A guest article by Gabriele Andler
What’s behind it and how you can supplement your yoga offering in a meaningful and profitable way
Yoga and mindfulness have become a firm fixture in many companies in recent years. Although both measures complement each other wonderfully, they are often offered separately in a corporate context and in most cases are not in the same league.
While yoga is seen in the health sector as a means of dealing with stress, mindfulness has quickly found its way into the executive suites of large companies. Mindfulness without yoga may work - but yoga without mindfulness does not.
Since mindfulness is already a well-known factor for yoga teachers, mindfulness training can be a useful and profitable addition to the range of classic yoga classes. In this article, I would like to discuss a few points that, in my experience, make up an effective mindfulness training.
What do companies hope to achieve through mindfulness?
Mindfulness as a concept has been experiencing a lot of hype for years. However, for many it is still a "vague" construct, because mindfulness encompasses both an attitude, a method and a state.
The idea of mindfulness is not really new. Its roots can be found in Buddhist traditions, among other things. In the companies I work for, however, mindfulness is taught exclusively in a secular way, i.e. free from religious and spiritual influences.
Pioneers such as Google, SAP, Bosch and Siemens are making it easier to introduce mindfulness into companies. This trend is supported by media presence and the great interest from scientists in the effectiveness of mindfulness.
The expectations of mindfulness-based programs in companies are as diverse as the challenges that people have to overcome. Some want to improve their ability to concentrate, others want to improve their leadership skills and a large proportion "just" want to be able to deal confidently with difficult emotions and situations.
To understand how mindfulness can meet all of these expectations, we first need to understand what exactly we are talking about. A look behind the scenes of mindfulness-based programs shows that the definition is not the same everywhere. So, depending on the focus, a training can meet very different expectations - or not.
Mindfulness includes two fundamental aspects
The first aspect describes mindfulness as a form of perception that takes place consciously in the present moment. In a mindful state, I perceive myself with all my thoughts, feelings and sensations and am simultaneously aware of the environment in which I find myself.
The second aspect instead focuses on the inner attitude we adopt. This attitude influences how I approach everything I perceive. Mindfulness strives for an open, friendly and non-judgmental attitude.
While the first aspect is known to most people, the second is often overlooked. This second aspect is extremely important in order to be able to develop additional skills in addition to improved perception. This is precisely what makes mindfulness-based training so interesting for companies.
If I reduce mindfulness to the famous “here and now”, then I remain far behind the possibilities offered by the second aspect.
With each of these attitudes, we automatically limit our perception. We unconsciously decide that we know enough about the person or situation and only take in what fits with this knowledge. This mental saving mode often leads to errors in assessment and wrong decisions.*
When we listen mindfully, we perceive what the person is saying with an open mind. An open and positive mindset also allows us to accept ourselves as we are. The better we recognize our emotions and understand the needs behind them, the easier it is to develop compassion for ourselves and others.
Attention – a hotly contested resource
The importance of mindfulness is quickly explained – however, our everyday consciousness makes it difficult to maintain this conscious state over a longer period of time.
Mindfulness and everyday awareness are the two states of consciousness in which we spend the waking phases of our lives. Everyday awareness is associated with daydreaming, mental imagery and self-referential thinking. Scientists have discovered that we automatically fall into everyday awareness when there are no external influences on us. While we are still concentrating on a task, a thought can catapult us to another place and time in milliseconds.
The good news: We can train both our attention and our mindfulness using the same methods.
What methods are included in mindfulness-based training?
Depending on the focus and duration of a training, different aspects and methods are included.
In our own mindfulness-based training "WEG", which I designed together with Holger Bartlick, we introduce participants to different forms of meditation. At this point I would like to issue a small warning. Because the fear that the content of a mindfulness training could drift into esoteric waters is great in companies. Therefore, the wording is very important. At least that is what I can say about my customers in the IT and technology sector.
In our training, we use journaling as a reflection method and practice mindful listening. Using in-depth reflection questions and models from coaching, we approach the area of our emotions, our inner drivers and their triggers.
Some of the mindfulness-based trainings I know of, such as Search Inside Yourself, leave out physical exercises - with the exception of the body scan - which I find very unfortunate. In the MBSR program (mindfulness based stress reduction), on the other hand, yoga is given considerable space. However, this program is more in the area of health in companies and less in the area of personal or leadership development.
Because we believe that the interaction between body and mind is helpful and meaningful, we practice “Mindfulness in Motion” in our program. We do this while sitting in a chair, standing, walking – and, above all, in office-appropriate clothing.
In addition, we integrate breathing exercises from yoga to show how to keep a clear head in stressful situations and not let emotions unintentionally take control.
Although the development of all these skills is based on direct experience, it is helpful to take the mind along so that it can embark on the journey inward. In our training, we therefore not only teach methods, but also insights from the fields of neuroscience and psychology.
Side effects of mindfulness training
Many facts, once known, can change the way you view yourself and others.
It is not uncommon for participants to gain insights that lead to drastic decisions. Those around them are often not very enthusiastic about this, because a functioning system wants to be preserved - regardless of whether it is good for them or not.
There were participants - myself included - who realized after the training that they wanted to change their career. Dissatisfaction that had been successfully suppressed for a long time comes to the surface very clearly through mindfulness training. At this point, it is helpful for a trainer to have coaching skills in order to accompany people through this process.
Conclusion: What can mindfulness training achieve?
Mindfulness serves as a door opener in companies because it promotes the development of important skills and competencies. Competencies that promote both cooperation and personal development. The reluctance of some companies, out of fear of esoteric content, is nevertheless still noticeable in many companies. Fortunately, not only the number of scientific studies on the subject of mindfulness has been growing for years, but also the number of evaluations from companies.
Gabriele Andler
Gabriele Andler is a coach, trainer and author. She has conducted mindfulness-based programs for companies around the world and runs an institute for yoga and mindfulness. After 24 years as a consulting manager at SAP, Gabriele knows the challenges companies face. She is enthusiastic about establishing the practice of mindfulness in the business world to support people in their personal development. Gabriele has also completed various training courses to become a yoga teacher, coach and a Search Inside Yourself trainer. She has written several books about mindfulness and journaling and records her thoughts and insights in her own blog attention.rocks.
* See Kahnemann, Daniel (2016). Thinking, Fast and Slow. Penguin Verlag, and Dobelli, Rolf (2020). The Art of Clear Thinking. Piper Verlag (2nd edition).