The Mindful Workplace

This book offers a practical and theoretical guide to the benefits of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) in the workplace, describing the latest neuroscience research into the effects of mindfulness training and detailing an eight-week mindfulness training course.

• Provides techniques which allow people in organizations to listen more attentively, communicate more clearly, manage stress and foster strong relationships
• Includes a complete eight-week mindfulness training course, specifically customized for workplace settings, along with further reading and training resources
• Written by a mindfulness expert and leading corporate trainer

Foreword ix

Preface xiii

Introduction: The Business Case for Mindfulness Training 1

1 What Is Mindfulness? 13

2 What Is Mindfulness Practice? 31

3 Positive and Negative Stress: Up and Down the Yerkes–Dodson Curve 57

4 Approach and Avoidance: Learning New Ways to Be with What Is 73

5 Metacognition: Knowing Your Thoughts as Thoughts 89

6 Respond: Learning Not to React 101

7 Mindfulness and Emotional Intelligence: Positive Relationships at Work 111

8 Mindfulness for Leaders 127

9 Mindfulness in Coaching 145

10 Living Mindfully 157

11 Putting on an Eight-Week Mindfulness Course in a Workplace Setting 163

Appendix 1: Good Practice Guidance for Teaching Mindfulness-Based Courses 183

Appendix 2: Review of Significant Mindfulness Research 187

Appendix 3: Further Reading 191

Appendix 4: Further Training and Other Resources 193

Index 195

"However, the general mindfulness applicability to therapy is highly welcomed and well written." (British Journal of Mental Health and Nursing, 1 July 2012)

". . . Simple exercises at the end of each chapter and numerous workplace examples make this it a fascinating, highly relevant read for any employee." (The Psychologist, 1 May 2012)

"His book is a skilful weaving together of art, science and practice, presented with clarity, simplicity and warmth." (Mindful, 11 October 2011)

Michael Chaskalson is the UK's leading trainer of mindfulness-based approaches to work, with clients including London Business School, Prudential and GlaxoSmithKline. He is an honorary lecturer at the Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice, Bangor University, UK, and has more than thirty years experience of Buddhism and formal meditation.

Mindfulness - a way of paying attention to whatever arises from moment to moment, in yourself, others and the world around you - enhances resilience by enabling people to more quickly renew themselves, offsetting stress and reducing the risk of burnout. Fusing the ancient art of meditative practice with scientific research, this approach develops self-awareness and an empathic understanding of others, raises emotional intelligence, and enables employees to build more resonant relationships both inside and outside the workplace.

In addition to describing the latest neuroscience research into the effects of mindfulness training, the book lays out a detailed eight-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) training course that has been specifically customized for the workplace.

For executives and employees, The Mindful Workplace offers insights into the process and potential benefits of mindfulness training. For professionals interested in individual and team effectiveness, it suggests ways to significantly advance workplace dynamics and provides the hands-on tools and advice needed to implement lasting change.

The forces of dissonance are all around us. They gnaw at us and eventually turn us into a person we neither recognize nor want to be. One of the few research proven antidotes to these ravages of chronic stress, over commitment, and being too busy, is working on our mindfulness. Michael Chaskalson provides a marvelous and engaging introduction to the arena and with practical steps for you and your organization. Don’t worry, you will not start to levitate after reading this book, but if you heed his message and practical steps, you will be healthier, experience heightened cognitive performance, and be more open to possibilities.
—Richard Boyatzis, Distinguished University Professor, Case Western Reserve, co-author of ‘Primal Leadership’ and ‘Resonant Leadership’

In this important book, Michael Chaskalson presents a powerful case for the intentional enhancement of mindfulness in the workplace. He offers a clear and authoritative description of mindfulness and the ways in which we can facilitate it. Crucially, he also explains in detail why mindfulness training can have profoundly beneficial effects on a surprisingly wide range of aspects of individual and organizational function. In doing so, he draws on a wide base of research evidence, and on his own unique personal experience of decades of teaching awareness skills and of founding and running successful organizations. The Mindful Workplace deserves to be highly influential.
—John Teasdale, co-author of ‘The Mindful Way through Depression’ and ‘Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy for Depression’

This book is extraordinary. It offers a revolutionary and compelling solution to the problems faced in the 21st century workplace. Michael Chaskalson writes with superb clarity and wisdom to show that we no longer have to choose between economic imperatives and human well-being. Through training in mindfulness, both can flourish, to the benefit of all. A book that will be on the syllabus of every Business School that wishes to be on the frontier of knowledge and skills, but also a read for anyone who wants to understand why work can be so stressful and what to do about it.
—Mark Williams, Director, Oxford Mindfulness Centre, and Co-author of ‘Mindfulness: a practical guide to finding peace in a frantic world’