a mindful workplace starts with you

A Mindful Workplace

Starts With You

Presented by:

Mayra J. Porrata, M.Ed.

Senior Associate, Round River Consulting, LLC

Founder & Managing Partner, Sunny Day Publishing, LLC

Lecturer, Kent State University, School of Health Sciences

September 13, 2012

Summit County Worksite Wellness Conference

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Tips for this session: (aka: staying

awake during a mindfulness session

following lunch)

•Breathe deeply

•Relax

•Smile

•Generally be aware of how you feel ☺

Session Guarantees ☺ (objectives)

By the end of this session…

You will have been sitting here for 30-40 minutes ☺

You may have experienced any of the following:

delight, boredom, surprise, resistance, disbelief, extreme

sleepiness or excitement.

You may have a greater understanding of mindfulness,

mindfulness practices and how mindfulness may be

implemented and practiced in your workplace (and in your life).

A little about me…

Student and practitioner of mindfulness

(off and on ☺) since 1976

Former “corporate soldier”

Master’s Degree in Community Health

Education

A mother of 2 girls

A caregiver to a special-needs child

A perfectly flawed human being

A little about us all….

At our core…we all seek the same

things:

To understand ourselves/the world

To do meaningful work

To have relief from suffering

To love and to be loved

The case for a mindful workplace

Mindful people are usually pleasant

Mindful people experience less stress

Mindful people are less prone to injury

Emotional states are contagious (Fowler & Christakis, 2008 )

The case for a mindful workplace

Mindfulness education is a SOLUTION:

To help reduce worksite stress

To help keep “healthy employees healthy”

To help employees with chronic health conditions cope

To maximize individual and organization potential!

“How you see yourself,

who you think you are, how you

see others,

what you think the meaning of life

is,

how you see death, belief, God,

darkness and beauty is all

determined

by the style of mind you have”.

John O’Donohue, Poet, Priest,

Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom

Our “style of mind”

Lacking full awareness of our behavior(s)

Lacking creativity & spirit

Lacking love & compassion

Makes us prone to physical, emotional, social, mental

or spiritual injury

Without exception….we have all been “there”

“MINDLESS” MIND

Our “style of mind”

Fully aware

Responding vs. reacting

Open to creative and loving solutions

Supportive of the entire individual(physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually)

“MINDFULL” MIND

Mindfulness Defined

a dispositional characteristic

(a personal attribute/trait)

An outcome (a state of awareness

resulting from mindfulness training)

A practice (mindfulness meditation

practice itself)

Black,D.S. (2011).A brief definition of mindfulness. (Accessed from

http://www.mindfulexperience.org)

Mindfulness Defined

Utilizing all our senses simultaneously

Operating from our heart/soul/spirit/Higher

Self

“Heartfulness” (Fr. Keating)

Mindfulness DefinedPaying attention without judgment (Kabat-Zinn)

“Non-conceptual knowing” (Kabat-Zinn)

Self-regulation of attention

Other words that have been used to describe theexperience/process of mindfulness:

“Present” (Tolle)

“Aware” (Lisi)

“Conscious” (Dyer)

“Awake”(Williamson)

Criticisms and common complaints

about mindfulness

“It takes too long- I don’t have time be mindful!”

“It’s too spiritual”

“It’s not very “professional” or “scientific”

“It goes against my religion”

“It will “numb me out”

“I will have less fun in life”

“It will disconnect me from “real” life

“I will be more mindful when “things” calm down in my life” ☺

In reality….

The practice of mindfulness can help to create a more engaged and productive work team.

Mindfulness could be a simple and inexpensive addition (or foundation) to your worksite wellness program.

Consistent mindful awareness leads to “clarity”: a self-understanding that no longer produces judgment of self or others (Brunson, Wading the Stream of Awareness, P. 261)

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We are all “wired” for mindfulness

We are more AWARE than we “think” we really are.

Although commonly ignored, our hearts and every

single cell in our body has “feeling” and “sensing”

abilities (we are feeling organisms!).

Mindfulness and heartfulness are under-utilized

human capacities.

