Mindfulness as a resource to work better and with less effort

In recent years you have often heard about mindfulness and the benefits it brings, both personally and professionally, for those who practice it consistently.

But exactly why can it be beneficial for our well-being in the workplace? What concrete benefits can it bring to our lives?

Since the 1970s, dozens and dozens of studies on the benefits of meditation have been published every year and many of these studies have focused on mindfulness, which is a specific form of meditation, which has been used for decades in the clinical setting, thanks to the its proven efficacy, in particular for reducing anxiety, stress and depression.

Already from this premise, the practical utility in the business environment is evident, where anxiety and stress can reach levels that make the person unproductive or even seriously damage them, as in cases of burnout.

However, if we look at the effects of mindfulness on a neurological level, we understand why it is an extremely useful practice in the professional field.

In fact, several studies have shown that the constant practice of mindfulness for a few weeks leads to an increase in the gray matter in the area of ​​the prefrontal neocortex, that is, that part of the brain responsible for practical functions such as organization, management, planning and control.

In addition, the a posteriori analyzes on the brains of the participants of the various studies highlighted an increase in axonic connections between the prefontal neocortex and the limbic system, that is, that part of our mind dedicated to managing emotions.

This increase in the connections between these two areas implies a greater ability to manage and control emotions, especially those we consider negative such as anger and sadness. In the professional field, these two neuronal modifications of the mind translate into a greater ability to manage practical situations and one’s own emotional reactions. In other words, we could say that mindfulness allows us to make our minds healthier and more flexible, abandoning rigid and harmful patterns of thought and behavior. Not bad, in short.

Through the measurement of the encephalographic traces of people in meditation it was also found that through mindfulness the brain waves pass from gamma, typical of a person under stress, and beta, typical of the waking state, to alpha and theta waves, which instead are those we experience in the different stages of sleep. In practice, for the mind, meditating is equivalent to a state of deep rest, thus allowing a regeneration and recovery of mental energies.

Personally, I often do a meditation in the late afternoon and this allows me to continue working late with renewed energy.

But how can these neuronal changes be made effective? The key is constant practice. Think of it as a workout: if after months on the sofa you try to go running, you will be out of breath in less than a minute, but with training you will be able to run a marathon. Mindfulness works in exactly the same way: the more you “train” the new connections through meditation the more they will be stable and lasting over time.

Basically, happiness and well-being can be trained, and mindfulness is a great tool for doing that!

As for the practice itself, we will not pretend to briefly explain how to meditate, but on the internet you will find endless resources for those approaching mindfulness for the first time and on YouTube you can easily find both guided meditations and background music that can be for you.

Now you just have to close your eyes, listen to your breath and try.