Care for Colleagues - Part 6

Care for Colleagues - Part 6

Caring f r Colleagues Mindfulness July 2022

What is mindfulness?

Mindfulness is a technique you can learn which involves noticing what’s happening in the present moment, without judgement. You might take notice and be aware of your mind, body or surroundings. The technique has roots in Buddhism, but you don’t have to be spiritual, or have any particular beliefs, to try it. Mindfulness aims to help you: • become more self-aware • feel calmer and less stressed • feel more able to choose how to respond to your thoughts and feelings • cope with difficult or unhelpful thoughts • be kinder towards yourself Mindfulness works by taking your focus to the present moment and away from other thoughts. The way we think, and what we think about, can affect how we feel and act. For example, if you think or worry a lot about upsetting past or future events, you might often feel sad or anxious. It is understandable to want to stop thinking about difficult things. But trying to get rid of upsetting thoughts can often make us think about them even more.

7 Pillars of Mindfulness

Mindful Attention Awareness Scale

It’s not all about meditation...

Embracing Kindness

Useful Resources

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7 Pillars of Mindfulness

01 Non-judging The world isn’t black and white. However, many of us see judgments as just that. Something is either good or bad; this automatic judgment takes over and informs your choices in ways that you may not even realize. It is critical that you find awareness. Not action, but awareness. You must be able to recognize the judgments you automatically make so you can begin to work around them. 02 Patience As the saying goes, patience is a virtue. The same point is made in the principles of mindfulness. You must understand that the events of your life will unfold in time and accept that. There is no need to rush. You should live the moment for what it is and not become too transfixed on the future. 03 Beginner’s Mind It’s easy to lose yourself if you begin to believe that you have heard, seen and experienced everything. This principle brings forward the idea that life is ever changing. No moment is the same as another. Each one is unique in nature and contains unique possibilities. The beginner’s mind reminds us of this simplicity. The focus here is to not let your experiences become filtered by what you believe you already know. 04 Trust Having trust in yourself, your beliefs and your intuition is necessary to find peace. Being your own person and letting your ideals guide you are the only way to be sure that you are on the right path. You should be open to learning and be listening, but ultimately know that the choices you make should be decided based on what you think and believe. 05 Non-Striving Being and trusting yourself is crucial within the principles of mindfulness. Non-striving is the practice of recognizing that who you are is enough and that striving to be “different” or “better” can be distracting. Embrace who you are and find comfort in that. This allows you to concentrate on the things that matter in the present moment. 06 Acceptance Acceptance can sometimes be misconstrued. This principle is not about being complacent and choosing to be content with things you may not like. Instead, the idea is that you learn to accept the way that things really are. Don’t be clouded by your biases. Instead, you should learn to see the facts within our world and accept them as they are 07 Letting Go Letting go…it seems simple enough, doesn’t it? The truth is that relaxing can be difficult when naturally people become fixated on their own thoughts and ideas. It elevates stress and doesn’t allow us to really focus on what matters. To be mindful, you need to be able to free ourselves of worry and focus on the present.

What if Mindfulness is not for me?

Mindfulness is not for everyone, but it is worth exploring if you have never tried it before – it can only take a few minutes of your day and you never know, it might be what you have been looking for to support your wellbeing. But beware, mindfulness is not a quick, magic solution; it is a skill that needs to be learned and then practised regularly for it to become and remain effective and sometimes it can be difficult to know where to start. The Mindful Attention Awareness Scale can help you understand where you are on your mindfulness journey and once you know your personal starting point, you can begin to build your personalised road to upskill.

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Mindful Attention Awareness Scale

Below is a collection of statements about your everyday experience. Using the 1-6 scale below, please indicate how frequently or infrequently you currently have each experience. Please answer according to what really reflects your experience rather than what you think your experience should be. Please treat each item separately from every other item:

01 Almost always 02 Very frequently

03 Somewhat frequently 04 Somewhat infrequently 05 Very infrequently 06 Almost never

Score (1-6)

I could be experiencing some emotion and not be conscious of it until sometime later. I break or spill things because of carelessness, not paying attention, or thinking of something else. I find it difficult to stay focused on what’s happening in the present. I tend to walk quickly to get where I’m going without paying attention to what I experience along the way. I tend not to notice feelings of physical tension or discomfort until they really grab my attention. I forget a person’s name almost as soon as I’ve been told it for the first time. It seems I am “running on automatic,” without much awareness of what I’m doing. I rush through activities without being really attentive to them. I get so focused on the goal I want to achieve that I lose touch with what I’m doing right now to get there. I do jobs or tasks automatically, without being aware of what I’m doing. I find myself listening to someone with one ear, doing something else at the same time. I drive places on ‘automatic pilot’ and then wonder why I went there.

I find myself preoccupied with the future or the past. I find myself doing things without paying attention. I snack without being aware that I’m eating.

To score the scale, add up your score and divide by 15 (the number of questions). The higher the scores, the higher levels of dispositional mindfulness you are likely to have.

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It’s not all about meditation….

Whilst mediation is a great activity for mindfulness, it doesn’t suit everyone, and beginners can sometimes become overwhelmed and put off. The key to mindfulness is finding what works for you personally; you might already know this, but if not, why not try working your way through some mindfulness activities to see if there are some that speak to you? Here are some simple and quick ideas to try to help you focus on the present, remain calm and find some peaceful joy:

The Name Game This game is simpler than Eye Spy and yet it can be a powerful tool to curb spiralling thoughts. Look around you and name five things you can see, four things you can hear, three sensations you feel, two things you can smell, and finally one thing you can taste.

Puzzle Starting at the top, can you find your way through the maze to the exit at the bottom?

Mindful colouring

Origami

Just an A4 piece of paper needed!

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Embracing Kindness

We can all be too quick to judge others, and frequently, our judgements are based on a tiny snapshot of someone’s life when there can actually be much, much more that is going on. Whilst we encourage our teams to be open and talk to their peers for support where needed, this can often be not so easy to put into practice, especially in a work environment. And this is ok – it is up to the individual to share when they are ready to. A key aspect of mindfulness is being aware of others and keeping an open mind; this always starts with us, and to really challenge ourselves to not “react” in the moment, but to take a few minutes to digest the information that is available, consider the information that may remain hidden, and make a conscious choice to “respond” with a well-considered, fair and kind approach. So, What Can We Do To Help? Here are some great hints and tips to remain supportive and caring to those around you, even when you might not know (or be entitled to know) the full picture:

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Validate their emotions. Letting someone know that they are not alone and being open to what they want to share is an important step. Many people simply want to be understood and know that someone is concerned about them. Just show up. There’s no way to stop tears or stop their anguish, but just being present and letting them know that we are willing to be by their side can be more powerful than anything you say.

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Be a good listener. You may have opinions about their situation or how they are handling it but set your judgments aside and concentrate on listening and empathizing. Keep things confidential. The best way to live up to their trust is to keep any information confidential that they’ve shared with you. Keep the door open. Let them know that you’re thinking of them and would like to spend time with them if and when they’re available. Spend time with them. Engage in conversation with them during quiet periods or spend your lunch break together if possible. If they are willing, perhaps suggest doing some mindfulness activities together. Offer praise. Be encouraging and reassure them about what they are doing well. Offer practical help. Even minor tasks can sometimes be difficult for people who are experiencing distress. Offer to help them with their tasks if you have some spare time - even a small gesture of assistance can make a significant difference in their day.

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