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Mindfulness for Organizations: Simple Strategies for Beginners, with Rasmus Hougaard, Managing Director, The Potential Project
Mindfulness Practice, Not Mindfulness Perfect
I think one of the big reasons why some people leave their mindfulness practice is because they have the wrong expectations of the practice. Mindfulness is called a mindfulness practice, it’s not called mindfulness perfect. For the simple reason that when we sit down and close our eyes in the very beginning lots of thoughts will arise and that’s natural. And when you sit down and do mindfulness practice after having practiced for maybe ten weeks or ten months or ten years, still many thoughts will arise. Again it’s call mindfulness practice, not mindfulness perfect. So the trick of mindfulness is not to get a totally silent clear blissful mind. That doesn’t happen. Mindfulness is a practice where we learn to notice our thoughts, let go of the thoughts and return to the object of choice which is in practice is the breath.
Mindful Commuting
Many people have a slight misconception around mindfulness that it is a sitting practice and you do it when you’re totally quiet. But mindfulness is a state of mind and it is something that we can develop in everything we’re doing. We can develop mindfulness while we are commuting.
Mindful commuting is really very simple. If you’re passively commuting so like in a train or a taxi or a bus, just take at least five, maybe ten minutes of that commuting time, you know, don’t text, don’t read a book, don’t do anything, just sit down and do a mindfulness practice as you’re sitting there. If you’re actively commuting like driving a bike or driving a car, just take ten minutes of that commute to actually just be present with the experience of driving.
This time that we’re commuting is a fantastic time for resetting the mind so that when we get into the office we can leave behind home, and more importantly, when we get home we can actually step inside the door without bringing all the clutter from work with us.
Beginning Your Practice
When starting a mindfulness practice there are basically three things that I would strongly recommend.
The first one is to download a good app and there are many great apps out there. An app that will guide you through the daily practice. The second thing that I would suggest to you is to get a good book on the topic and there are many great books on mindfulness practice. That will certainly help you to get a better understanding of what it is and how to do it. And the last thing is to go to a course. Find a course, you know, wherever you live. Because having a real teacher is a big help in terms of developing a mindfulness practice.
Another thing that can be really useful when you take on a mindfulness practice is to find a community. Now in my line of work we create communities in the workplaces actually. So when we go and work with an organization it’s always a group, it’s a full department that is taking up the practice which is a huge strength because it becomes a collective, a social phenomenon. If you’re not part of an organization like that I certainly recommend to find a community in the area where your life that can support you in your practice.