Workplace Mindfulness

By Wendy Palmer, guest contributor

Most of the literature around mindfulness in the workplace suggests that the practitioner should take ten, fifteen, or even thirty minutes to practice mindfulness each day. Generally, the suggestion is to sit in a quiet place with eyes closed and follow the breath letting go of any thoughts that may arise by returning attention to the breath. The intention is to shift to a more calmer, and more compassionate and relaxed state of being. It is true that if a per…

By Mary Linda McBride, guest contributor

The pace of our work lives is unrelenting. Cognitive, emotional, and social demands are feverishly delivered by devices – ringing, pinging, and chiming at us all day long.

Markets shift overnight. Expectations and preferences change with the advent of a new technology. A tweet can instantly precipitate a public relations nightmare.

It’s overwhelming.

Mindful leaders work to safeguard themselves and their colleagues from being hijacked by the crisis …

By Dr. Karlyn Borysenko, guest contributor

There's not a leader out there who would tell you their goal is to create less productive employees, and yet data shows us that is precisely what many of them end up doing. About two-thirds of employees in the United States and Canada self-report that they are unengaged at work, 79% of employees do not see professional growth opportunities in their current organization, and 79% of employees who quit their job credit a "lack of appreciation" as their re…

By Wendy Saunders, guest contributor

“Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting-
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.”
–Excerpt of “Wild Geese” by Mary Oliver

It can feel rather lonely sometimes when leading mindfulness programs or endeavoring to gather the support needed to start, sustain, or expand these programs in the workplace. This has been my experience at points during the …

Shared Resources and Tools

• How to Read Nature, book by Tristan Gooley

• Mindful Magazine

• Center for Mindfulness, UMass

• Hotline to Peace: 360-385-2200 x2238

• eNaropa: Mindful at Work, 8-week online course (also free 7-day course)

• Mindfulness-Based Emotional Intelligence Facilitator’s Guide

• Becoming a Resonant Leader, book by McKee, Boyatzis, Johnston

• The Mind of the Leader, book by Hougaard and Carter

• Awakening Compassion at Work, book by Worline and D…

Summary Report 

This document captures key questions and insights that arose during a weekend deep dive retreat hosted by Mindful Leader and the Garrison Institute in August 2018. The participants were all internal champions of mindfulness within medium to large organizations (100+ employees). Our objective was to provide a forum where these peers could share best practices and lessons learned, bond, and find meaningful ways to support the continued growth of mindfulness in America.

Being an i…

By Wendy Quan, guest contributor 

Organizations struggle with constant change. Or, rather, it’s the employees who struggle with the relentless changes that disrupts their lives and mounts their stress. The problem is there is never enough change management resource to truly help our employees.

The responsibility of helping people through change, or ‘change management’ tends to fall upon leaders, change managers, project managers or human resources. However, generally whatever little time there…

By Schuyler Brown, guest contributor

One morning in 2015, I opened my Sunday New York Times to find a profile of Mark Bertolini, the CEO of healthcare giant Aetna, on the front page of the Business Section. The story was not a typical business story, but rather a vulnerable and personal portrait: the story of a corporate leader’s personal journey into meditation and his vision to bring the practice into his workplace.

Bertolini hired Andy Lee to do the real work of building a company culture w…

By Leah Weiss, guest contributor

Meetings are a way to arrive at solutions, voice opinions, share and receive team feedback. So why are roughly 59% of meetings a waste of time? Furthermore, meetings can cause companies to lose billions of dollars in revenue annually.

Why haven’t we yet found an antidote to mindless meetings? Maybe we’re not looking in the right place.

A Tip from Tibet 

The image of an ego-tripping narcissistic boss is fading fast. In its place is a leader who knows the impor…

By Mo Edjlali, Mindful Leader's President and Chief Community Organizer

In recent years, mindfulness has made tremendous strides into mainstream society. People are practicing it individually and bringing it into their organizations. Through my work at Mindful Leader I have encountered, advised, and learned from countless champions of mindfulness at the workplace across the globe and at companies of every size and industry.

If you are interested in bringing mindfulness to your organization, th…