How to Implement Mindfulness at Work

Submitted by Bonnie Kowaliuk, BA, BMT, MBA, MTA, RSW , Senses Mindfulness Coaching

Mindfulness at work is a popular trend that businesses and global associations are paying serious attention to. Indeed, workplace mindfulness has become a powerful tool for businesses looking to tap into its well-documented advantages. Mindfulness at the office has been known to reduce stress levels, instances of absenteeism, increase productivity, encourage creativity and it generally helps to shape and develop better leaders.

Mindfulness also strengthens the employee’s immune systems, and it facilitates the rewiring of brains which bolsters their concentrative power greatly. Overall, mindfulness advances executive coaching and it leads to an integrated work environment.

According to proponents of mindfulness, various types of mindfulness training can help organizations to reduce employee stress and enhance well beings across a section of the organization. Considering the benefits abound, it is understandable and justified that more and more companies are now offering their employees an array of mindfulness options at the office.

Workplace mindfulness is important. However, the road to implementing mindfulness at work is paved with challenges including the ever-growing distraction of social media and the internet in general. As such, it has become apparent that companies need to invest in powerful tools that are particularly intended to boost employee health and wellness including activities such as mindfulness.

Some organizations, especially tech firms such as Google, are leading the way by creating strategies that encourage mindfulness in the organization. When trying to implement mindfulness at the office, here are several tips that can get you started:

Set a clear vision for your mindfulness program

In order for your program to set off on the right note, it is important to set a clear vision for

your company wellness and mindfulness training. It all starts with making sure that the environment is conducive and comfortable such that employees are happy, healthy and productive at all levels. It is important to emphasize to all the staff members how the mindfulness program will fit into the company wellness strategy so that the overall culture of the organization is understood clearly and accepted by all.

Take a committed approach

It is not enough to just bring a wellness expert in twice a year to talk to your staff members about mindfulness. If an organization is truly concerned for the committed to ensuring that the program is implemented successfully. This implies introducing techniques that will have a lasting impact on the team and the organization at large. Business leaders ought to educate themselves about research that supports mindfulness so that they can, in turn, find the best practices for incorporating mindfulness strategies at work.

Determine what your organizational culture is

An organizational culture that is centered on wellness and employee health scrutinizes how the organization conducts its business at every level. Organizational cultures that support health, work-life balance and mindfulness are more likely to experience success with their mindfulness training. Having a CEO or manager that encourages mindfulness certainly helps the project to experience more success.

Use technology

Workplace mindfulness is coming of age in extraordinary and contemporary ways. Digital

technologies aimed at enhancing mindfulness at work have shown great promise in the past. However, such technologies should only be leveraged in a flexible and independent manner.

Meditation apps such as Headspace or video conferencing training can teach and share the benefits of mindfulness, as well as offer guidance to employers on the best techniques to utilize to achieve it. Ideally, the purpose of any mindfulness program that utilizes technology should be to teach employees when to plug or unplug.

Make time for mindfulness

Firms should start by establishing a fixed schedule for training so that the practice can be

woven deeper into the organizational culture. It is also essential to create a favorable environment such as designating an area like the conference room to serve as the primary mindfulness venue.

Look for support

Many businesses and organizations opt to outsource their mindfulness training to experts in the field. Courses and training sessions that allow the employees to interact with the instructors have proven to experience success in numerous instances. The organizations themselves, on the other hand, must ensure that they show support for their employees especially as a means for encouraging those that are reluctant about taking part.

My Challenge: Be the change in your own life and model the way for others in your workplace to create safe and healing spaces to grow, learn, create and be your best!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bonnie Kowaliuk is an eclectic mindfulness coach and transformational leadership consultant with background designations as a registered social worker, accredited music therapist and workplace leadership consultant with an MBA in leadership, who over the course of the past 13 years has been exploring brain-based approaches to learning, transformational leadership, health and wellness. She recently completed her designation as a Fellow of the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music which employs music integrated mindfulness and psychotherapeutic approaches to help address a range of issues from health and wellness to optimal learning and performance.

Bonnie is a CTI certified coach and is in process of completing her Certification in Mindfulness via Royal Roads. As a lifelong learner & change catalyst, she hopes to aspire growth, change and evolution in others and in organizations through her own example and her love to learn, live authentically and discover her true self. Bonnie can be contacted at info@sensesmindfulness.com or via www.sensesmindfulness.com .