Mindfulness at Work: Strategies from the Field, Part 1
Speaker: Jeremy Hunter, PhD; Tara Healey, M.Ed; Chris Lyddy, MCP
Format: Audio & Slides

There is burgeoning interest in incorporating mindfulness in organizational workplace settings. While this seems to be a promising development, it is also fraught with potential perils.

This Workshop is one of a two-part conversation exploring how mindfulness can be skillfully applied in work contexts to better form this nascent domain (see "Mindfulness at Work: Strategies from the Field, Part 2" presentation). We will explore a variety of questions:

How can mindfulness be skillfully applied in workplace settings? Does mindfulness as a personal practice differ from mindfulness as organizational practice? What are the potential differences? What role do ethics play when introducing mindfulness at work? How can language hinder or help the effort to introduce mindfulness into a workplace? What does the growing body of research on mindfulness and work say about this combination's value, and how can it inform wise action?

To ground the experience, the workshop will start with a research review of the variety of workplace instruction approaches, detailing findings on the wellness and performance benefits of workplace mindfulness training. This will be followed by a discussion of emerging questions about workplace cognition, ethics, performance, decision-making, transforming relationships and creating more positive organizations.

The workshop will then explore cases of how mindfulness has been successfully integrated into a variety of settings, and explore strategies that enhance success for introducing mindfulness in new organizational contexts. It will also examine the potential pitfalls and ethical dimensions of introducing mindfulness in organizations.

The last hour will focus on a role-play to apply the insights of the earlier conversation. Participants will begin to develop competencies in how to work with an organizational client through a case study/role play to help them analyze an organization's world and priorities to meet their specific needs.