WORKPLACE AND CORPORATE PROGRAMS  

Overview

Our initiative to bring mindfulness to the workplace is an outgrowth of the work begun in the privacy and intimacy of the mindfulness-based stress reduction programs. As participants and patients learn how to use their innate resources and abilities to respond more effectively to stress, pain, and illness, they quickly realize how relevant mindfulness is at their places of work, whether in an employee or a leader position.

During the past twenty-one years, mindfulness has been brought into the workplace by the team of The Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Healthcare, and Society of the University Of Massachusetts (CFM). They have worked with groups as diverse as corporate employees, CEOs, educators, attorneys, judges, correctional staff, prison inmates, health care professionals, members of the clergy, and Olympic and professional athletes - including the world champion Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers basketball teams.

This work has spread in all directions as institutions and corporations increasingly recognize the benefits of strengthening their employees’ ability to

• Reduce stress,

• Increase stability in the midst of complex or highly charged situations,

• Enhance clarity and creative thinking,

• Improve communication skills,

• Cultivate leadership and teamwork, and

• Improve overall effectiveness in the workplace.

Our workplace and corporate courses, workshops, and retreats are designed to assist participants to utilize their innate abilities to learn these skills.

Our instructors are accomplished and skilled at creating a safe, supportive, and deeply engaging learning environment.

Confidentiality

Our staff maintains strict and absolute client and participant confidentiality during and following completion of any of the programs we offer, and participants are strongly encouraged to do so as well. Because participants work within the same organization, particular efforts are made to insure that personal information revealed within the context and safety of the program is used as a means of understanding and supporting the growth of each person. Likewise, participant anonymity is insured by presenting all assessment information that may be gathered from individual participants in aggregate form with no individual identifying characteristics.

Research Findings – back to top

Published research related to Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction has shown that the majority of people report lasting reductions in both physical and psychological symptoms. Their attitude and behavior undergo deep, positive changes that are rooted in a less conflicted perception of self, others and the world. This results in improved self-esteem, and an increased ability to cope effectively with both short-term and long-term stressful situations, to relax, and to enjoy greater energy and enthusiasm for life.

Research from corporate programs indicates that these programs can have similarly dramatic effects. Corporate program participants display changes in a variety of physical and mental behaviors and attitudes that are directly related to positive changes in work-related performance. These include enhanced ability to consciously respond to situations rather than simply react, to bring greater concentration and focus to their work, and to monitor their level of stress and take effective steps to address it.

Cultivation of mindfulness as the foundation of these programs – back to top

Mindfulness can be described as an intentional focused awareness - a way of paying non-judgmental attention on purpose, and in the present moment. In the complex world of business, this may seem obvious, simplistic and not particularly relevant or applicable. However, most of us discover powerful and often times shocking information, when we purposefully attend to the constant activity of the mind for even a few minutes. Although we assume our minds to be subject to our conscious control, most of the time we discover them shuttle endlessly between the past and future, and from one random thought to the next. Little time is actually spent living in the present, focused and calm, without the constant chatter in our minds. Yet, our capacity to effectively handle stress, to make informed decisions, and to access previously untapped resources and apply them in challenging, fast-paced business situations all rely on our capacity to be present. Quite literally, only when we are in the present can we optimize our capacity to:

• Stop habitual, auto-pilot-driven modes of activity;

• See ourselves, others, and information more clearly;

• Understand situations more holistically; and

• Choose effective, contextually relevant solutions.

Learning to stop, see, understand, and choose are hallmarks of mindfulness and have profound implications for the ongoing development of individuals and organizations.

Program description – back to top

Our work in the institutional and corporate arena adapts to the needs of the organization and can take several forms. We offer:

• Sessions and workshops of shorter duration, as a precursor to a course or as a stand-alone offering; and

• Courses of several weeks duration, taught on-site for corporations and other organizations.

Below we describe three standard program formats, which closely follow the working model adopted by The Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Healthcare, and Society of the University of Massachusetts Medical Center (CFM).  These programs can however be modified to suit the particular needs and circumstances of an organization. 

A Taste of Mindfulness – back to top

This program is a first step on the path of integrating mindfulness into one's life. The aim of this program is the development and integration of practical, mindfulness-based stress reduction skills into the everyday lives of program participants. Program participants will engage in a few mindfulness practices and exercises intended to tap their innate capacity to learn how to:

• Identify and reduce stress;

• Respond rather than react in the midst of complex, highly charged situations;

• Enhance concentration, clarity, and creative thinking; and

• Improve overall effectiveness in the workplace.

‘A Taste of Mindfulness’ is a two-phase program: Phase one is a one-hour initial workshop, followed two to three weeks later by phase two, a one hour follow-up workshop. Phase two allows for integration and refinement of the skills developed in the first phase of the program.

