Mindfulness Blog

January 22, 2019

As modern-day Buddhists, many of us work in companies and we often love our work, our colleagues and our workplace culture. But ethically, we can be challenged by the harm some enterprises inflict on our planet. As Buddhists, how do we respect “right livelihood” and keep the jobs we enjoy?  

It is fitting in our pursuit of “right livelihood” to consider the harm that our...

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December 6, 2018

Typically, when we feel oppressed by workplace tyrants, we struggle, and we try to comfort ourselves that we are not to blame.  Yet, the more we ponder the tyrant the more disturbing she seems to become.

Excerpted from Awake at Work.

 

People at work can be unusually irritating. For many reasons, we can find ourselves...

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November 14, 2018

Workplaces turn toxic when the emotions we bring to work go unappreciated, unmanaged and ignored. Too often, we may find ourselves chasing after “emotional trophies” at work where we are seeking false reassurance, bragging rights or, even worse, dominance over others. Here in this excerpt from "Fearless at Work” we learn these emotional trophies are...

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October 12, 2018

Promoting workplace candor requires psychological safety, no doubt, but it would be a mistake to misunderstand such “safety” as a form of false harmony or a substitute for courage. 

In his study Managerial Courage1, Harvey Hornstein concluded that seeking harmony in organizations, while worthy at times, is often is a primary killer of innovation, initiative, and...

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June 17, 2016

Here in this review of Fearless at WorkFrater Acher, a master schooled in the ancient arts of “divine magic”, explores the nuances of overcoming cowardice and living a noble and dignified life. 

Fearless at Work actually isn't a book about work. It's a book about cowardice. The kind of cowardice most of...

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June 8, 2016

In this Producer’s Pick excerpt from Sounds True, Michael explains how one can be far more successful at work by dropping affectations and acting from a more open and authentic sense of self. Sounds True producer Kriste Peoples commented, “According to [Michael]’s philosophy, the ability to let go of ‘you’ while focusing on others is what unfolds as courage at work. With time, we...

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April 4, 2016

New, from Sounds True,  Mindful Leadership Training: The Art of Inspiring the Best in Others by Leading from the Inside Out by Michael Carroll.

In this audio program, we will explore how to unleash our leadership talents, open courageously to life’s circumstances, and recognize how to skillfully inspire our world. We will learn how the practice of mindfulness-awareness...

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November 4, 2015

Research is showing that leaders who practice mindfulness experience heightened self-confidence, a more nuanced sense of autonomy, and richer emotional resilience and well-being.  

From Mindful.org, this article explores how mindfulness enhances overall employee well-being. 

October 7, 2015

When our life’s work confronts the tough realities of  death, disappointment, and existential doubt we may turn to our favorite Empiricist David Hume.  

 

How did Hume come up with these ideas, so profoundly at odds with the Western philosophy and religion of his day? What turned the neurotic Presbyterian teenager into the great founder of the European Enlightenment...

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October 2, 2015

A Sufi tale

One day the sun and a cave decided to have a conversation. During the chat, the sun was having a difficult time understanding what the cave meant by “dark, closed and dank” and the cave was confused by the sun’s notion of “light, open and clear”. So, they decided to change places and share perspectives.

The cave went up...

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