Blog

by David Belden

Nearly three decades ago, long before anyone in the business world had heard of mindfulness, I was introduced to the concept in an unusual manner. While running a company in Asia, I had a wonderful guide in all things Buddhist. He helped me deepen my meditation practice, instructed me in Chi Kung, and spent many hours sharpening my beginner’s mind. One day I asked him how I could improve my work/life balance. I remember starting the conversation with something like,...

This Week's TOP 10

• Study: 15-minutes of meditation associated with similar effects as a day of vacation
  PsyPost
• Leadership Mastery: A Marriage Between Emotional Intelligence And Mindfulness
  Forbes
• Is Burnout Real? The Answer Is Yes
  Forbes
• Children given resilience classes to help protect mental health
  Sky News
• Yoga to be made a compulsory subject? Here is what school, college students must know
  Financial Express
• Mindfulness
  The Washington Post
• New Research Finds Evidence That Mindfulness Helps...

By Michelle Maldonado

With the groundbreaking work of researchers such as Brené Brown and others, we have learned much about the power of empathy at work, at home, and in life as fuel for us to heal, connect, set healthy boundaries, and create psychological safety.

While empathy is a critical element needed to transform leaders and organizations, it (along with sympathy) form the foundation for us to take wise action. Empathy is the building block to develop compassion, through which...

College faculty can often feel isolated and overburdened, making it difficult to center mindfulness in their teaching and service. In this presentation, Michelle shares strategies she has used to help faculty connect across disciplines and divisions, as they center on mindfulness and contemplation throughout the campus. Some of these strategies include faculty led retreats, weekly mindfulness classes, and yoga on the college yard.

Michelle Chatman's mindfulness and contemplative...

By John Davisi

As a life and mindfulness coach and HR leader who also happens to be gay, the subject of unconscious bias is part of my everyday experience. I believe that my ability to lead others is contingent upon my ability to lead myself, and I can’t do that unless I have awareness of my thoughts and emotions. So the continuous journey to be aware of my own unconscious bias is incredibly important to me.

Here’s the thing: we all have unconscious bias. Every...

By Kristin Neff

What keeps us from being kinder to ourselves?

Most people don’t have any problem with seeing compassion as a thoroughly commendable quality. It seems to refer to an amalgam of unquestionably good qualities: kindness, mercy, tenderness, benevolence, understanding, empathy, sympathy, and fellow-feeling, along with an impulse to help other living creatures, human or animal, in distress. But we seem less sure about self-compassion. For many, it carries the whiff of all...

This Week's TOP 10

• Meditation hailed as important tool for teaching kids to cope with stress and anxiety
  ABC News
• The Dalai Lama: Women are the Leaders of the Future
  Lion's Roar
• Mindfulness And Meditation Will Now Be Part Of The Curriculum In 370 Schools In England
  Daily Positive Information
• Your meditation practice may reduce negative emotions in the people you interact with
  PsyPost
• IS YOUR SELF-CARE PRACTICE FUELLING YOUR BURNOUT?
  Dazed Digital
• How to stop feeling so overwhelmed at work
  Fast...

By David Treleaven

A few months ago, a colleague who taught meditation in corporate settings asked for my advice.

A woman in one of his programs had experienced sexual harassment in the workplace, and she was now experiencing symptoms of traumatic stress. When she’d meditate, images and sensations would flood her field of consciousness, leaving her more rattled than before.

“Should I keep meditating?” she’d asked him. “I want to work with my stress, but...

By Michael Bunting

What character trait is most valued in leaders?

To find the answer to this question, leadership experts Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner surveyed well over 100,000 people to ask which personal traits, characteristics, and attributes they looked for and admired in leaders. Their findings have relevance to every leader today.

At the top of the list by a long shot (89 per cent) is honesty. More than anything else, people want honesty from their leaders. But despite its...

This Week's TOP 10

• World Health Organization Now Recognizes Burnout as a Mental Health Syndrome
  People
• Tai chi: Primary school pupils learn to combat exam stress
  BBC News
• Mindfulness Is Much More Than Meditation
  Psychology Today
• In Mindful Knitting, It’s the Journey, Not the Scarf
  The Wall Street Journal
• 5 Ways to Boost Your Happiness in Just 15 Minutes, According to a Harvard Researcher
  Inc
• WHO Redefines Burnout As A 'Syndrome' Linked To Chronic Stress At Work
  NRP
• Mindfulness could be good...