Although it may seem like an overused buzzword, mindfulness is actually a powerful weapon to combat stress, mental clutter, distraction, and more. That said, learning more about this practice, its benefits, and how it can help a workforce will help you achieve overall workplace health and wellness. Given the proper knowledge and action, organizations can use this simple concept to build a new and improved office culture.
Below, we define mindfulness and then describe its benefits, practices, and applications in the workplace:
What is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness is a rudimentary ability to connect with one’s feelings and surroundings. Often described as “being present,” its practice seeks to ground oneself and appreciate the moment at hand. While everyone is capable of achieving this state, we must learn to access it by stepping back and letting go of conscious ongoings.
Mindfulness may sound inappropriate or inopportune among the hustle and bustle of the workplace. However, the office’s capacity to overwhelm and stress people qualifies it as one of the best locations to practice mindfulness.
The Benefits of Mindfulness on Office Culture
When practicing mindfulness, individuals can pause to build awareness and understanding of their thoughts and feelings. People well-practiced in mindfulness increase their capacity to let go of stress, maintain focus, let go of mistakes, and foster creativity. It also allows them to circumvent unfair judgment and unleash their natural curiosity, approaching others and their surroundings with openness and kindness.
Shedding internal and external distractions allows mindful employees to apply their skills to office interactions and activities. Moreover, shared mindfulness among employees can encourage a healthy office culture and community.
Valuable Mindfulness Practices in the Workplace
Employees can achieve mindfulness in the workplace through several practices, including:
- Brief meditation: Minute-long meditations can fit in throughout the work day. Between tasks, employees can benefit from simply pausing, noticing their breathing, and setting aside intrusive thoughts. This practice can also apply to processing creative work and making big decisions. Returning to the task at hand, employees often uncover a refreshed mental state with which to work.
- Mindful stretching: Stretching can be as easy as standing, relaxing tense muscles, and taking a few deep breaths. Rather than hunching over their phones or stressing over another distraction, employees can practice mindful stretching during those “in-between” moments. Paying attention to the body instead of obsessing over thoughts offers a much-needed reprieve from physical tension and mental stress.
- Environment change: Consciously or unconsciously, multitasking and blurred lines between activities can cause brain fog and decrease productivity. That said, employees can benefit from practicing mindfulness in a few different environments every day. Doing so might involve taking a walk outside between meetings or tasks and using the opportunity to notice how the new surroundings affect your body.
- Active listening: Although many people claim to be listening during any given moment, communications often go in one ear and out the other. Active listening, on the other hand, implies mindfulness: truly hearing, thinking about, and connecting with what another person says. A regular mental reminder to actively listen helps foster a culture of communication and understanding.
- Mindful focus: Beyond indirectly affecting workplace output, mindfulness can also apply to work tasks. A clear, focused mind allows employees to immerse themselves in their work. Following the principles of the above practices and a conscious effort to stay on task, employees can see boosts in productivity, creativity, and overall happiness.
How to Manage Workplace Mindfulness
Mindfulness strikes many as an ambiguous concept, yet that does not mean it is not real. Its practice can foster—even revitalize—a company’s culture if managed effectively.
Fortunately for organizations seeking to implement mindfulness, several apps exist that structure the creation and implementation of all kinds of wellness campaigns. For instance, a business might adopt a wellness challenge app to introduce and facilitate the mindfulness exercises mentioned above as workplace contests.
Moreover, with rewards in the form of charitable donations at stake, both in-person and remote employees have a great incentive to engage in mindfulness practices. This way, intrinsic workforce motivation promotes the wellness of the employees, community, management, and organization.
Download Givhero and Promote Your Workplace Health and Wellness Program
Givhero is a corporate wellness app available to all organizations looking to make a difference. Through individualized goals, out-of-the-box challenges, real-time leaderboards, custom reports, and over 2 million charities to contribute to, Givhero makes workplace health and wellness easy. Create your organization’s wellness-focused culture with automation and structure from Givhero. For more information about our health and well-being offerings, contact us online or at (240) 801-5927.
