Benefits of being Mindful

In my last post, I distinguished between meditation and mindfulness and described mindfulness as the process of noticing things.

If we go on holiday to somewhere exotic, its very easy to be mindful as we are surrounded by new interesting sights, sounds & smells. But what are the benefits of practicing mindfulness in during the working day?

There is scientific evidence to suggest we are

  • Seen as more authentic and trustworthy1
  • More productive2
  • Deemed to produce work that is superior3

I find the above list of benefits, very compelling reason to start being more mindful.

References
1. Mindful and Masculine: Freeing Women Leaders From the Constraints of Gender Roles – Kawakami – 2002 – Journal of Social Issues – Wiley Online Library. 2016. Mindful and Masculine: Freeing Women Leaders From the Constraints of Gender Roles – Kawakami – 2002 – Journal of Social Issues – Wiley Online Library. Available at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/0022-4537.00151/abstract.

2. Mindful multitasking: The relationship between mindful flexibility and media multitasking . 2016. Mindful multitasking: The relationship between mindful flexibility and media multitasking . Available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S074756321200088X.

3. Orchestral performance and the footprint of mindfulness . 2016. Orchestral performance and the footprint of mindfulness Available at: http://pom.sagepub.com/content/early/2008/10/15/0305735607086053.short.

Related Posts

  • More Mindfulness Exercises

    In my previous post, How to be mindful, I described a mindful breathing exercise.  Now I want to share with you more mindfulness exercises. 1. Mindful Observation Choose a natural object, plant, flower or cloud in the sky.  Simply focus solely on it for a minute or two.  Visually explore it and allow yourself to be consumed by its presence. 2. Mindful Listening Listen to a piece of music you have never heard before.  You could re-turn your radio to a new station or download a new track to your ipod.  The idea is to listen, to become fully entwined within the composition without preconception or judgement of the genre, artist, lyrics or instrumentation. 3. Mindful Appreciation The point of this exercise is to simply give thanks and appreciate the seemingly insignificant things in life; the things that support your existence but rarely get a second thought in our desire for bigger and better things.  All you have to do is notice 5 things in your daily life that go unappreciated. Once you have your 5 things, then consider

    • the benefit they bring to your life and the lives of others
    • what life would be like without these things
    With regular practice of mindfulness services, rather than being on autopilot, we keep our mind rooted in the present moment and deal with life's challenges in a clear-minded & calm way.

  • Confidence ebbs & flows

    I have discussed previously that I believe confidence is a belief that means you trust yourself and your ability to make choices and decisions. Confidence naturally flows more [...]

  • Build your resilience

    This week it has been widely reported in the press that Hector Sants is taking time off to recover from stress and exhaustion.   While it is fantastic that he is getting the time and space he needs to recover his health, it reminded me of the importance of looking after ourselves.  So today I wanted to share my top tips for building your resilience. I say building resilience, as the key to good stress management is to build the emotional and mental strength to know that you are OK, even if you don’t feel fully in control of your situation.  While I encourage everyone to manage their time effectively, take control of what you are able to, there are times when we simply have to accept there are things we can’t control.  I was reminded of this myself this week when my landlady told me she would like me to move out by the end of the year, so her spare room is available for her cousin in case he needs it.   This came as a big shock given that I only re-located to London in August.  So while yes it was a shock, it is annoying to have to move again so quickly, I am very aware that I have the resilience to cope with moving again. So what helps build resilience?

    1. As I already said taking control of what you can control and accepting what you can’t control.
    2. Building a supportive network of friends to who are able to listen when you need support is essential, the old adage a problem shared is a problem halved is true.
    3. Be active, whether it’s simply going for a walk in the park or going to the gym.  Physical activity helps us feel mentally stronger and helps clams us emotionally so we are able to see the root cause of our problems so we are able to find effective solutions.  I find going for a walk in a park, clears my mind and gets my creative juices flowing so I can calmly deal with my problems.
    4. My next tip may seem rather strange but volunteer or do some kind of community work.  Being around people who have more challenges helps us put our problems in perspective.  For example talking to someone who is dealing with the challenges of cancer really put my needing to move again into perspective.
    5. When we feel really in a rush and under pressure it is very tempting to reach for alcohol, coffee or chocolate, but in the long term these don't offer real solutions.
    6. In the spirit of keep it simple, stupid, always remember that deep breaths helps the body to relax and help you to let go of whatever mental angst is going on.  When you get busy or anxious it is common to breath very rapidly from the top of your chest.  Putting your hand on your belly, and try breathing in for a count of three and then breath out for a count of three - with the aim of seeing your hand move as you breath deeply enough.
    7. Remember Reiki is great if you feel all over the pace  and jaded, while massage helps release all those tight achy shoulders.