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Research note:

“Mindfulness may be important in disengaging

individuals from automatic thoughts, habits, and

unhealthy behavior patterns and thus could play

a key role in fostering informed and self-

endorsed behavioral regulation, which has long

been associated with well-being enhancement”

(Ryan & Deci, 2000)

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Mindfulness Activity ☺

http://www.donothingfor2minutes.com/

September 19, 2012 Sample footer 19

“The 21The 21The 21The 21stststst Century belongs to Century belongs to Century belongs to Century belongs to

the Aware, Focused, & Loving the Aware, Focused, & Loving the Aware, Focused, & Loving the Aware, Focused, & Loving

Leader”Leader”Leader”Leader”

Jeff Brunson, Leadership CoachJeff Brunson, Leadership CoachJeff Brunson, Leadership CoachJeff Brunson, Leadership Coach

Wading the Stream of AwarenessWading the Stream of AwarenessWading the Stream of AwarenessWading the Stream of Awareness

Typical workplace “awareness”Focused on the actions/behaviors of others

Focused on protecting our ego/position

Focused on “fairness” and favoritism

Mindful of our own actions and behaviors

Mindful of our own thoughts and ideas

Mindful of our own emotions

The Mindful Workplace

“Emotions are a more evolved

way of thinking”

Marvin Minsky, Artificial Intelligence Pioneer

TED Presentation: Health and the Human Mind

Using emotions to understand

employee needs and states of “being”

When people “behave badly”…..or “agreeably” it is merely a

physical manifestation of an emotional state.

When people do things that “feel good” to them, they are

happy, more creative, healthier and more productive.

When people do things that “don’t feel good” to them, this

feeling is stressful to the body. (“Stress is a risk factor for

many conditions—long-term stress impacts our bodies” Jon

Kabat-Zinn)

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Porrata-Pirri Emotional Awareness Chart ©2012

Negative Emotion Related

Emotion(s)fear anger,

hate,

disconnection,

competition

resentment annoyance,

frustration,

irritability

grief sorrow,

sadness,

depression

boredom disinterest,

weariness,

heaviness

worry aversion,

motionless

apathy indifference,

unhappy

despair anguish,

desperation

jealousy intolerant,

anxious, pride

uncertainty danger,

mistrust

Aw

are

ne

ss, Pre

sen

ce, M

ind

fuln

ess

(No

n-d

ua

lity)

Related

Emotion(s)

Positive

Emotioncaring,

compassion,

connection,

collaboration

love

appreciation,

grace,

peace

gratitude

bliss,

satisfaction,

pleasure

Joy

eager,

motivated,

creative

passion

attraction,

desire

excitement

delight,

happiness

enthusiasm

aspiration,

anticipation

hope

comfort, pride

contentment

satisfaction

safety,

trust

security

Promoting a culture of mindfulness

and wellness

Always begins by example and with leadership/ management support.

It will still be “work”, but a more compassionate workplace.

Compassion? – What does that have to do with work?– It is a pathway to our shared humanity.

A gentle call to all leaders and managers: Working to create a supportive and compassionate workplace can help reduce employee stress and chronic illness.

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“To effectively reenergize their workforces,

organizations need to shift their emphasis from

getting more out of people to investing more in

them, so they are motivated—and able—to bring

more of themselves to work every day. To

recharge themselves, individuals need to

recognize the costs of energy-depleting

behaviors and then take responsibility for

changing them, regardless of the

circumstances they’re facing.”

Tony Schwartz, Human Performance Expert

The Energy Project

Mindfulness strategies for your

workplace

Encourage employees and co-workers to reflect

on how they “feel”

IMPORTANT NOTE: We are ALL (EACH)

responsible for our feelings ☺. It is not your job

to “fix”, counsel or in any way “change” how

someone feels. You may feel “resistance”– that is

“ok” ☺….feel that resistance for yourself– allow

yourself to be “ok” with that tension.


workplace

Team deep breathing (let’s try it now!) ☺

Doing “nothing together” for 2-3 minutes and

allowing everyone an opportunity to express

what they most noticed or appreciated.


workplace

Gratitude practices – (what we appreciate

grows- what do you want to grow?)

Consistently express your gratitude for

employees

Invite employees to share a weekly or monthly

gratitude list during staff meeting.


workplace

Mindful food/eating practices

For your next staff meeting, bring/order food items

that are healthy and nutritious

Initiate or volunteer at a local community garden


workplace

Mindful movement/exercise

Invite employees/co-workers to take a walk

during lunch

Remind employees to stretch their muscles and

breathe deeply throughout the day


workplace

Laugh together ☺


workplace (policy level)

Unlimited vacation policy

Work “on anything” for a month

Incentivize worksite mindfulness practices and

initiatives along with other health promotion

incentives like smoking cessation, weight loss

and increased physical activity.

In Closing….

If improving employee health is a priority:

Mindfulness practices will bring “coherence” to

your worksite.

Mindfulness will help reduce stress in your

worksite.

Mindfulness will open up new pathways for

creativity and production.

A Mindful Workplace

Starts With You

Comments? Questions?

Thank You ☺

Copies of this presentation will be made available

following the conference-- OR

Contact me directly at:

[email protected]

a mindful workplace starts with you

Health & Medicine