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says mindfulness enables her to be available to her staff and solve problems without getting “swept off my feet so easily by all the desires, agendas and emotions confronted at work.”


Carroll cautions that it’s not about trying to eliminate our


own or others’ emotional agendas or personal biases at work; rather, individuals use mindfulness to become more con- scious of and relaxed about them. “Meditation helps develop agility in viewing… to self-regulate, drop fixed mindsets, become self-aware,” explains Carroll, who has coached uni- versity presidents, CEOs and nonprofit executives in mindful leadership techniques. “You learn things from a competitor’s perspective or pick up on social cues you may miss if you instead had a fixed lens on a situation.”


Corporate Acceptance While meditation may be on the upswing in the workplace, it was a battle to legitimize it, according to Tara Healey, program director for mindfulness-based learning at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care (HPHC). A longtime meditation prac- titioner, Healey started the Mind the Moment program a decade ago while serving as an organizational capacity building consultant. Surveys had shown that employees were overwhelmed and dissatisfied, but lacked the skills to rectify their situation. “The leadership said, ‘Great, let’s do it, but not tell


anyone,’” relates Healey. She notes that meditation, a core component of her multifaceted mindfulness course covering everything from workplace stress to mindful listening, wasn’t accepted in the workplace at that point. Today, 30 percent of her company’s 1,050 employees


have completed a six-week class introducing them to the power of mindfulness; some go on to participate in a guided monthly group meditation practice or use company meditation rooms for individual practice. The health services company also offers the course to its member companies


throughout New England. To date, more than 12,350 people in 174 companies have participated, encompassing varied fields from higher education and health to finance and technology. A survey of employees showed that initially 99 percent felt it was a good use of their time; another taken six months later found that 87 percent were still using the techniques.


HPHC informatics analyst Stephanie Oddleifson, who took the course nearly 10 years ago, says it transformed her way of thinking and behaving in the workplace and furnished a set of practices she uses every day. In times of conflict, “I was so quick to make up stories in my head and jump to conclusions previously,” she says. “Now I’m able to pause before responding and observe my thoughts without getting caught up in them. I can diffuse tense situations with humor and not take things personally.” Additional research substantiates the anecdotal evidence


for meditation’s workplace benefits. In 2015, scientists from Canada’s University of British Columbia and Germany’s Chemnitz University of Technology compiled data from 20-plus neurology studies, finding significant correlations between meditation and areas of the brain related to capaci- ties for self-regulation, introspection and complex thinking. A Rice University study specifically found a positive relation- ship between workplace mindfulness, job performance and employee retention. While workplace mindfulness programs vary and may


incorporate helpful talks, encouraging readings and group discussions, Healey and Carroll both caution that reading or talking about mindfulness or meditation is no substitute for the practice itself, which many find challenging. “You won’t taste the benefits just reading about it,” remarks Healey. “The practice will come into play come showtime.”


Connect with April Thompson, of Washington, D.C., at AprilWrites.com.


natural awakenings November 2016


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