Mind Full or Mindful? So, what is mindfulness? In its simplest form, mindfulness means awareness. Practicing mindfulness offers a way to pay attention to the present moment, without judgment. Although mindfulness has its roots in Buddhism, it is increasingly being taught in mainstream contexts. In addition to enhancing resilience and emotional intelligence and lowering stress, anxiety, and conflict, mindfulness can also improve professional communication.
The main focus of mindfulness is on our thoughts and the current events that are taking place in our environment. As you go around your day catch yourself reliving a past experience or worrying about some future event, you can simply and gently guide your attention back to what’s happening in front of you.
Anyone can learn how to be mindful and a common way to practice is to Meditate.
Now, despite what many people think, meditation is not about dozing off.
Meditation practice is an exercise whereby you choose something to focus on. Your breath for example and practice keeping your attention there. When you notice your thoughts are wandering, you can gently bring them back to your breath.
There are different types of mindfulness practices:
- You can meditate and practice paying attention to your body sensations for example – Feel the Body
- You can also practice being mindful just by focusing on being present when you do an activity – example: Mindful Walking, Be Present, Mindful Communication
Time Magazine did a cover story on mindfulness – Many companies such as Google, Facebook, Apple, LinkedIn, all are teaching their employees, how to become more mindful.
So why the companies spending time and money to teach mindfulness?
Well, if you are more mindful, the more empathetic you are towards your customers.
Mindful = Empathy
Being empathetic allows you to understand how your customers are feeling and more importantly why they feel that way. It’s this understanding that allows you to meet their needs.
Mindfulness = Better Communication
Mindfulness allows you to work better together in teams. You become more creative. And all this are really beneficial for any company.
There are lots of personal benefits also
- It gives you more insight and understanding not only of yourself and of others.
- It allows you to be more present and enjoy the good that is around you.
- It allows you to be more resilient so that when things happen that are not the greatest, you can easily bounce back to your normal self.
- And you will find that your focus and concentration will improve the more you practice.
If you or your organization is interested in rolling out a mindful strategy of your own, keep in mind that part of any mindfulness initiative is to give your employees, the tools and resources so that they can become more familiar with mindfulness and mindfulness practices.
There are number of things you can do to initiate your mindfulness strategy.
- Scheduling mindfulness classes
- Organize regular meditation sit
- Launch a discussion forum
So, come on and join the mindfulness movement that’s sweeping the world.
You will be amazed with all the benefits you get when you become more mindful.
References:
2. https://newsinhealth.nih.gov/2012/01/mindfulness-matters
3. https://tekberry.com/mindfulness-at-work/
5. https://textexpander.com/blog/empathy-is-the-secret-to-great-customer-support
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