Why this topic?

The word mindfulness - without deep reflection- may conjure up images of a hippy Steve Jobs trekking the back country of India, looking for yogic enlightenment, or Arianna Huffington writing about the magic of sleep, or Brene Brown encouraging us to be authentic and vulnerable. Or perhaps you have an image of a Buddha statuette you may have picked up at a random farmer’s market, or in the tourist shop on your trip to New Delhi, but that is not what I am talking about.

“Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us. Mindfulness is a quality that every human being already possesses, it’s not something you have to conjure up, you just have to learn how to access it”.(Mindful, 2014)

I want to highlight is the importance of breathing and how it can enable better self-care, improved relationships with your colleagues, increase empathy for your boss, and yourself. I am writing this because of my own experiences in the past with making judgements about people in general, and for wrongly perceiving good intent in the workplace, where collaboration is not always natural, except for when it is based on ‘enlightened self-interest’.

Some may say stressful relationships are a natural output of work, which is why work is work! And this puritanical notion might be true, which is why many Americans dread going to work on Monday. It is easy to blame the current paradigm of work as not conducive to being human or showing your humanness at work. Some may say this a clear example on the downside of the exploitative power of late capitalism. Is this true? I examine what mindfulness is, why we are anxious, and share some practical tips for incorporating mindfulness into your routine at work or in your personal life.

Framework: Is Mindfulness possible at work

I will save time on providing a critique on the impact of late capitalism on all of us. This is because philosophers such as Erich Fromm in his work ‘One Dimensional Man’, does an excellent job on this topic. Similarly, Abraham Maslow also provides an alternative to the challenges of hierarchical management of work, by proposing what he called eupsychian management, which has a central thesis which suggests that employees are most likely to be ethical, innovative and fully leveraged if they did work which they cared about, aligned to their purpose, and didn’t feel the impact and fear of a manager who manages in the current paradigm of management, influenced by the work of Frederick Taylor’s work on scientific management. All these things said, I am more interested in talking about what mindfulness is, as I understand it, at this current point of my contemplation of the topic.

“Take for instance a man driven to incessant work by a sense of deep insecurity and loneliness; or another one driven by ambition, or greed for money. In all these cases the person is the slave of a passion, and his activity is in reality a "passivity" because he is driven; he is the sufferer, not the "actor." On the other hand a man sitting quiet and contemplating, with no purpose or aim except that of experiencing himself and his oneness with the world, is considered to be "passive", because he is not "doing" anything. In reality, this attitude of concentrated meditation is the highest activity there is, an activity of the soul, which is possible only under the condition of inner freedom and independence.”- Erich Fromm

Why we may be anxious at work

We fail to realize that work is a collection of individuals who come with masked or hidden baggage that impacts the way they behave. Behavioral theorists such as Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky explain some of our hidden behavioral tendencies in their classic work ‘thinking fast and slow’, and so do other scholars such as Thomas Sowell and Dan Ariely in work titled ‘Predictable Irrational’. We are like icebergs who come to work showing only the tip, without the mass of iced that lays hidden, below the surface. Many thanks in the socioeconomic arena impact decisions we make related to where we work, which zip code we live in, whether our kids go to private or public schools, or how we feel about being a democrat, republican, independent or uncommitted participant etc. I read a 2019 study by the Pew Research Center which states 70% American's who responded to the survey are generally not optimistic about the economy, jobs and incomes. Advances in artificial intelligence will greatly change the way we work, and it is now, more important than ever for individuals’ organizations, and society at large to decide whether we take responsibility for improved consciousness that improves human relations, which can improve innovation, productivity, profitability and growth.

Practical Tips for Mindfulness

Here are 7 simple tips that are based off of my own practice of meditation and culled from several resources and teachers:

1.    Take deep breaths. It is as simple as that. Take a very long and deep breath through your nose with your mouth closed. Hold it for about 15 seconds and release your breath gently through your mouth. Repeat this process as needed and feel the magic of all the good things that happen to your body when you do that.

2.    Assume good intent. Instead of preparing yourself to assume the worst of your boss, colleagues, customers, parents- take a moment to align your thoughts about what you're thinking and feeling whenever you are interacting with someone. Be aware if you are in CYA mode, or ready to pounce. Assume good intent, it is not naïve, it may save you a lot of trouble down the road

3.    Practice humility. There is a place to use your ego, but often, you are best served to realize everyone has value, and a unique perspective and deserves respect. Don't let your ego sweat the small stuff

4.    Growth mindset. There are several studies on the on how practicing a growth-mindset is important to creating a life of possibility, surmount obstacles, and enhance neuroplasticity. All is mental!

5.    Practice active self-care: You may not realize you are deserving of self-care because you have been running scared for years. Do you know you are worth taking time for a stroll in the park, start a yoga class, get a massage, take a trip to a new neighborhood if you cannot travel to a new city or country, beware of your negative self-talk, and take some time for self-reflection, alone time or meditation

6.    Practice gratitude. There is always something to be thankful for even if you do not have everything you are working for, or feel like you have not accomplished your dreams.

7.    Meditate. If you want to build muscle or lose weight, you change your diet and exercise regularly. If you want to be intelligent, you have to feed your brain with information (watch 'Inside Bill Gates Brain' on Netflix for how he feeds his brain). Similarly, if you want to be more mindful, it is important to sit down and meditate.

When you follow these or other steps towards mindfulness on a consistent basis, you may experience what many, call blissipline (bliss through discipline).

Final words

My attempt to discuss mindfulness may feel limited, because I am still learning more about this infinite topic. As the saying goes, the more one learns, the more one realizes one does not know. Thank you for sticking with this article despite my personal limitations in broaching this topic. That notwithstanding, I hope you remember to just breathe, and observe your thoughts before you react to the false information appearing to be real in your mind. Om!

References

Mindful Staff (2014). What is mindfulness. Retrieved from https://www.mindful.org/what-is-mindfulness/

Gramlich, John (2019). Looking ahead to 2050, Americans are pessimistic about many aspects of life in U.S. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/03/21/looking-ahead-to-2050-americans-are-pessimistic-about-many-aspects-of-life-in-u-s/