Taking up a Mindfulness Practice

This is a guest post from Taravandana as promised last week. Enjoy:

So why am I spending this Sunday evening composing my first blog?

Good question. I have been thinking about having a go for months but convinced myself that for one reason or another I wasn’t able to. Of course it’s just been unhelpful self-talk. During an enjoyable conversation with Stuart he set me the challenge of writing a piece before I set off to Bhutan.

So here goes.

This week I have been reflecting on Mindfulness and the positive impact it has had on the lives of many people including mine. I have also been bringing to mind friends and colleagues who are stressed, unhappy and or troubled and many senior leaders who find themselves with impossible jobs in unenviable circumstances. I find myself wanting to suggest Mindfulness as a solution.  And it’s also my experience that giving advice rarely works.

The evidence base is strong, the science clear that Mindfulness practice improves wellbeing, performance and leadership capability. It makes people happier, more resilient and able to relate to and engage others.  Sounds great but all of these claims aren’t enough to convince many people to have a go.

Taking up a Mindfulness Practice is like deciding to go to the gym for the mind. It’s a life style change that is more likely to succeed if the need for change is recognised and well planned for and there is sufficient support in place.

The ancient Indian teachings that gave rise to Mindfulness meditation say that it’s the experience of “suffering” that leads people to seek out tools or answers to their pain, distress or lack of meaning. Asking around fellow mindfulness-practising senior leaders, I found that that all of them had taken up meditation in response to personal loss or change or stress.  Recognising rather than turning away from pain seems to be the first step.  Then, only then, it seems to me will the benefits of Mindfulness seem relevant.