In the Zen tradition, it is said: “The mind is like water – when agitated, the depths cannot be seen.” This is where mindfulness begins: not as an esoteric practice, but as a precise ability to notice inner movements without being swept away by them. For high performers, this is not an option, but a tool: those who see clearly into the depths make better decisions, recover more quickly, and maintain better health.

Mindfulness is the trainable ability to consciously and non-judgmentally direct attention to the present moment. It strengthens interoceptionperception of internal bodily states and emotion regulationability to favorably influence the intensity and course of feelings. A core misunderstanding: mindfulness does not mean suppressing emotions. On the contrary, it creates space for feelings to be perceived, understood, and constructively channeled. Suppression – especially of anger – acts like a dam: stable in the short term but increasing pressure in the long term. In daily life, mindfulness manifests in micro-interventions: conscious breaths before a meeting, a clear stop moment when reaching for a smartphone, an honest check-in with oneself before making a decision. These small pauses are not time losses; they are cognitive performance boosters.

Emotional suppression comes at a price. A clinical study involving psychosomatic patients with somatoform complaints shows that those who more frequently “swallow” anger report a significantly lower quality of life – psychologically, socially, and, mediated by increased psychopathology, also physically and environmentally (everyday environment) ^[1]. The insight: not only depression and somatization explain the poorer well-being; there are also direct negative effects of anger suppression on psychological and social well-being. For high performers, this means “functioning” despite inner pressure is costly – relationships suffer, and mental clarity decreases. At the same time, unrestrained media consumption, especially excessive social media, online shopping, and gaming, raises stress levels; productivity-related and well-measured news consumption, on the other hand, correlates with lower stress ^[2]. The realization: it is not the Internet per se that is harmful – context matters. Those who train awareness are less susceptible to digital stimuli that “rev up” the nervous system.

Two lines of research are particularly enlightening here. First, a cross-sectional study in a large psychosomatic cohort shows that anger suppression – measured as “Anger-In” – is associated with a lower quality of life across all domains. Part of the losses in physical and environmental quality of life is mediated through psychopathological symptoms such as depression and somatization. However, a direct negative effect on psychological and social well-being remains. This makes emotional expression and processing an independent lever for health, not just a side topic ^[1]. Second, a seven-month longitudinal study using real web usage data provides a nuanced map of digital burdens: more time spent on social media, shopping, and gaming sites correlates with higher stress, while productivity-related use and temporarily curated news consumption are associated with lower stress. Particularly among those already highly stressed, excessive total online time exacerbates the burden – an indication of a stress-sensitive self-regulation online ^[2]. Taken together, the data suggest mindfulness – understood as conscious engagement with emotion and attention – acts on two fronts: it reduces the health-related price of emotional suppression and protects against digital stress traps by creating options in the moment.

- Incorporate 3 mindfulness micro-pauses per day: 60 seconds of seeing-hearing-feeling. Goal: anchor attention before reacting. This reduces impulsive media grabs and facilitates emotion regulation ^[2].
- Replace suppression with naming: “I notice anger/tension in my chest.” Naming reduces emotional reactivity and mitigates the known quality loss through anger suppression ^[1].
- Create “Intentional Tech Windows”: 2-3 fixed online windows daily; engage with social media/shopping/gaming only during those times. In between, mute apps and notifications. This reduces stress-associated usage patterns ^[2].
- Upgrade your news input: curated, time-limited news blocks (e.g., 10 minutes in the evening) instead of endless scrolling. Use trusted sources; this can correlate with lower stress ^[2].
- Practice “Anger hygiene” before performance situations: 2 minutes of unfiltered writing (What frustrates me? What is important to me?). Then, a sentence of value orientation: “I act for clarity/respect.” This protects against the harmful dynamics of anger suppression and improves social quality ^[1].
- Activate body anchors: 4-6-8 breathing before critical conversations (inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 6, exhale for 8). Immediate parasympathetic activation supports clear emotion regulation – the basis for sustained performance.

Mindfulness is evolving from a nice-to-have to a core competency for a healthy high-performance life. In the coming years, personalized digital tools that couple usage profiles and stress biomarkers will support us in self-regulation in real time – integrating emotional work from the private sphere into standard preventive programs. Those who start today are building the skills that will make a difference tomorrow.