Program Content: What you can expect

‘A Taste of Mindfulness’ provides participants with:

• Guided instructions in mindfulness meditation practices

• Gentle stretching and mindful yoga to reduce workday muscle tension

• Practical methods for integrating mindfulness into everyday life

• Brief home assignments between sessions

• A guided meditation CD and written materials

Half-day or full-day workshop – back to top

The intent of this half-day workshop is to introduce participants to the power of mindfulness, which can simply be defined as being more fully present in our lives.

Experiencing mindfulness is infinitely more powerful and instructive than talking about it, so the orientation of this workshop is experiential and interactive. However, as a means of providing participants with a context for mindfulness practice, we begin with an introduction and discussion of the theoretical, historical and research background of mindfulness meditation in general, and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) in particular. This is followed with a series of experiential exercises in formal mindfulness practices (including sitting and walking meditation, yoga, and body scan) with an orientation toward utilizing them to ‘handle’ stress and enhance one's life at work and at home. Following each of these exercises, participants will have the opportunity to explore their experience and the potential opportunities for applying mindfulness in their lives. As a conclusion to the workshop, participants are provided with practical suggestions for ways that they may utilize and expand their experience with mindfulness.

Participants' Take-Aways

Participants may expect to take away a 'taste' of what mindfulness has to offer...

• A way of affecting and nurturing deep states of relaxation and of reducing stress: The practice of mindfulness brings a deep stillness that is profoundly relaxing and healing.

• An ability to be more responsive and less reactive to a wide range of situations: Often we react without any awareness of the larger range of possibilities. The development of mindfulness brings an inner quietude resulting in a felt-sense of ‘spaciousness’, of body-mind equanimity in the face of stimuli that, in turn, allows a person room to step back and choose a considered response.

• A capacity to be present, to be fully awake to life: Relationships become richer, connections more powerful as we actually listen and learn to speak from our direct experience.

• A method for increasing concentration and focus through the practice of mindfulness in daily life: By bringing attention to the habits of the mind and body, we become better equipped to direct the mind.

• A capacity to enhance creativity through the deliberate cultivation of a spacious, non-striving awareness: Only when we are present and open to unforeseen possibilities can we be creative. Quite literally, there is little possibility of creativity when we are habitually dwelling in conditioned attitudes and modes of thinking.
  
  

Eight- to Twelve-Week Course – back to top

Course Content and Structure

This highly experiential and interactive ‘course’ consists of eight to twelve weekly two hour sessions that include periods of guided instruction in a number of meditation practices, periods of silent exploration, and periods of collective inquiry and dialogue, all aimed at cultivating deep, penetrative awareness and insight, and the creativity that flows from these qualities of mind.

Sessions one through four/six

The first four to six sessions focus primarily on each participant's development of physical and mental calmness and stability as necessary precursors to the capacity to respond more effectively to everyday challenges. The course content, homework, and workday mindfulness assignments of session one through four are aimed at assisting participants to cultivate and operationalize their capacity to Stop and See.

During these sessions learning is focused on:

• Entering and dwelling in stillness and deep relaxation;

• Tasting first-hand, non-judgmental, non-reactive awareness;

• Practicing an array of mindfulness techniques;

• Recognizing when we are feeling stressed;

• Becoming increasingly aware of subtle mind-body interactions and their impact on health and well being;

• Recovering more rapidly from stressful events.

Sessions five through eight/twelve

Building on the first four weeks of training, learning in sessions four through eight or twelve  further develops the above mentioned skills while deepening the capacity to apply these skills amidst the inseparable rigor of our personal/professional lives. Focusing on enhancing one's ability to more clearly understand oneself, others, and situations within an interconnected web of information, and learning to choose appropriate and effective responses, we experientially explore:

• Deliberately utilizing moment-to-moment awareness to alter previously unconscious mental habits and patterns and improve our effectiveness in the workplace;

• Interpersonal communication styles that either hinder or effectively open avenues of dialogue and teamwork;

• Developing greater empathy for ourselves and others;

• Refining our capacity to deliberately sustain awareness in complex, emotionally-charged situations;

• Recovering, invigorating, and reasserting our innate capacity for vision, leadership, and co-creation with our colleagues; and

• Ways of utilizing and effectively bringing mindfulness into the work place both as a tool for stress reduction and as a vehicle for developing greater understanding and collaboration within the organization.
  
  

Pre-Program Orientation Meeting

To optimize the success of the program, the program instructor meets with participants prior to the beginning of the program. This two-hour pre-program orientation meeting is designed to:

• Help us better understand the program participants,

• Explain the emphasis and structure of the program, and

• Provide participants with a direct experience of mindfulness and its applications in their personal and professional lives.
  
  

Follow-up Consultation

Following the conclusion of the program, our staff will meet with the client to review the effectiveness of the program and to discuss follow-up action as may be appropriate.

Program Budget – back to top

• Fees for all workplace and corporate programs vary depending upon:
• Which program or what level of involvement is requested,
• Type of institution (corporate, public, profit, non-profit), and
• The particular situation and needs of the client.
  
  Please contact us for details.