you know it, you checked in with every part of your body.” Finger and thumb Another discreet meditation technique is breathing deeply and joining your pointer finger to your thumb to form a circle. You can do this if you feel your stress level rising. Say to yourself, whenever I put my finger and thumb together, I will be able to be peaceful and open-minded, Remati said. If you’re in a meeting and start to feel resentful or left out, you can do it under the table, and no one will know, she added. Remati does this herself if she notices she’s becoming judgmental or short-tempered. You just do the finger and thumb, take a nice deep breath, get grounded, and then get back into the meeting and feeling positive, she said. Inhaling in and humming out One of Beyer’s favorite techniques is best done when there aren’t a lot of people nearby. Truck drivers can do it in traffic. You inhale, and then when you’re breathing out, you hum with your lips closed, she said. It’s going to immediately take down stress levels in the body and even in the mind, Beyer said. When you inhale and you focus on humming, then your brain is focused on that, not the what ifs’ or the worries that like to take over when we feel stressed. If you feel self-conscious about humming in a quiet office, you can step outside or head to a noisier place. Shoulder and jaw release The shoulder and jaw release technique also may help relax the bodies of train passengers or drivers or stuck in traffic, Beyer said. To start, inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth. Repeat that, and then on the third exhale, roll your shoulders back. Inhale a fourth time and then on the next exhale relax your tongue and jaw, Byer said. Finally, inhale again, bring your attention to your hands and just let them hang heavy, she said. Then breathe in and out a sixth time. Mantras and affirmations Another technique Remati encourages is saying mantras or affirmations, which are positive statements or slogans you repeat to yourself. You can write them down and say them in your head or out loud while breathing deeply, before a meeting or at any point throughout the day. Some phrases you might say: I am calm.” Deep breath. I am confident. Deep breath. “I am ready for success, Remati suggested. I speak my truth. I am patient. I am here for the highest good of all. ___ Send your workplace questions and story ideas to cbussewitz@ap.org. Follow APs Be Well coverage, focusing on wellness, fitness, diet and mental health at https://apnews.com/hub/be-well. Cathy Bussewitz, Associated Press
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Apple has taken down an app that uses crowdsourcing to flag sightings of U.S. immigration agents after coming under pressure from the Trump administration. ICEBlock, a free iPhone-only app that lets users anonymously report and monitor activity by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, was no longer available on Apple’s App Store as of Friday. The developer had confirmed its removal on Thursday evening. We just received a message from Apples App Review that #ICEBlock has been removed from the App Store due to objectionable content’, ICEBlock said in a social media post. The only thing we can imagine is this is due to pressure from the Trump Admin. We have responded and well fight this!” The developer said last month that it had more than 1 million users. Even though it has been removed from the app marketplace, those who have already downloaded the app should still be able to use it. The Associated Press reached out to ICEBlock for further comments on Friday. Apple said it removed apps like ICEBlock due to the potential for risks that were raised by law enforcement. We created the App Store to be a safe and trusted place to discover apps,” the company said in a statement. Based on information weve received from law enforcement about the safety risks associated with ICEBlock, we have removed it and similar apps from the App Store. U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi confirmed that her office had reached out to Apple on Thursday, demanding that they remove ICEBlock from their App Store.” In a statement sent to The Associated Press, she claimed that ICEBlock was designed to put ICE agents at risk just for doing their jobs. Officials said last month that a gunman who opened fire on an ICE facility in Dallas had searched for apps that tracked the presence of ICE agents. Bondi has previously said that crowdsourced apps that allow people to communicate about the location of law enforcement officers are not allowed, specifically referring to ICEBlock developer Joshua Aaron in a July interview on Fox News. We are looking at him and he better watch out because thats not a protected speech, Bondi said at the time. But advocates say that tracking ICE activity is a form of free speech protected by the First amendment. They maintain that such platforms are primarily used among individuals looking to protect themselves from surprise raids or potential harassment from immigration officials. Downloads of apps like ICEblock have surged as the Trump administration steps up immigration enforcement. ICEBlock and other crowdsourcing apps like it are being targeted, but crowdsourced technology has become common in the app store, and is still available through other apps. Navigation apps like Waze or Google Maps for Android phones have been in use for years. Part of their draw is that users are alerted to police speed traps by other drivers. Users of those apps have suggested they can be used to post updates about icy conditions. Waze and Google Maps have not been targeted by U.S. officials.
