Mindfulness Series

This comprehensive six-part series is designed to teach participants the benefits and importance of integrating mindfulness into their working lives.

Current research shows mindfulness is not only effective in reducing stress and workplace anxiety, but also helps employees achieve greater levels of wellbeing, productivity and job satisfaction.

This program deepens participants’ understanding of both the theoretical concepts and practical knowledge of mindfulness, including main concepts, the brain science behind mindfulness, as well as how it can be used to enhance personal wellbeing and professional success.

Each session focuses on a different aspect of mindfulness at work. Undertaken as a complete series, the program offers an overarching and in-depth understanding of mindfulness, designed to have a lasting impact on crucial areas of working life .

The program is typically delivered across 2 x half-day sessions, but each component can also be offered as a stand-alone unit or in a variety of combinations, enabling you to design a bespoke training experience to meet the needs of your staff.

This series is taught by an experienced trainer and mindfulness practitioner, and includes opportunities to engage in practical mindfulness experiences within each component.

The six components which make up the complete program are:

1. An Introduction to Mindfulness
2. Paying Attention Mindfully
3. Managing Stress with Mindfulness
4. Regulating your Emotions
5. Mindful Thinking
6. Don’t Worry Be Happy (Mindfulness & Happiness)

Over the past two or more decades, mindfulness has become increasingly popular, extending from its ancient Buddhist roots into mainstream Western culture, including the corporate world. Providing mindfulness training to employees is an effective way to promote workplace wellbeing, reduce employee stress and create a calmer, more effective workforce. If you would like to incorporate mindfulness skills into your workplace, our Mindfulness Series or our short Mindfulness & Wellbeing Workshop is a great place to start.

Mindfulness is about being fully present in the moment. This includes being attentive to your bodily sensations and external surroundings, as well as observing your internal experiences and emotions without judgement. It is a skill that can be developed through practices such as meditation, yoga, breathing techniques and sensory awareness exercises.

Due to its many benefits, mindfulness is now a common technique used in therapy by psychologists and counsellors, as well as in corporate environments to increase workplace wellbeing, productivity and creativity.

Evidence supports the benefits of mindfulness

Stress and anxiety are very common in the modern world. With so much to juggle on a daily basis, it’s easy to get distracted from the task at hand or to spiral into a negative thought cycle. Mindfulness acts as an antidote to this. And it’s not just a fad or fanciful idea, the scientific research backs it up.

A growing number of studies reveal how formal mindfulness practices (such as meditation, mindful yoga and body scan) have the ability to reduce stress, improve psychological functioning and well being, as well as reduce a range of negative psychological and physical symptoms (1).

Mindfulness is not simply a method of relaxation. It is a form of mental training.

The practice of mindfulness can strengthen our cognitive ability to respond to, and cope with stress and difficult emotions (2). And for people who practice mindfulness regularly, these benefits flow into everyday life. A study from Harvard University, which used brain scans to identify brain activity in the amygdala (an area associated with emotional responses) found that participants trained in mindfulness were less emotionally reactive overall (3).

The idea of observing your own thoughts and feelings in a non-judgemental, non-reactive way is central to the practice of mindfulness. This has led to its use in a number of therapeutic methods to help clients improve their emotional regulation and coping strategies. These days, psychologists and counsellors commonly incorporate mindfulness into their practice.

Mindfulness has also become a popular tool for organisational psychologists and leaders.

Did you know: While Mindfulness has recently sprung into mainstream Western culture, the concept was first referenced in Buddhist teachings 2,500 years ago. (4)

Explore our corporate training options to build skills in mindfulness, communication, positive leadership and more.

References

1. CARMODY, J., & BAER, R. A. (2008). RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN MINDFULNESS PRACTICE AND LEVELS OF MINDFULNESS, MEDICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL SYMPTOMS AND WELL-BEING IN A MINDFULNESS-BASED STRESS REDUCTION PROGRAM. JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL MEDICINE, 31(1), 23-33.

2. BISHOP, S. R., LAU, M., SHAPIRO, S., CARLSON, L., ANDERSON, N. D., CARMODY, J., … & DEVINS, G. (2004). MINDFULNESS: A PROPOSED OPERATIONAL DEFINITION. CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY: SCIENCE AND PRACTICE, 11(3), 230-241.

3. HTTPS://NEWS.HARVARD.EDU/GAZETTE/STORY/2018/04/HARVARD-RESEARCHERS-STUDY-HOW-MINDFULNESS-MAY-CHANGE-THE-BRAIN-IN-DEPRESSED-PATIENTS/

4. BLACK, D. S. (2011). A BRIEF DEFINITION OF MINDFULNESS. BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE, 7(2), 109.