Mindfulness Practice – Part Two

This is the second in a series of posts on Mindfulness written by Taravandana (you can read the first one here). For more information about Tarvandana please follow this link:

There’s a lot of talk about Mindfulness at the moment, as the answer to stress, leadership capability, maximising engagement and improving performance.

But what does it actually do and how come?

It’s a big question with many answers ranging from it changes brain chemistry to enabling leaders to be more positive. Recently I’ve been reflecting on the way Mindfulness practice creates a space in my mind that means I have more choice about how I respond when things don’t go the way I want. For example, when I’m stuck in traffic yet again on the M6 and feeling anxious about getting to my meeting on time.  If I’m not aware I’ll start blaming the government, my partner and all the other drivers for their part in creating this delay which makes the stress worse and also adds irritation, frustration and even anger into the emotional mix.

Suffering happens, it’s part of being alive. We get stuff we don’t want like difficulties with colleagues, traffic jams, illnesses and loss. We also don’t always get what we want including the perfect partner, well behaved happy children, a pay rise or stable unchanging workplace. It’s just how it is, it comes with getting born. Whilst we can do our best to respond creatively to difficulties and issues, we simply can’t prevent suffering all together, but we can learn to not escalate it further by being aware of how we feel and the stories we tell ourselves.

Mindfulness practice helps me to stay with the anxiety of not getting to my meeting on time. This is tough enough. If I add all those thoughts about other drivers, or what will colleagues think of me if I’m late, the stress and suffering grow and grow. The same applies if I’m unwell, waiting to go into a Board meeting or have just received some bad news. Taking up a regular Mindfulness practice trains the mind, making it clearer and fitter when facing difficulties or navigating change, just like working out at the gym makes the body stronger and more flexible. It helps us to recognise our habitual ways of reacting when we are on auto-pilot. This is normal human behaviour. It’s what we do to get on with our lives, AND with regular Mindfulness practice we discover that we have much more choice than we thought about the way our life and relationships develop.