The practice of mindfulness is rapidly becoming an essential ingredient of a healthy workplace. One of the reasons is the growing evidence that mindfulness helps to consistently lower stress levels, speed up recovery time from illness and injury and helps improve sleep and lower anxiety.
At work, mindfulness helps people manage their emotions better. This is important for supporting an environment of personal responsibility, accountability and integrity.
Imagine the simple task of replying to an email. Only you’re finding the email you’re about to send is loaded with phrases that could easily be misinterpreted. Mindfulness allows you to stop yourself from pressing the “send” button, and have the presence of mind to take a break, do some breathing and clear your head. After taking a break and possibly consulting a close colleague, you give yourself the chance to see other perspectives more clearly. Mindfulness allows you to more accurately gauge the impact of using more relationship-friendly vocabulary in your email over potentially emotionally activating words.
This is often called “big picture thinking” at work. In mindfulness terms it’s called being the “observer”. The observer allows you to see things from the perspective of others and requires emotional and cognitive empathy, as well as allocentric perspective taking (seeing the impact on the “we” as opposed to just the “me”).
Mindfulness helps you remember to take more frequent breaks throughout the day to reduce work-related stress and avoid job burnout. Also, mindfulness at work helps you become a better listener as you develop a talent for having a more open mind free of judgements. This allows people to trust you more as a manager and leader, as you are able to make the discussion more about the person speaking to you, which is motivating and boots morale.
Practicing mindfulness over lunch allows you to eat your lunch with more attention to what you’re doing. This sounds simple, but people are often surprised how helpful it is to turn off their phones, step away from their desks, and go away privately and eat with attention on the food, flavours, and overall experience of nourishment. Doing this regularly is one of the simplest and most effective ways to support a regular practice of mindfulness at work.
Course Content
- The 5 C’s of Resilience- Compassion, Consistency, Curiosity, Choice and Control
- Neuroscience of Mindfulness
- Cognitive vs Emotional Empathy
- DESC Technique for mindful communication
- Mindful boundaries to empower decisions and maintain accountability
- Mindful listening for increasing trust and authenticity
- Mindful breathing to relax throughout the day
- Eye movement strategies to mindfully hack your brain
- Mindful breaks and mindful eating
Course Outcomes
- Develop a daily diary of mindfulness practices
- Have a better understanding of mindful leadership
- Learn the 5 C’s of Resilience and how to create a daily practice of compassion, consistency, curiosity and choice to stay in control as a manager
- Role play boundaries and how to say “no” when necessary and “yes” to motivate and encourage optimism
- Transform the way you listen to people when mindfully listening
- Distinguish differences between cognitive and emotional empathy
- Role play DESC technique for compassionately assertive communication
- Change the way you eat your lunch from thoughtless to thoughtful
- Create more energy and enthusiasm throughout your day by taking more frequent mindfulness breaks
- Learn simple mindfulness exercises to hack your brain that can be used at home, at work, while commuting to work, or at home with family and friends
Excellence in Resilience Approach
The Training is delivered in a relaxed and flexible manner with plenty of opportunity to pose questions and undertake discussion. Practical exercises will be used to illustrate the importance of changing the brain as a method for making better decisions, and taking responsibility for one’s actions.
All delegates receive a comprehensive workbook with additional exercises.
