Professional Coaching and Development

Googling about recently, I've noticed a growth in interest in Mindfulness recently.  Bangor University is running several courses, and coaches Michael Chaskalson and Emma Donaldson-Feilder are starting courses next month at the British Psychological Society.  Mindfulness attention is a highly commendable state for coaches, characterised by presence, curiosity, openness, compassion and acceptance. 

But can Mindfulness translate into western corporate culture, or for normal mortals that go about their business 9 to 5 without the luxury of what would probably be considered impractical 'navel gazing'?  In other words, is Mindfulness relevant for our modern lives?

Dr Jon Kabat-Zinn calls Mindfulness "Falling Awake".  In this YouTube clip, Zinn promotes the discipline of Mindfulness to the corporate world: 

Kabat-Zinn is renowned for his work as a scientist, writer, and teacher bringing mindfulness into everyday life.  He has dedicated his career to the fields of mind/body medicine, integrative medicine, and self-healing.
He has recently collaborated with Daniel Goleman, author of the renowned Emotional Intelligence, to explore ways in which mindfulness can be applied by a variety of institutions and businesses to make better leaders and improve the quality of the workplace.  

Listen to an audio excerpt from an interview with Goleman and Kabat-Zinn on

And have a look at this link in one of my recent Tweets:  Shuuuuttt Uppp! Why Your Company Needs 'Quiet Time'

It is highly possible to get tangible and measurable results of improvements in health, morale, and engagement.  But no wonder!  Human beings, so Positive Psychology seems to be telling us, are programmed for positivity and joy.  And actually, don't we really know that ourselves already?  

My feeling is that we are finally seeing the dying days of the Protestant work ethic, characterised by its reduction of individual human beings to units in a non-complaining homogenous workforce, whose lives don't begin until they get home.  We are witnessing campaigns like Bring Yourself to Work and Nic Askew's thoughtful films on the inner world of leadership.

So Change is Afoot …We are clear surely that "unmindfulness" has a catastrophic effect on the entire planet.  For all our sakes in this highly connected global economy, we no longer want a world fuelled by fear, greed and testosterone. This Bleeding City, by Alex Preston was reviewed by Peter Carty in the Independent Online last Friday, 5 March 2010.   This new searing novel about the helter skelter into chaos of Capitalism and the stressful lives of those "guardians" of our cash and economy has emerged as a moral tale for our times.  A bit of Mindfulness in the City could go a long way to righting the multitude of wrongs.

Ellen Langer's book Counterclockwise, distills some of the research on mindfulness down to its practical, applicable essentials. After thirty years of studying mindfulness, Langer believes an awareness of novelty in the present moment is the key to well-being. (Source:  IPPA Newsletter, Sept 2009)

So how about us? What if we can't afford £1000 for a course, nor have the time nor inclination to read books on Positive Psychology?  What can we each individually do to be more mindful?
 
At a most basic and very personal level where meaningful change occurs, we can all review our lives and ask some very simple questions.  Am I enjoying myself?  What do I truly want? 

Will you decide to implement a No Email hour perhaps - or (Coach's Challenge) a whole email free day!).  Or take a course in Mindfulness or perhaps Tai Chi.  Or simply set time aside to sit quietly with yourself, noticing, breathing, feeling?  Imagine how that might transform your frenetic day!

Finally, I invite you to reflect on some simple yet profound quotes from a recent WOPG address by Prem Rawat:  "Every day that you are alive, don't stop living. Be alive every day that you are …. The day dawns, you awaken, you stir, and you are alive."

 As they say - take time to smell the flowers!

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