Thriving@work

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We have created a unique 8 week course, Thrive @ Work, to teach people mindfulness skills in a way that is applicable to workplace. The course takes the best from two scientifically proven Mindfulness Based methods; the eight-week Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program developed by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn and Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) created by Dr. Steven Hayes.

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Description

Thrive @ Work seeks to develop employees’ self-awareness and self-leadership skills. It trains their ability to focus as well as teach them ways to cope with stress and generally improve their wellbeing.

Mindfulness has been identified as one of the most effective tools in developing stress resilience. The course will not only teach how to manage stress more effectively but will also develop adaptability to change and create a sense of empowerment in participants. The uniqueness of mindfulness is that is recognizes stress as a natural part of life, something that we cannot get rid of. The best option for a fulfilling life is to stop fighting against it and learn how to manage it in everyday life. This requires us to learn some new skills, which gives us “psychological flexibility”. It enables people to focus and fully engage  in what they are doing rather than getting pushed around by their thoughts and feelings. In the ACT tradition, psychological flexibility is developed through three main skills:

  1. Increased awareness of the present moment – by increasing one’s sensitivity to what is happening in the present moment we can discriminate between what we are actually observing with our 5 senses and what our sometimes unreliable minds tell us is happening. We learn to spend less time worrying about the future or ruminating about the past which allows us to be more focused and efficient in the present moment.  
  2. Cognitive defusion – this means developing the ability to watch thoughts come and go, and then choosing which thoughts to act on, rather than getting ‘hooked’ by difficult or disruptive thoughts.  It is not about changing thoughts but changing one’s relationship to them.
  3. Values-based action – psychological flexibility is ultimately about focusing attention on what it is we really want to achieve.  Increasing awareness of our values helps build motivation and enables us take positive and sustained action, even when doing so is challenging.

Increased psychological flexibility not only increases personal resilience and well-being but, in a workplace, it also enhances values-directed behavior, people experience higher levels of motivation, task-focus and performance.  

In sum, the benefits of the course:

  • Develops self-awareness and self-leadership skills
  • Trains focus, clarity and ability to prioritize tasks
  • Reduces stress reactivity and anxiety and gives tools to protect oneself from the effects of chronic stress
  • Creates a shift from reactive behavior to intentional response 

  • Builds resilience, adaptability and confidence
  • Develops ability to manage change and insecurity
  • Teaches skills for wellbeing and self-care
  • Enhances empathy, compassion, communication and relationship skills

Structure

The course takes 8 weeks, where we meet once a week for 90 min. Furthermore the group is offered a 3 hour silent morning of mindfulness practice & reflection. This is optional and is best done near the end of the course, ideally during a weekend. During this morning the participants are silent and we guide them through various meditations – giving them time and space to reflect on their life, work and what they have learned during the course so far.

Session plan

The course is experiential and interactive. Each session includes a mix of didactic teaching, exercises and meditation practices, group dialogues and journaling activities. The themes for the sessions are:  

1 Stepping out of automatic pilot

Introducing Mindfulness
2 Stress & Balance

Cultivating resilience in the face of stress and pressure  
3 Thoughts & Emotions

Cultivating psychological flexibility through calm awareness of our internal experience

4 Performance

Finding the space to lead (others and self) and opening up for more efficiency and creativity

5 Making Mindful choices

Cultivating better decision-making skills based on awareness, focus and acceptance

6 Values

Identifying what matters to me and what kind of life I want to live

7 Taking care of myself

Connecting and communicating mindfully and kindly with myself and others

8 Looking ahead

Making a committed action-plan for a continued thriving (work) life

Home practice

Both the MBSR and ACT are highly experiential approaches involving mindfulness practices and exercises. A certain amount of practice is required between the sessions in order to get the full benefit from the course. Just like we can train our body’s muscle strength and flexibility through continuous practice, we can also train our brain and mind through practice. Through mindfulness practice and/or meditation we are literally building new neurological pathways in the brain. Based on various research into mindfulness in workplaces, we believe that 10-15 min formal meditation each day as well as shorter 2-5 min practices when needed throughout the day will have a positive benefit and is realistic for busy working people.  

Materials

The participants will receive a participant’s manual as well as all mindfulness meditation practices as recorded MP3s to use as home practice.  

Corporate Package

This product can be a part of a corporate package. There is no one size fits all, when it comes to learning mindfulness. We respect individuality, budget and personal choices and therefore offer customized packages combining your needs with our experience. To see what else the package could contain, please go here: corporate-package

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