Mindful Workplace (eBook)

Michael Chaskalson is the UK's leading trainer of mindfulness-based approaches to work, with clients including London Business School, Prudential and GlaxoSmithKline. He is an honorary lecturer at the Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice, Bangor University, UK, and has more than thirty years experience of Buddhism and formal meditation.

Foreword ix

Preface xiii

Introduction: The Business Case for Mindfulness Training 1

1 What Is Mindfulness? 13

2 What Is Mindfulness Practice? 31

3 Positive and Negative Stress: Up and Down the
Yerkes-Dodson Curve 57

4 Approach and Avoidance: Learning New Ways to Be with What Is
73

5 Metacognition: Knowing Your Thoughts as Thoughts 89

6 Respond: Learning Not to React 101

7 Mindfulness and Emotional Intelligence: Positive Relationships
at Work 111

8 Mindfulness for Leaders 127

9 Mindfulness in Coaching 145

10 Living Mindfully 157

11 Putting on an Eight-Week Mindfulness Course in a Workplace
Setting 163

Appendix 1: Good Practice Guidance for Teaching
Mindfulness-Based Courses 183

Appendix 2: Review of Significant Mindfulness Research 187

Appendix 3: Further Reading 191

Appendix 4: Further Training and Other Resources 193

Index 195

"However, the general mindfulness applicability to therapy
is highly welcomed and well written." (British
Journal of Mental Health and Nursing, 1 July 2012)

". . . Simple exercises at the end of each chapter and
numerous workplace examples make this it a fascinating, highly
relevant read for any employee." (The
Psychologist, 1 May 2012)
"His book is a skilful weaving together of art, science and
practice, presented with clarity, simplicity and warmth." (Mindful,
11 October 2011)

The forces of dissonance are all around us. They gnaw at us and
eventually turn us into a person we neither recognize nor want to
be. One of the few research proven antidotes to these ravages of
chronic stress, over commitment, and being too busy, is working on
our mindfulness. Michael Chaskalson provides a marvelous and
engaging introduction to the arena and with practical steps for you
and your organization. Don't worry, you will not start to
levitate after reading this book, but if you heed his message and
practical steps, you will be healthier, experience heightened
cognitive performance, and be more open to possibilities.

--Richard Boyatzis, Distinguished University
Professor, Case Western Reserve, co-author of 'Primal
Leadership' and 'Resonant Leadership'

In this important book, Michael Chaskalson presents a powerful
case for the intentional enhancement of mindfulness in the
workplace. He offers a clear and authoritative description of
mindfulness and the ways in which we can facilitate it. Crucially,
he also explains in detail why mindfulness training can have
profoundly beneficial effects on a surprisingly wide range of
aspects of individual and organizational function. In doing
so, he draws on a wide base of research evidence, and on his own
unique personal experience of decades of teaching awareness skills
and of founding and running successful organizations. The
Mindful Workplace deserves to be highly influential.

--John Teasdale, co-author of 'The
Mindful Way through Depression' and 'Mindfulness-based
Cognitive Therapy for Depression'

This book is extraordinary. It offers a revolutionary and
compelling solution to the problems faced in the 21st
century workplace. Michael Chaskalson writes with superb clarity
and wisdom to show that we no longer have to choose between
economic imperatives and human well-being. Through training
in mindfulness, both can flourish, to the benefit of all. A
book that will be on the syllabus of every Business School that
wishes to be on the frontier of knowledge and skills, but also a
read for anyone who wants to understand why work can be so
stressful and what to do about it.

--Mark Williams, Director, Oxford Mindfulness
Centre, and Co-author of 'Mindfulness: a practical guide to
finding peace in a frantic world'