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Artificial intelligence is doing more than just automating workflows in 2025: Its dismantling the very idea of education. Once seen as one-time achievements, a bachelors degree, a professional certificate, or an annual corporate training session, are no longer guarantees of relevance in a world where knowledge ages almost as quickly as technology itself. Nearly half of talent development leaders surveyed in LinkedIns 2025 Workplace Learning Report say they see a skills crisis, with organizations under pressure to equip employees for both present and future roles through dynamic skill-building, particularly in AI and generative AI. Likewise, the AI in education market that includes K12, higher education and corporate training is projected to grow to between $32.27 billion by 2030 and $127.2 billion by 2035, driven by a surge in demand for personalized learning in workforce-aligned corporate skills training and scalable edtech solutions. Were seeing skills become obsolete in two to three years instead of decades. Demand on our platform shows professionals know learning cant stop at graduation in an AI-driven world, says Hugo Sarrazin, CEO of Udemy, one of the worlds largest online learning platforms. He predicts that universities will increasingly serve as launchpads, awarding degrees alongside lifelong digital memberships. Think of it like Netflix, but for education, he says. Sarrazin says that every minute, roughly five to eight people sign up for an AI course on the platform. According to Udemys 2026 Global Learning and Skills Trends Report, AI-related enrollments have surged fivefold in the past year, surpassing 11 million globally. The study also found rising interest in AI tools such as Microsoft Copilot and GitHub Copilot, underscoring a strong demand for practical AI proficiency. That surge has likely bolstered Udemys market growth, with the company reporting $199.9 million in revenue for the second quarter of 2025, a 3% increase from a year earlier. Companies are realizing employees who can use AI fluidly while thinking critically about its risks, outputs, and impacts will drive the biggest business gains. Were seeing budgets shift from annual training events to continuous, integrated skill-building happening in daily workflows, helping employees learn skills precisely when theyre needed, Sarrazin says. Skill fitness and adaptability in the AI era Sarrazin describes this shift as the dawn of the skill fitness era, where learning becomes akin to working out: AI fluency is strength, critical thinking is cardio, and communication is flexibility. Education is no longer a stopover, but a lifelong regimen. In fitness, you dont go to the gym once and then declare yourself fit for life. But, thats how we have traditionally approached learning, he says. But skills only stick when theyre exercised in contextAI is enabling this kind of practice at scale. Udemys AI Role Play, launched in May of this yaer, enables employees to rehearse real-world scenarios such as negotiation, feedback conversations, or conflict resolution through AI-driven simulations. I anticipate in the coming year, the use case of play and test runs using AI will explode, going beyond conversations to action, Sarrazin says. Gen Z, poised to dominate the workforce, recognizes that in an AI-saturated world, its real advantage is adaptability. According to Udemys Gen Z in the Workplace report, 84% of Gen Z professionals now prioritize developing adaptive skills such as decision-making, communication, and critical thinking over purely technical training. Gen Z grew up with technology that evolved constantly, Sarrazin says. Theyre becoming the first generation thats truly AI-native while remaining distinctly human-centered. Cautious integration for a responsible future While AI integrations are set to make learning easier, experts caution that it is critical to separate genuine progress from marketing noise. While the technology holds great promise for improving education quality, its full impact is still being measured, says Shai Reshef, education expert and president of University of the People. Responsible institutions must ensure that claims are backed by real evidence and that their deployment actually benefits students globally, especially those turning to online options out of necessity. He added that while personalization through AI is a powerful opportunity, it also carries risks of isolation and bias. If the underlying datasets within AI-powered education systems are flawed, or if algorithms reinforce existing inequalities, the technology might amplify problems instead of solving them. Kavitta Ghai, CEO of Nectir, echoed the concern, noting that a single poorly designed AI-powered education rollout can spark headlines about AI hurting learning, even though the reality is more nuanced. Its all about how responsibly institutions deploy and maintain it, Ghai says. The responsible path is running controlled pilots, measuring outcomes, and iterating. She also notes that while AI tools have made it easier to gain workforce and technical skills, formal education and degrees still play a critical role in developing strong fundamentals and depth of expertise.The real danger is that students and professionals might stop learning how to recognize what good work looks like. Without that foundation, they cant judge quality or innovate, she says. The real opportunity is to use AI as a Socratic tutor; guiding individuals through mistakes, not doing the work for them. Thats what keeps critical thinking alive in an AI-first world. That perspective underscores a deeper truth: education might soon become less about consuming content and more about cultivating culture. Organizations and universities will need to treat learning as a shared value, a collective discipline that keeps pace with technological change. Like electricity or the internet, I believe AI will become an invisible infrastructure. You wont think about using AI to learn, because learning will simply be AI-enhanced by default, says Sarrazin. Rather than competing, AI and universities will complement one another, helping learners build skills in a format that works best for their unique needs.
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