Mindfulness is for everyone not just for the stressed.
Employees of leaders in a range of settings who practice mindfulness have less emotional exhaustion, better work-life balance and better job performance ratings.
Mindful Nation UK (All Party Parliamentary Report) October 2015
It’s a natural human trait to be curious and notice what’s going on around us and in our own minds. However, prolonged and excessive pressure and demands can interfere with the mind’s innate capacity to be mindful.
Employees in organisations such as the NHS, Smith Kline Beecham, Google, KPMG, the Cabinet Office, Harvard Business School as well as over 150 MPs have undergone mindfulness training to improve the mental clarity and working capacity of their minds.
Although increasing amounts of research point to the stress relieving benefits of mindfulness, it can also be integrated into organisations as a preventative tool to boost employee resiliency and reduce stress.
Benefits
Even brief periods of mindfulness practice can lead to objectively measured higher cognitive skills such as improved reaction times, working memory functioning and decision-making.
Mindful Nation UK (All Party Parliamentary Report) October 2015
During a mindfulness course employees will:
- Improve their focus and attention span
- Become more efficient and productive in and out of work
- Be more creative and solution oriented
- Develop a calmer and less reactive approach to challenges
- Improve their ability to relate to others
- Improve their job satisfaction
Mindfulness in Your Organisation
Mindfulness training can be delivered as: a taster workshop to introduce it to employees, weekly workshops in a structured course, one-to-one coaching or as an online course. Additionally, the taster workshop can be tailored and included at staff well-being events or extended to a half or full day introductory retreat.
A course can be tailored to suit the needs of the organisation and involves the following:
- Between six to eight weekly workshops between 60 and 90 minutes
- Mindfulness practices in a relaxed professional environment
- Home practice of 15 minutes a day
- Highly interactive and engaging delivery
How is Mindfulness Practised?
You start practising by focusing your attention on one thing for a short time – breath, bodily sensations, sounds, looking at objects.
As you practise you will become aware of thinking of other things: tasks you have to complete, tonight’s dinner, something that’s been on your mind. It’s natural for minds to wander.
Then you will be guided to refocus your attention again and again.
What’s the Point of Mindfulness Training?
Each time you focus your attention you are re-wiring and strengthening the side of the brain responsible for contentment, creativity, well-being and self-regulation. With greater attentiveness comes the ability to notice thoughts, sensations and emotions as they occur and take control of automatic reactions, thus giving yourself choices in responding to situations and making more rational, conscious and objective decisions in any situation.
If you would like to discuss how we can help your organisation please contact: theportableguru@gmail.com
