How to incorporate Mindfulness in your everyday work environment

By educating and providing opportunities for companies and organizations to practice mindfulness with each other, we promote a safer, more successful work experience. Being mindful means being aware of and open to the present situation. This includes awareness of your thoughts and concerns, without judgement. It is noticing emotion in an individual, especially yourself, and accepting that they, or you, are feeling upset, and addressing it instead of ignoring it or reacting negatively.

Mindfulness in the workplace is important not only for general work ethic and task completion but also for your mental health. By allowing yourself a chance to step back and consider alternative perspectives to a stressful situation, you are encouraging emotional growth. This practice may help you improve communication skills with others in order to help maintain a positive work environment and encourage productivity and peace of mind. How can you practice being mindful?

The most recognizable way to practice being mindful is basic meditation. Position yourself in a calm and quiet environment where you feel comfortable and relaxed. For five to ten minutes, close your eyes and focus on your breathing.

Use this time to clear your mind, notice how often your thoughts wander from your breathing and gently redirect yourself back to your breathing without becoming frustrated.

In a more public setting where this may not be possible, it is important to simply maintain a positive attitude and continue to be open and respectful of others opinions and suggestions. We strive to teach companies how to communicate in a healthy and encouraging manner to continue to promote strong cooperation skills.

A simple mindfulness exercise to begin practising can be found below. It starts with one minute a day! Let us know if it has helped you.

Here is a quote from mindfulness expert Mirabai Bush, famous for introducing the practice to Google: “Introducing mindfulness into the workplace does not prevent conflict from arising or difficult issues from coming up. But when difficult issues do arise… they are more likely to be skillfully acknowledged, held, and responded to by the group. Over time with mindfulness, we learn to develop the inner resources that will help us navigate through difficult, trying, and stressful situations with more ease, comfort, and grace.”