Mindfulness, for mental health and well-being
Have you ever heard about mindfulness and wondered how you could integrate it into work? Hi, I’m Adriana Girdler. I’m a Productivity Specialist and President of CornerStone Dynamics and MyVisualVision.com. In today’s video I’m going to explain to you a little bit about mindfulness – what it is, why even think of it and how it can bring some benefits into your working environment. As well, at the end of this video I have a download bonus for you which you will find interesting – 10 things you can do to bring mindfulness into work.
Today we are hearing more and more about mindfulness and it being brought into the work force. I’d like to give you some information so you can make a decision as to whether or not you want to bring it into the work force. What exactly is mindfulness? So let’s understand that first. As per my YouTube welcome video, I gave a definition of mindfulness which is a definition by Jon Kabat-Zinn and that definition is “Paying attention to the present moment, non-judgmentally, to look at a situation in a different light.” It really is powerful stuff! When you are able to be in a mindful moment, you have the ability not to allow things to take over and really look at things from a very rational and calm perspective allowing you to make better decisions. In today’s stressful environment at work, that is really, really important which is why we are seeing more and more of it introduced into the work force.
So why even think about mindfulness at work?
Yes, I know I talked earlier on about stress and that is definitely a big part of it and mindfulness is an amazing technique to help reduce stress but more importantly when you actually think about it and do the numbers, we spend over 50% of our time during the week at work. If those stress levels are really high, guess what, you live life 24/7 and we don’t just turn off automatically when we leave the office – we bring it with us. We are actually seeing this trickle effect of stress in the work force trickling into our private lives. Bringing mindfulness to work is not only a benefit for the organization; it is a benefit for the individuals and something that really should be looked at deeply to bring your organization and the people within it to the next level.
So how can mindfulness help at work?
There’s tons of research out there on mindfulness and if you look below I actually have some links for you regarding the research. I think it is important for you to understand that this in not just a “fly by night” concept; it is not something that those who are more on the emotional side of things go do mindfulness – it is not that at all. It is really about being able to look inward, being centered and grounded, so that we can look at situations in a different way, non-judgementally and actually look at more opportunities that have presented themselves because we’re not blinded by stress. Because what happens with stress? We are not truly focused and looking at all opportunities – we are more in the fight and flight syndrome when it comes to stress therefore trying to survive and that is not going to help any organization or any individual.
So, what is it exactly that mindfulness can do?
Well, number one, it reduces stress. That is really important because it gives the techniques to the individuals to teach them how to do that – how they can reduce their own stress. Another benefit which is really great is the cohesion and the bonding it can have between teams. If you have teams that are not working together it’s because they are so focused on themselves, stress levels are probably a bit high as well and as a result, they can’t deal with other people around them. However, when you are mindful and as an organization you embrace those mindfulness techniques, it really can take away the aspect of “me”, ego, and bring us back into the aspect of “we”, a team and actually then have a more cohesive team. It also brings more compassion into the work place which is something that is really important because, guess what, we’re not machines, we’re human beings. When we can be compassionate not only for ourselves by forgiving ourselves if we make mistakes but also compassionate for those around us then that leads to a better working environment. It is actually a safer working environment – psychologically safe – where we feel it is okay to be ourselves in order to bring out the best in us. Another aspect is that it also improves the focus on tasks that we need to have now-a-days with so much going on. If we are too stressed, we don’t have the ability to truly focus and mindfulness and the techniques it brings can help connect that.
We live in a world where more and more quick fixes are something that we’re always looking for but what I’m finding is that quick fixes aren’t the answer. They are a very temporary solution to a much larger problem and it is really only a Band-Aid. What is really cool about mindfulness is that it takes away the layers of Band-Aids. It strips them away to get to the actual – I guess you can say the wound – the problem – so you can actually truly heal it and fix it and move on. That is the beauty of mindfulness. Every single one of us has the power to do it and if work organizations starting bringing it more and more into their organizations, helping their employees with their stress levels, you would see a huge shift in organizations.
So, as you know, my YouTube channel is all about MVP – Mindfulness, Visioning and Productivity. I wanted to give you this little snippet of mindfulness so you can understand what it is, why bring it in and some of those benefits.
As I said earlier on, I do have a bonus and that bonus is a download on how to bring mindfulness, as an individual…very small easy techniques, into the work place. This is just one of the pieces of the puzzle that we need in order to bridge gaps and allow us to become better at what we do and connect to our purpose in a particular organization and the work that we do.
➡ WATCH: Mindfulness at Work – How to be Mindful at Work Tips
➡ WATCH: Mindfulness At Work – The Benefits
➡ BONUS: 10 Ways to Be Mindful at Work – FREE PDF DOWNLOAD
➡ Research: Mindfulness Magazine Website
Thanks so much for reading, watching, and listening.
-Adriana
