We learn to see the stream of thoughts that dominate our minds more like a constant flow of traffic. In becoming more aware of the present moment, we begin to see and experience in a new way. Mindfulness improves resilience and wellbeing. Here is an easy exercise to try – the 1-minute breath: However, if we stop and truly focus on our breath, even for just a moment, we can open up avenues to an entirely different outcome. Mindful being has so many applications in the workplace.įor instance, if we are about to go into what we feel “will be a challenging conversation”, we might enter in the frame of mind that will fulfil our own prophecy and make it just that. Learning to react with an open mind and curiosity.Becoming aware of habitual reactions which may not serve us best, and.We might engage in mindful rituals already but not be aware that this focus is akin to mindfulness – paying conscious attention to our footsteps while walking, admiring a beautiful sunset, observing our own breathing. How should mindfulness be practiced?Īnyone can learn mindfulness with the appropriate guidance. You don’t need a lot of time to practice mindfulness – but you do need to practise and stay with it. You don’t need to be physically fit or supple or adopt a particular posture – you can do it almost anywhere and anytime, even on public transport, while walking to work or eating. Mindfulness meditation is not religion – it is a form of mental training. It is about stepping back, being aware of them, and not allowing them to automatically control us. Mindfulness is not about controlling our thoughts. With practice, mindfulness helps people to become aware of and manage their reactions, to pause and offer a more considered response to a given situation – and this can be hugely valuable in the workplace. Most of us are more used to mindlessness–when we are not really conscious of what is going on, when we are on ‘auto-pilot’ and more liable to make mistakes. Mindfulness means ‘compassionate and lucid awareness, a sense of knowing what is happening in the external and internal world as it is happening’. It requires commitment and wholehearted engagement. In ‘Mindfulness – a practical guide to finding peace in a frantic world’, Professor Mark Williams and Danny Penman stress that mindfulness is a practice, a way of being, which unfolds over time, not merely a technique or skill. The Oxford Mindfulness Centre was founded at Oxford University’s department of Psychiatry in 2008. The research into relapse prevention in depression of Zindel Segal, John Teasdale and Mark Williams led to the birth of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) in the early 1990s. Jon Kabat-Zinn incorporated Buddhist mindfulness into his research on stress reduction at UMass Medical School. The early practice of Buddhism in the West was inspired by Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk and peace activist. But what is it?Ī contemplative practice, mindfulness is historically part of the Hindu, Daoist, Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, Jewish and other religious traditions. This inefficient way of working fuels further worry and stress, as the volume of work grows – leading to a spiral of stress and ineffectiveness.
Distracting thoughts get in the way, causing people to skip ineffectually between activities. One classic symptom of stress and anxiety is the inability to focus on a set task. According to the Centre for Mental Health, absence due to stress and mental illness alone costs UK companies c. This inevitably has a huge impact upon performance. Bupa figures show that half a million people in the UK suffer from work-related stress to a level that is making them ill.Īnd stress can be contagious, triggering negative behaviour patterns that impact everyone within an organisation.