Mindfulness at Work

Mindfulness. The word seems to have slipped with a breath from the silent meditation hall and wandered into boisterous boardrooms and classrooms across the world. Its presence and mystery is popping up in all manner of conversation and communication these days. As a meditator I can't help but smile at the embrace of now, yet I wonder how its arrival is being met as a new guest at the tables of corporate balance sheets and halls of higher learning.

Last week I was graced with an afternoon of tea and mindful conversation with a friend and fellow mindfulness practitioner, Patricia Galaczy. Patricia is one of Continuing Studies' gifted facilitators, designing and delivering leadership and career skills courses to students at all stages of their academic journeys. A teacher in the private and public sectors for over 13 years, she has been a mindfulness and yoga student for the same period of time, nurturing a foothold in both the worlds of academia and contemplation. Patricia holds a Master's Degree in Industry Relations from Queens University and has studied mindfulness at Spirit Rock Meditation Centre in California, as well as completed certificate training in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) with Jon Kabat-Zinn.

"I've always really been interested in people and people's potential," Patricia told me. "How we work, how we think and how we can be better together, play relationally into an organizational context."

Although a skillful practitioner in both professional advancement and mindful practices, she struggled for several years in how to bring the language of mindfulness into a work environment and make it practical and accessible at every level of an organization with all its challenges.

"One of my favourite definitions of leadership is being able to see clearly and respond skillfully," Patricia shared. "The definition of mindfulness that makes a lot of sense for me is the ability to pay attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally....And that definition makes a lot of sense to people, particularly in a work context. So much of what we understand about our capacities, our relationships, the organizational dynamics have to do with our ability to be able to pay attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally, and when we don't do that it has repercussions."

For Patricia holding up that leadership definition of seeing clearly means starting to see how we see and being aware of our mind. Mindfulness fits seamlessly into that view of leadership. She pointed out that the 1/2 day mindfulness workshops she has offered for the past year to Public Service employees have been full with consistent waitlists. Clearly the times are changing in the perception of mindfulness and its place in the workplace.

As we neared the end of our time together, I asked Patricia if there were two things people could take away from her upcoming mindfulness courses at RRU, what would they be?

"One is a understanding of what mindfulness is and what it isn't. Why it's helpful? How it's used? ...For example Google has a mindfulness program that's been in place since 2007 and it's really amazing to look at the results of that. To see and understand mindfulness as a concept but also to understand mindfulness as an application that's real. Mindfulness has formal practice that is very important and it also has informal practice.

"The second thing to take away are some tools, some practices that right away people can try. Mindfulness is very much a see-for-yourself kind of practice. It's a way of being really. It's a matter of trying it and seeing if it makes a difference in your life."

Patricia told me the Sanskrit for the word "mindfulness" is "to remember". "It is our essential nature to be this way," she said. Like chipping away at the statue within the block of marble, mindfulness is at our core and tapping into its potential allows us to be more resilient, reduces stress in our lives, and helps us to respond more skillfully in all areas of our lives.

"I find it a privilege and an honour to able to bring these two worlds together," she added. "I feel that mindfulness is probably the most important tool, practice, way of being that will truly make a difference in individual lives, but also in how we relate to each other in the work place, how we can achieve organizational success...and ultimately reduce the suffering in the world."

Join Patricia Galaczy for her upcoming mindfulness courses in Continuing Studies:

Introduction to Mindfulness: Staying Grounded in Stressful Times - free lunchtime learning talk
Friday, November 15, 2013,12-1pm

Everyday Mindfulness: Slow Down, Come Back and Be Here Now
Saturday, November 23, 2013, 9am-4:30pm

Mindfulness Based Stress Reductions (MBSR)
Monday evenings (5-7pm), one Saturday (10am-4pm), January 24-March 1, 2014

Mindfulness at Work
Thursday, February 6, 2013, 9am-5pm

Cheers,
Tess Wixted
Learning Associate

Visit us at cstudies.royalroads.ca.