I keep stumbling over the word mindfulness these days; in conferences, articles, in coaching, among peers. What does it mean anyway? I had a look at Wikipedia, and found several descriptions.
- There is the spiritual version; « a spiritual or psychological faculty (indriya) that, according to the teaching of the Buddha, is considered to be of great importance in the path to enlightenment . It is one of the « seven factors of enlightenment« . «
- Or the psychology version ; « is the focusing of attention and awareness, based on the concept of mindfulness in Buddhist meditation, but is defined in many ways. (…) Despite its roots in Buddhism, mindfulness is not inherently religious and is often taught independent of religion. (…) Research suggests that mindfulness practices are useful in the treatment of pain, stress, anxiety, depressive relapse, disordered eating, and addiction. »
- And then there is mindfulness cognitive therapy, mindfulness breathing, mindfulness meditation and mindfulness coaching, even mindfulness leadership (« fitness for the mind »). I’m sure there is more.
In short, how I understand it, is that mindfulness is the capability of being present in the now, the opposite of “zapping” from one activity and attention to another. And this helps us to produce better work and be a better manager/friend/spouse/parent, etc.
Something that has been raised in articles I have read and also in a workshop I attended, is that we are living in so much “noise” these days that we are not able to concentrate and focus. Mindfulness and mindfulness techniques help us to get grounded again. One company I read about, hired a mindfulness coach in a customer service centre, and their customer satisfaction went up dramatically. Additionally, the employees reported back higher motivation and satisfaction at work.
What seems to be common with the various techniques I have seen, is that they tell you to go inward, slow down (deep breaths, etc), be reflective, appreciative and notice what or who is around you (a no-no would be to write text messages at the same time as you are talking to your child).
It’s interesting; technology has helped us becoming more efficient, or so we thought, but actually there is too much of it and we can’t concentrate enough to use it according to original intent. So, it seems the trend is “slowing down to be more effective”… Ironical, isn’t it?
