Hey everyone,
Welcome to WorkMinded.
This session will explore a practice for workplace goodwill which is our take on the traditional practice of loving kindness.
Organizational research shows that developing a culture that supports mindfulness is one of the key pieces to having mindfulness be successful in the workplace.
Mindfulness has the best chance of making a lasting impact at work if it's continually supported and reinforced with everyone contributing to and strengthening a shared culture of mindfulness.
You can be an advocate for mindfulness across your entire work community through your own practice of workplace goodwill.
This mindfulness session will help you not only to cultivate your own mindfulness skills related specifically to your work,
But also to support a wider culture of mindfulness all around you.
Start by finding a safe and comfortable setup for your practice.
This is different for every mind and every body,
And your well-being during mindfulness is completely your own responsibility.
So take a minute to tune in to what feels best for you,
Whether it's closing your eyes or grabbing a blanket or having someone on call to support you.
And always remember you can take a break or step away from the session anytime you might need to.
We'll get into this practice by bringing up some feelings of goodwill.
You can try to think of something joyful or happy that helps you to feel any kind of warm,
Fuzzy feelings or good vibes.
You might think of a memory,
A person,
A pet,
Or anything that brings up this sense of contentment.
Then maybe you can picture these warm fuzzies as a soothing glow of light right in the center of your chest,
Slowly growing brighter and expanding farther,
Gently opening up the space around your heart.
Keeping this sensation of glowing warmth in your awareness,
Turn your attention to yourself and get ready to send yourself some goodwill related to your work.
Say to yourself,
May I feel safe?
This could mean feeling physically or emotionally safe in your workplace or something else.
Choose whatever resonates with you and repeat to yourself,
May I feel safe?
Now say to yourself,
May I feel secure?
This might be a wish for security in your current role or your overall purpose.
Find something that feels right to you and repeat to yourself,
May I feel secure?
Just say to yourself,
May I feel respected?
That might be about feeling seen and able to bring your authentic self to the workplace or something else that symbolizes respect to you around your work.
Repeat to yourself,
May I feel respected?
And finally say to yourself,
May I feel fulfilled?
Maybe this means fulfillment in your work and your contributions or maybe in your relationships at work.
See if you can tune into what feels right for you and repeat to yourself,
May I feel fulfilled?
Now shift that warm glow of goodwill and good vibes towards someone you have positive feelings for.
This could be a trusted colleague,
A supportive mentor,
A great supervisor or anyone else that comes to mind.
Remembering the things you just wished for yourself,
Picture this person in your imagination.
Think about their desire to experience those same things and send these wishes along to them by repeating the phrases,
May they feel safe?
May they feel secure?
May they feel respected?
And may they feel fulfilled?
Next,
Bring those good vibes to someone you have neutral feelings toward.
Maybe someone you interact with from time to time but don't really know all that well.
Remembering the things you wished for yourself,
Picture this person in your imagination.
Think about their desire to experience those same things and send these wishes along to them by repeating the phrases,
May they feel safe?
May they feel secure?
May they feel respected?
And may they feel fulfilled?
Now bring that glowing light to someone you have negative or conflicting feelings for.
Maybe a difficult coworker,
A tough supervisor or a challenging client.
Don't think too much about this one.
A lot of times the first person that comes to mind here is the relationship that you're being called to work with.
And for this one in particular,
Feel free to step away or take a break anytime that you need to.
Remembering the things you wished for yourself,
Picture this person in your imagination.
Think about their desire to experience those same things and send these wishes along to them by repeating the phrases,
May they feel safe?
May they feel secure?
May they feel respected?
And may they feel fulfilled?
Finally,
Send that glowing light of goodwill to your entire work community,
To everyone everywhere who might have a stake in or benefit from what you do each day.
This could be colleagues,
Customers,
Supporters or anyone connected to your work in any way.
Remembering the things you wished for yourself,
Picture these people in your imagination.
Think about their desire to experience those same things and send these wishes along to them by repeating the phrases,
May they feel safe?
May they feel secure?
May they feel respected?
And may they feel fulfilled?
To close the practice,
Tune in one more time to that glowing light of goodwill at your heart center.
You might even want to set the intention to carry these good vibes with you throughout the rest of the day.
And now you can gently start to come back to the space around you.
Be sure to give yourself plenty of time to adjust back into the rest of your day.
Remember that you can come back to this practice over and over to keep cultivating workplace goodwill.
The more you practice,
The more equipped and empowered you are to set the example for expanding a culture of mindfulness all around you.
