MINDFULNESS - WHAT IS IT & WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS TO BE MINDFUL?
Mindfulness is the new wave for wellness and well-being. The concept of mindfulness is being applied to individuals, partners, families, parenting, children, physical illness and wellness, mental health illness and wellness, managers and employees as well as the workplace itself. Many professionals are exploring and writing about mindfulness; there are numerous articles, research studies, there are books and now apps. By now, you have most likely become aware of it, some more, some less. By visiting it yet one time, I want to bring focus to it and renew your attention on it. I think it is an important and valuable skill well worth developing.
Wikipedia defines mindfulness as the psychological process of bringing one's attention to experiences occurring in the present moment, which can be developed through the practice of meditation and other kinds of training. Wikipedia also writes that mindfulness not only is to to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, but it is not to be overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us. There is the subtle suggestion of not being judgmental, but rather, observational.
Mindfulness is a pretty straightforward word. It suggests that your mind is fully attending to what’s happening, to what you’re doing, and what you are feeling, right at this moment. It may sound simple to you, except in most cases, we wander ever so quickly off track of what is truly going on. Our mind takes flight, we lose touch with what surrounds us, our emotions, and even our body. On short notice, and quickly, we are reliving and repeating our thoughts about something that just happened, has happened in the past, even the distant past or worrying about tomorrow, the day after, and the future. We lose touch with the present and become anxious. We flail out without regard. For example, instead of being aware that we are feeling angry, and the reasons for it, we express our anger without thinking through the options that available to us. We can become thoughtless and mindless. You can substitute any emotion in that equation, and it usually applies.
I scoured the internet, read relevant books, and explored mindfulness as it relates to the workplace which is a constant interest for me, since we spend so many hours in it, as well as getting to it, and leaving it, each day. One of the blogs published in March, 2017 by Positive Psychology Program and authored by Courtney Ackerman, seemed to be most relevant. Some of it is presented here:
Advantages of Integrating Mindfulness in the Workplace
Although many of the benefits of mindfulness described above can and do affect individuals in all areas of their lives, including work, mindfulness' impact on job performance may be the outcome that gets the most attention and interest from managers and executives.
Here are some ways that mindfulness has been shown to impact job performance:
Gallant (2016) found that mindfulness can improve executive functioning by improving inhibition abilities.
Mindfulness in service industry workers improves job performance, even when controlling for workers’ level of engagement (Dane & Brummel, 2014).
De Bruin, Formsma, Frijstein, & Bögels (2017) showed that mindfulness in the workplace can actually increase the number of contract hours worked by employees who feel energized and are willing.
Office employees who participated in an eight-week mindfulness intervention experienced lower levels of work-related stress, greater job satisfaction, and, ultimately, enhanced job performance as rated by their employers (Shonin, Van Gordon, Dunn, Singh, & Griffiths, 2014).
Beyond job performance, mindfulness has also been applied to the workplace for other benefits that can contribute to a healthy and productive work environment.
Reduced Work-Related Stress and Psychological Distress
One of the most common benefits of practicing mindfulness in the workplace is the decrease in stress and psychological stress experienced by employees.
Researchers Grégoire and Lachance (2015) found that call center employees who took part in a brief mindfulness intervention reported decreased stress, anxiety, depression, fatigue, and negative affect, while also experiencing greater satisfaction at work.
Similarly, employees from the Dow Chemical Company enjoyed less stress and increased resiliency and vigor after completing an online mindfulness intervention (Aikens, Astin, Pelletier, Levanovich, Baase, Park, & Bodnar, 2014). Huang, Li, Huang, and Tang (2015) also found that mindfulness reduces stress, fatigue, and psychological distress, especially for employees struggling with poor mental health.
A study on mindfulness for public sector employees showed that this group was also able to benefit from the mental health effects of mindfulness. These employees reported less stress, reduced psychological distress, and improved social functioning and quality of life (Bartlett, Lovell, Otahal, Sanderson, & Tasmania, 2016).
Decreasing Turnover and Burnout
Along with the decreases in stress, mindfulness can also lower the incidence of burnout and turnover at work.
