Mindfulness for the Workplace
The wave of social, business, and scientific interest in mindfulness is a testament to the need for, and promise of, relief from today’s overwhelming, overtaxing and overstimulating workplaces. But you don’t have to be a business consultant (or a neuroscientist!) to know that the accelerated pace and “always on” culture of modern work life is unhealthy for individuals and for the professional missions they are supporting; nor to know that redress for these negative and costly conditions is to be found through the path of less, not more; through subtraction, not addition; through creating space and silence, not more things and information.
Mindfulness practices have been around for a long time, because they work. Practitioners can attest to this from personal experience.
Simply put, here’s how they work:
Within an environment that is supportive of space, silence, stillness and slowness, mindfulness practices apply directed attention to one’s own body and mind, thereby transforming inner conditions of stress, overwhelm, distraction, anxiety, fatigue and burnout into flow, balance, focus, confidence, energy and inner resourcing. Many excellent studies and books are exploring and even quantifying these processes with greater rigor. You can experience this for yourself.
The “Wellness Case” for mindfulness has been experientially validated for a long time. The “Business Case” is still evolving (along with an evolving cultural understanding of what makes a “good” or healthy mission!). Nevertheless, a tipping point has been reached in the business community, with many successful large corporations such as Google, Adobe, General Mills, Goldman Sachs, Mayo Clinic, Aetna and Target investing in formal mindfulness programs (Harvard Business Review) to promote stress reduction and employee engagement, among many other beneficial effects.
Zen @ Work is dedicated to improving employee wellness across all sectors of the work force, as well as improving the intrinsic health of the modern work life paradigm. If you are a Wellness Program Director, Business Owner or Leader, contact us directly to set up a Corporate Plan that works for you. There is no minimum budget.
“The effects of even one day of meditative retreat on my daily work life were tangible. The effects after many months of regular practice were undeniable.”