Mindfulness at the workplace 1: The practice and disciplined required

I'm on a mission of spreading mindfulness practice benefits for both, individuals and organizations. This article initiates the "Mindful at the workplace" saga. I will be sharing some of the benefits that the participants of "The 8 Week Mindfulness Program" - which I facilitate - have reported as well as my own experience leading CX, operations, innovation and transformation teams for +20 years.

For the benefit of the readers that are not really related to the Mindfulness practice I would like to recall what the Mindfulness practice looks like and the discipline that requires.

Mindfulness is the practice of maintaining a nonjudgemental state of heightened or complete awareness of our own thoughts, emotions, ideas, sensations or experiences on a moment to moment basis.

Disciplined meditation is the path to Mindfulness. It requires to find a comfortable position - normally sited - and start focusing your attention on your breath, surrounding sounds or body sensations with great curiosity, without any judgement. At some point your mind will start wandering. This is completely normal. It is the way our mind works. The key is to note when this wandering is happening and to bring gently your attention back to the breath, surrounding sounds or body sensations with kindness and self care. If you have to bring your attention back 50 teams, that is ok. This does not determines whether you are a good or bad meditator. This is what the meditation practice is all about.

There is plenty of scientific research that shows that practicing meditation for at least 15 minutes per day can have a great positive impact.

Different surveys have reported that whenever a meditator explains why they meditate, these are the results:

• 84% say that it helps to reduce stress and anxiety
• 53% say improves concentration and memory
• 52% say improves performance at work or school
• 39% say it helps them to increase energy
• 30% say it helps to improve general health and wellness

And they are right. It's fascinating what happens with the body of a meditator. Meditators report such benefits given that different things happen physiologically:

• Levels of dopamine and serotonin may increase stimulating regions of the brain associated with happiness and positivism.
• Cortisol and adrenalin may decrease generating a relaxation mode in which breath rhythm, blood pressure, pulse rate and metabolism decreases.
• DHEA may increase preventing premature aging, reducing inflammation and cellular metabolism.
• Alpha, Delta, and Theta brain waves synchronize enabling creativity, relaxation and concentration.
• It may increase the cortical folding process on the brain promoting an increase of speed processing information.

In addition, Mindfulness help us to shut down the auto-pilot mode in which we normally operate, overreacting, wandering, not being present, not enjoying small details.

The way we deal with our inner world defines everything. Mindfulness helps us to deal with our inner world in a way in which we are in control of our emotions and not our emotions controlling us.

This has a huge impact on the way we relate to ourselves, on the way we interact with others, on the way we lead a team, on the way we serve customers.

During the next articles I'll elaborate on the benefits that disciplined mediators have reported working on 7 competencies that Gallup has defined to be key for a successful leader. There is definitely a difference between the auto-pilot and the mindful mode.

1. Build Relationships
2. Develop People
3. Lead Change
4. Inspire Others
5. Think Critically
6. Communicate Clearly
7. Create accountability

#Mindfulness #MindfulLeader #MindfulOrganization #MentalHealth #MindfulnessAtTheWorkPlace