Workplace Mindfulness

By Katie Morales, the Mindful Leader Team

It’s often difficult to navigate the challenges and pressures that come with being employed. A growing body of evidence suggests psychological safety at work supports a variety of important areas, including connection and collaboration, creativity, job satisfaction, and productivity. Compassion is an incredibly powerful tool that can be used in the workplace to help foster emotional well-being.

For a deeper look at what general self-compassion is, plea…

By Suzy Forrest, guest contributor

From personal experiences to corporate tendencies, I have been invaded by the sensation that we are in the midst of a major social transformation still to be acknowledged.

We are presently facing a trend where people are resigning from their jobs due to burnout; searching for fulfillment, a sense of purpose, and meaning. This movement  has been named the “Great Resignation” or “Great Reevaluation.”  While this may be true, what else is happening in the corpor…

By Katie Morales, the Mindful Leader Team

The workplace is a common stressor in modern life. Being mindful of the thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations experienced throughout the workday can help you navigate the constant pressures and requirements associated with employment. 

Many companies and employees are seeking out remedies for toxic workplace culture. Some workplaces have turned to a potential solution over the last several years: mindfulness, specifically Mindfulness-Based Stress R…

By Cara Bradley, Host and Co-Producer of the Mental Fitness Bootcamp, guest contributor

“The holy grail of today’s workplace is high employee engagement.” - Harvard Business Review, February 16, 2017

Top leaders know that high engagement leads to high performance. Engaged employees are happier and work harder on the job. Low engagement, on the other hand, cost US companies a cool $550 billion in lost revenue per year.

So how do you make your people more engaged? Well we all know telling them …

By John J. Murphy, guest contributor

According to a recent Gallup study, 48% of American workers say they are actively looking for other job opportunities, and the United States has reached record highs in quit rates and unfilled positions. The study also reveals that 74% of employees are experiencing some degree of burnout. Given these statistics and the daily challenges of running a business, what is a mindful leader to do, especially when so many factors seem out of control? How can we culti…

By John J. Murphy, guest contributor

Sometimes during my lectures and coaching sessions, I need to remind people that we all have 24 hours in a day, and it’s been that way for a while. Therefore, emotions like anxiety, stress, and feeling overwhelmed are not manifesting because we do not have enough time. They are revealing important lessons to us about how we are prioritizing the time we have. 

Think about this like closet space. Often, people assume they need more closet space because the sp…

By Dave Potter, guest contributor

The concepts of “acceptance” and “non-striving" in mindfulness practice are difficult to understand because they seem to imply passivity and inaction. I don’t think I’ve ever taught a mindfulness class in which a student didn’t question mindful “acceptance” with concerns that it would lead to passivity:

“How does “acceptance” and “non-striving” apply when being attacked, verbally or physically?”

But “acceptance”, in the context of mindfulness, does not im…

By Larissa Hall Carlson, guest contributor

Working as a professional musician is incredibly demanding. Common challenges like intense competition, performance stress, long tours, burnout, and repetitive-movement injuries can prevent musicians from performing at their best. In their study of 2,536 adult musicians, Gembris, Heye, and Seifert (1) discovered that in addition to stage fright, when consistent pressure to perform well triggers music performance anxiety (MPA) in orchestral musicians pe…

By John J. Murphy, guest contributor

One of the most common challenges we face in the workplace is conflict with other people. Maybe it is a boss who gets under our skin. Or maybe it is a colleague who rubs us the wrong way. In any case, we know it instantly. We feel it. Our heart rate increases. Our stress hormones kick into gear. We may even begin to sweat. Now, we have proof that this difficult person is responsible for how we feel. The evidence is clear.

If this sounds familiar, you are no…

By Joy Reichart, New Ventures West, guest contributor

Zoomed Out

Yes, we are all “Zoomed out.” As connected as this wonderful platform has allowed us to remain over the past year of anxiety, separation, and loss, it carries with it a certain fatigue. For one thing, we are usually sitting down, hemmed in by a rectangle, perceiving ourselves, our colleagues, and our loved ones as only head and shoulders. For many it has become numbing, and we’re ready to be together again if only to remember we …