Mindfulness in the work place
If you were to visit our school during morning or afternoon staff meetings, you might bear witness to something peculiar and not commonly seen in workplace settings: staff engaging in mindfulness practice.
For those not familiar with this activity, the idea of mindfulness might evoke images of incense, bells, or chanting; or maybe shaved heads and robes. If you were to walk into our collective mindfulness moment at our school, you would see nothing of this sort. Very simply, you would see people sitting or standing, taking a minute or two in silence, practicing settling and stilling amid the yo-yo-like nature of our interior lives.
In all honesty, there are days when I don’t think all team members are thrilled to be practicing mindfulness during our meetings…
And why should they be? Having people put a pause on their day to practice being still and silent, and practice disentangling from the discursive thought traps, seems insane, especially given that they have students to prepare for, materials to develop, data to input, and frankly, more important things to do!
The very act of "doing nothing" is such a revolt to our cultural conditioning that simply taking a minute or two to do just that, can disrupt homeostasis. And to do it at work, of all places?! For some, the idea of mindfulness is a private endeavor, an individual practice, and something that may seem awkward to do in the company of colleagues.
So why do it? Why do it at work? Why have staff do it? These are good questions that frankly I'm not sure I have well-articulated answers to (as I'm still learning this Executive Director/leadership thing).
Some things I do know, however, that are not only backed up by my experience, but also by the loads of research and evidence in support of mindfulness: across settings, populations, age-groups, and ailments.
To begin answering the “why?” let’s begin with the “what?” and the context of this “mindfulness thing” within our organization.
Atlantic Academy’s “mindfulness thing.”
Since opening the school in 2017, mindfulness practice has been a sought after endeavor for the students we work with (more on that in a future post). Additionally, discussions on this topic have centered around the idea that for staff to effectively teach mindfulness, they need direct experience with the subject matter, just like anything we teach. So this has been one rationale for having us practice mindfulness as a group.
The second reason for inviting staff into this practice, is that to effectively teach kids emotion regulation skills, adults, too, should be regulated, something that mindfulness practice can provide (more on that below).
Of course, strategically encouraging mindfulness practice within the work setting is not always going to be peaches and cream. Challenges such as “when do we practice?” “How long we do practice for?” “Should we do it in a group?” “Should we be doing it at all?” are just some of the questions that have arisen, and ones that we continue to work with.
Despite the occasional awkwardness and imperfections of implementing this practice, Atlantic Academy rests on the idea that students will function best, and learn best, given a teacher’s capacity to teach effectively— especially emotion-regulation skills.
What is mindfulness?
Mindfulness does not have to look like any one thing. It is simply about learning to observe (through all five senses) the contents of one’s mind and body without becoming unconsciously hooked by interesting or provocative thoughts/feelings/sensations that run through our landscape..
Mindfulness is really about learning to see how often we become fused with our thought/feelings/sensations.. Once we strengthen our capacity to see how we become hooked with this relentless, internal chatter, we can gradually learn to choose what we attend to.
Mindfulness can be done sitting, standing, walking, or engaging in any action or bodily movement. The form is not necessarily important; rather, it is the function of the practice we engage, which is our repeated attempts to see the clouds (thoughts, sensations, perceptions, feelings) from the sky (mind).
Typically, to begin mindfulness practice, one either attends to the breath, counts the inhalations and/or exhalations , or focuses on certain areas of the body so as to strengthen that ability to come back from the thoughts that often sweep us away from being in the present--which is the only place that (effective) action takes place.
Why mindfulness? (To name just a few benefits)
Stress reduction (e.g., anxiety, depression)
Increases focus & concentration.
Increases cognitive flexibility
Decreases emotional reactivity
Increases working-memory
Why do mindfulness at work?
In the education and human service fields, staff burn-out, stress, and high turn-over are common challenges. I have always been curious about the potential of employer sponsored health-promoting practices on employee satisfaction and well-being.
It is exciting to think that we can provide opportunities for staff (while on the “clock”) to engage in practices that not only can increase productivity, but also have positive ramifications for the person outside of the workplace.
Our mindfulness journey at Atlantic Academy
Over the course of two years, we have provided mindfulness practice opportunities at the beginning of staff meetings, in the morning prior to student arrival, and during training weeks. To make it most productive and effective, we have attempted the following in an effort to occasion such an organizational practice:
Provide a brief rationale for the practice
Keep it simple and short! (2-3 minutes max)
Have clear instructions for the practice (we use apps, youtube videos, or simple guided instructions)
Make sure this is an invitation for staff, not mandatory.
This last bullet is critical. What I have done with staff is told them they do not have to follow-along with the practice if they do not want to; just sit quietly while others choose to participate.
Like I mentioned above, by no means is implementation of this practice perfect for us.
However, we are committed to working out the kinks for engaging our organization in
this practice to not only provide benefits to staff, but also give them direct experience
with a practice that we do with our students.
Have you ever been in a work situation where health-promoting practices have been
provided during work hours (such as mindfulness)? Please leave any comments or
questions in the comments section.
-Jed