I'm often asked what mindfulness is and it's simply being able to intentionally pay attention to the present moment.

I'm often asked what mindfulness is and it's simply being able to intentionally pay attention to the present moment. Viewing a situation with curiosity and non-judgement while calmly acknowledging and accepting one's feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations can lead to many advatages. Mindfulness involves specially developed meditation practices and movements, which allow us to be fully present in our life and work, and improve our quality of life.

Though it has its roots in Buddhist meditation, the non-spiritual practice of mindfulness has entered the mainstream in recent years. There is an increasing body of evidence from psychological research and neuroscience that demonstrate the physical and mental health benefits of mindfulness.


Fewer sick days

Although predominantly associated with stress reduction and treatment of anxiety, Mindfulness has also been shown to have a range of other health benefits including the treatment of heart disease, lower blood pressure, reduction in chronic pain and improved sleep to strengthen the immune system.

Since 2009 over 600 Transport for London (TfL) employees have undertaken a mindfulness based stress reduction programme. Among those taking part employee absence caused by stress, anxiety and depression reduced by 71% over three years. Although aimed specifically at helping workers deal with stress there was also a decreased absence for all conditions by 50% over the same time.

Increased productivity

Regular mindfulness practice increases activity in a specific part of the brain, the left prefrontal cortex, which has been associated with higher brain function and emotional intelligence. Increased emotional intelligence enables people to recognise and understand their own emotions and be better at reading the emotions of others. Demonstrating empathy and understanding enables managers to support, guide, motivate and provide effective feedback to staff. Staff feel valued and motivated leading to increased productivity.

Improved decision making

Research from INSEAD Business School found that doing just 15 minutes of mindfulness meditation such as concentrating on your breathing can lead to more rational thinking when making business decisions. The study found that mindfulness meditation helps reduce what economists call ‘sunk cost bias' more commonly referred to as ‘flogging a dead horse' or ‘throwing good money after bad'.

Participants used meditation to focus on information known in the present moment and draw attention away from past experience. Focussing and noticing the actual circumstances in the present improves confidence in decision-making and the effectiveness of the decision. Not only are better decisions made, but also after the decision is made there is less time wasted worrying about whether it was the best decision.

Greater creativity

Mindfulness meditation is sometimes referred to as ‘insight meditation'. Mindfulness trains our mind to look inwardly with curiosity and non-judgement, making us notice more and allowing us to see the bigger picture This can promote divergent thinking which allows new ideas to be generated.

Mindfulness meditation helps us to temporarily draw attention away from past experience. The tendency for people to rely overly on past experience leads to what psychologists refer to as ‘cognitive rigidity'. Obviously past experience is valuable and should not be discounted, however, drawing attention away from past experience frees the mind to think more creatively and generate new ideas. In today's business world things are constantly changing, yesterday's circumstances were different, as are today's solutions.

Increased staff retention

High employee turnover is expensive for business; recruitment and training costs or use of agency staff can put a significant drain on budgets. Retaining your best staff and maintaining their loyalty and motivation saves money and time as well as maintaining quality, consistency and continuity of service. Regular Mindfulness practice increases levels of happiness and wellbeing - a happy workforce not only stays but also stays motivated.

Mindful Therapies is a not for profit organisation dedicated to providing the benefits of mindfulness to as broad an audience as possible.

They run regular drop-in mindfulness meditation classes, mindfulness and positive psychology courses, mindfulness counseling and mindfulness coaching. They are available to visit businesses or offer facilities at their offices in the centre of Newcastle.

For more information contact Send Mail on mark@mindfultherapies.org.uk