Emily Chan

Why did you focus specifically on five-minute techniques?

During my five years as a wellness coordinator at the Hong Kong Civil Service, I kept hearing the same excuse: “I don’t have time to meditate.” The thing is, that wasn’t really the problem. People had five minutes. They had two minutes between meetings. What they didn’t have was permission to step away from their desk or a technique that actually worked in short bursts. I became obsessed with this gap. Why weren’t meditation programs designed for the real constraints of office work?

What makes maritime and naval offices different from regular workplaces?

Everything’s more structured. There’s a clear chain of command, and people aren’t used to talking about stress or mental wellness openly. They’re trained to stay composed under pressure — which is good, but it also means they internalize everything. Plus, schedules are unpredictable. You might have a two-minute window or a fifteen-minute window depending on operations. Most meditation programs assume you’ve got a consistent time slot. That doesn’t work in these environments.

I’ve developed techniques specifically for this. Some are for your desk, some you can do standing up in a hallway, some work even if you’re in uniform and need to look composed. They’re discreet but effective.

You studied psychology at the University of Hong Kong. When did you decide mindfulness was your path?

During my second year, actually. I was researching stress management in different populations and kept seeing the same pattern: people who meditated regularly had lower cortisol levels, better sleep, and fewer stress-related absences. But here’s what nobody was talking about — how do you get someone to actually start meditating? The science is solid, but adoption rates are terrible.

That’s when I realized the problem wasn’t meditation itself. It was the packaging. So I spent the next seven years learning how to make mindfulness fit into real life, not some idealized version of it. I completed my Master’s degree in Health Psychology focusing on occupational stress, then got certified as a mindfulness instructor through the Hong Kong Institute of Mindfulness Studies.

What’s one technique from your work that people are surprised actually works?

Box breathing. Four-count in, four-count hold, four-count out, four-count hold. It takes two minutes. People think it’s too simple — they expect something more complex or mystical. But the neuroscience is clear: this pattern activates your parasympathetic nervous system. It’s not meditation in the traditional sense, but it’s a reset. I’ve had people tell me it’s the only thing that works before difficult conversations or high-stress decisions.

The other one that surprises people? Walking meditation. You don’t need to sit. You don’t need to close your eyes. You can do it in your office while pacing or walking to a meeting. Just focus on each footstep, the feeling of your feet on the ground. Most people don’t realize that’s meditation until I tell them.

What’s the biggest misconception about workplace meditation?

That it’s soft. That it’s for people who are already into wellness. That it requires a calm mindset to begin with. None of that’s true. Meditation isn’t relaxation — it’s training your attention. And honestly, the people who benefit most are the ones who are stressed, overwhelmed, and skeptical. They’re not trying to feel more zen. They’re trying to function better under pressure, and that’s exactly what these techniques do.

I’ve worked with naval officers, government administrators, people in high-accountability roles. They don’t care about “finding inner peace.” They care about making better decisions and not burning out. Meditation does that. I just had to prove it to them.