Wherever You Go, There You Are, the title of Jon Kabat-Zinn’s book on mindfulness, offers us a powerful reminder: wherever you go, your state of mind, your energies, your consciousness informs everything you do.
Many leaders have heard that mindfulness meditation can help them deal with stress, but tell themselves, “I’m so busy already. When would I have time to fit it in? And anyway, how could meditation make me more effective at work?”
Yet research has shown that chronic stress weakens our ability to respond effectively to the people and situations around us. It prevents us from seeing the larger patterns, from engaging in long-range planning, from coming up with new solutions to the problems in our lives. It triggers defensive reactions when other people disagree with us, sabotaging our relationships at home and at work.
In a 2012, researchers in Singapore measured the mindfulness of 96 supervisors along with their employees’ health, well-being, and job performance. They found that the leaders practicing mindfulness had employees who were not only significantly healthier and more balanced, but also had better job performance—a win-win on all counts. Like the ripples from a pebble tossed into a pond, the mindfulness of these leaders rippled out to touch everything and everyone around them.
Beginning a daily mindfulness practice can make a positive difference in your life. And whenever you feel stressed at work, you can take this brief mindfulness break:
• Pause for a moment. Take a deep breath and, if possible, close your eyes. Ask “What am I feeling right now?” Name the feeling—stress, anger, fear, disappointment. Whatever it is, naming it makes it manageable.
• Then return your attention to your breathing, noticing the awareness that lies beneath the feeling, beyond the feeling.
• Now expand your attention to your body as a whole. How are you feeling—your shoulders, your neck, your muscles, your breath? Just notice this and let it go.
• Take another long, deep breath and release it, returning to your work with a new sense of presence and wholeness.
As a mindful leader, you can transform the atmosphere around you, bringing greater clarity, compassion, and cooperation to your family, relationships and the world. The answer is as close as your next breath.
Namaste,
Diane
References
Kabat-Zinn, J. (2009). Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life. New York: Hachette Books.
Reb, J., Narayanan, J., & Chaturvedi, S. (2012). Leading mindfully: Two studies on the influence of supervisor trait mindfulness on employee well-being and performance. Mindfulness, September 4, 1-10. doi: 10.1007/s12671-012-0144-z. Available at http://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research