Workplace Mindfulness

I offer mindfulness programmes to any organisations, groups or networks that are working towards positive social, economic or environmental change. This can be social enterprises, non-government organisations, community groups or activist training centres. Entities working in civil society face a unique set of challenges including:

  • Needing to stay adaptable and flexible to changeable and complex external environment
  • Balancing what is likely to have an impact with what is fundable and sufficiently measurable
  • Staying motivated when change is complex and nonlinear
  • Managing high workloads and tight deadlines with a constant sense of urgency
  • Avoiding staff burn out and/or the effects of secondary trauma which reduces capacity and pillages talent and experience from the sector
  • Working in collaboration with other organisations with different theories of how change happens
  • Competing between departments or between organisations for limited resources 

Mindfulness is by no means a cure-all for these challenges. It can help staff and teams to building working practices and cultures that:

  • Make efficient use of time by working with more awareness and intention
  • Recognising and shifting limiting beliefs or attitudes giving a greater range of possibilities and choices
  • Recognising personal limits and building in habits that are sustainable and maximise impact rather than unsustainable maximum output
  • Reducing interpersonal conflict through better listening, assumption checking and understanding of perspectives and experiences
  • Creating cultures of care that allow us to bring our whole selves and our diverse backgrounds and experiences to our work

In the programme I offer, we spend 60-75 mins a week, over 8 weeks, building a strong foundation of mindfulness in the following ways: 

  • understanding what mindfulness is and how it can support our work
  • understanding stress from a physiological, psychological and behavioural perspective
  • shifting from unhelpful, autopilot thinking and behaviour that compound stress, anxiety and disconnection to greater awareness and choice
  • bringing mindfulness to our judgements, assumptions and biases in order to make better decisions and be more creative at working through challenges 
  • working on interpersonal relationships with greater authenticity, empathy for self and others and clearer communication 
  • shifting work practices and cultures from being depleting to being regenerative.

This programme includes:

  • An introductory webinar about what mindfulness is and how this programme can support social change
  • A 60-75 min session per week for 8 weeks (or 10 weeks if started as a drop in to test interest)
  • Recorded meditations for staff to download
  • Material to support sessions
  • Work tips to build mindfulness into daily working practices