Aligning Mindfulness with our Agency Values

As a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at UCLA, Susan Smalley, Ph.D. emphasizes the importance of mindfulness, noting, “Modern society tends to condition us to be anything but mindful. The dominant American culture validates virtually mindless productivity, busyness, speed, efficiency.”

Dr. Smalley and her colleague Diana Winston are at the forefront of mindfulness research at UCLA and their book, Fully Present: The Science, Art, and Practice of Mindfulness, has been added to my morning reading rotation for about a month, and I wanted to share what I learned and how I am applying it to my everyday work.

Mindfulness, defined as the non-judgmental awareness and acceptance of what is happening both internally and externally, allows us to accept our environments and emotions without becoming overwhelmed or reactive. This practice serves as a tool to relieve stress and improve physical and mental wellbeing.

Imagine being overwhelmed by a lengthy to-do list at work while dealing with a personal crisis, such as an illness or family issue. Stress affects both the mind and body, and this combination of professional and personal stress is a daily challenge for many people.

Inspired by their work, I challenged myself for the month of July to practice mindfulness by prioritizing daily gratitude in the morning, moving my body outside for 30 minutes every day, and allocating more time for skincare, the gym, and cooking.

When practicing these mindfulness acts, I was able to prioritize tasks better, ask more of the right questions, and be creative in how I further integrate myself into dna Communications, from DEI event planning to writing for our newsroom.

Tip: Consider setting personal challenges to integrate mindfulness into your daily routine such as morning gratitude, 15 minutes of journaling before bed, or doing an act of self-care every day. This can enhance your well-being and professional performance.

While practicing mindfulness as an individual is key, our agency core values also promote a mindful approach to the work we do together. Balancing science and the humanities is essential. We navigate these each day with our clients and the stories we help them tell. We guide them on storytelling and developing messages that can be processed by the right people all while following our north star: Health is everything in all we do.

To help us do this, as healthcare professionals, we must consider:

1. How we treat the air we breathe and how we build the communities in which we live.

2.?Our ability to access educational and trustworthy information.

3.?Overcoming barriers to a healthy life and defeating the prejudices that create those barriers in the first place.

Daily mindfulness can help us better manage stress and communicate more effectively, ensuring that our messages are clear, empathetic, and impactful. How do you currently integrate mindfulness into your daily routine, and what impact has it had on your professional and personal life? If you struggle with mindfulness, what challenges do you face in practicing mindfulness, and how do you overcome them to maintain a balanced and productive life?