Employee Well-being: Practising Mindfulness
The Benefits of Mindfulness
Mindfulness helps focus your attention on one thing at a time, and promotes awareness of the present moment. Refocusing when your mind wanders leads to increased productivity, while improving compassion for yourself and others.
Mindfulness also has many other benefits for both our physical and psychological well-being. There are studies that link mindfulness with positive heart health, as certain practices, such as progressive muscle relaxation, can help lower blood pressure. From a psychological well-being perspective, mindfulness plays a key role in the reduction of stress, which is helpful when coping with pain, anxiety, and a lack of mental reserve.
Source: Jill Suttie, Berkley
How to Practise Mindfulness
While we may understand some of the benefits of mindfulness — from less stress to steadier decision-making to emotional balance, and perhaps we have tried meditation with some success, it can still be difficult to develop a consistent practice. Here are some tips and tricks to build a consistent mindfulness routine.
Find and Join a Community. There are plenty of mindfulness apps that are free, intuitive, and build in a community aspect for you to connect with others. Another suggestion may be to find someone else to practise mindfulness with, and create a buddy system to keep one another accountable.
Commit Time to Practise. Ensuring that there is a reliable time for you to partake in mindfulness is of critical importance. Ensure you are carving out that time for yourself, just like you would to partake in other wellness activities such as healthy movement.
Practise Self-Compassion. When it comes to mindfulness, progression is far from linear. Go easy on yourself, and if you do not experience continued success right away, keep trying! Everyone experiences mindfulness at their own pace.
Visit the Employee Well-being webpage for more information on how to practice mindfulness!
Source: Harvard Business Review
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