Researchers Taylor and Millear (2016) found that mindfulness helps employees construct a buffer between their work and becoming burned out. Dane and Brummel’s (2014) study also discovered an inverse relationship between mindfulness and turnover intention, meaning that employees who are higher in mindfulness are less likely to leave their jobs for any reason. The study referenced earlier by de Bruin and colleagues (2017) also uncovered the reduction in the risk of employees dropping out from work when mindfulness is encouraged in the workplace.
Part of the drop in turnover can be attributed to the decrease in burnout that results from the practice of mindfulness. Goodman and Schorling (2012) found that mindfulness-based stress reduction reduced work-related burnout and improved mental well-being among healthcare providers. A study of Australian psychologists added more support to this theory of mindfulness and burnout, finding a strong negative association between mindfulness and burnout (Di Benedetto & Swadling, 2014).
Further research on mindfulness at work showed that mindfulness can act as a buffer for unsupportive work environments, enhancing well-being at work and contributing to lower levels of burnout for employees from a range of careers (Schultz, Ryan, Niemiec, Legate, & Williams, 2015).
Overall, although many of the studies are less than fully robust and definitive, the studies confirm that mindfulness leads to increased performance, health, and well-being. Clearly, mindfulness has some extremely positive impacts on both individuals and the workplace. That's why leading companies like Google have implemented mindfulness programs for their people.
How do you reinforce and cultivate mindfulness? Whatever approach you use personally, or the workplace offers you the resources, to develop a keen sense of mindfulness, a helpful way to support your commitment to a daily practice of mindfulness is to assign a different value to each day’s practice.
Dr. Amit Sood, the chair of the Mayo Mind Body Initiative, provides the following mindfulness schedule as a guide to follow and it fits in well with my approach to, and practice of, mindfulness:
Monday: GRATITUDE – Find things to be thankful for throughout your day, and include them in your lovingkindness meditation or a gratitude journal.
Tuesday: COMPASSION – Set an intention to decrease any pain or suffering in others that you encounter throughout your day.
Wednesday: ACCEPTANCE – Accept yourself as you are and others as they are; appreciate yourself and other people without trying to change them.
Thursday: MEANING and PURPOSE – Think about what might be your ultimate purpose in life, and where and how you find meaning.
Friday: FORGIVENESS – Forgive yourself first, then extend your forgiveness to others for any past transgressions.
Saturday: CELEBRATION – Make sure to take a day to discover and celebrate the joy in your life and the lives of others.
Sunday: REFLECTION – Reflect on your week, your month, your year, or whatever period of time makes sense to you in the moment; this can be accomplished through meditation, talking with a non-judgemental friend, or simple self-awareness.
Of course, this is not a one time one week schedule. Different situations and experiences will crop up; you will develop new insights each time. Follow it, numerous weeks - you will be internally rewarded many times over.
There are numerous potential benefits of practicing mindfulness for adults, children, and employees, including:
Decreased stress and psychological distress in adults and employees
Enhanced mental health and functioning
Increased emotion awareness, regulation and harmony
Decreased anxiety, depression, worry, and rumination (past situations and future experiences that may not even happen)
Reduced incidence of problem drinking and drug use as well as symptoms associated with problem drinking and drug use
Improved social and relational skills
Reduced symptoms of burnout in employees
Decrease in turnover and turnover intentions at work
Enhanced job performance
Increased ability to cope with adverse situations
Enhanced resilience
Mindfulness is a journey. It is developed and cultivated over time. It my thinking, it is well worth the journey. You become a better person for it. Others notice and appreciate you. You become accessible and helpful to others.
Ideally, your environments, whether it is your home and/or your work, are supportive. It makes it easier for you to develop mindfulness. It does, over time, become a two-way street in that you start to impact favorably on your environment, and it changes; ultimately, if you don't and your environment tries to shake you off, you will discover and create new environments that are supportive.
If, after searching for some of the articles/studies reference in this article, you still cannot locate one or more of the sources, message me and I should be able to point you in the right direction.
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