Mindfulness at work
Our mission is to integrate calm and consciousness into our fast paced lives.
To empower every individual around how they are the true masters of their health, happiness and performance.
What is mindfulness?
Mindfulness is a practical way of training our minds to be more in the present. It is so powerful because it calms down our minds and nervous system just slightly, which research [increasingly] shows has enormous benefits on performance, health and happiness.
THE BENEFITS OF TEACHING AND ENCOURAGING MINDFULNESS IN the work place
The majority of education systems, work and home environments do not include a mindfulness or meditation practice. As the skills are acquired through repetition, making it part of the routine at work is an ideal way to incorporate it into our otherwise over-busy lives.
Whilst the very ‘aim’ of mindfulness is that there isn’t an aim, other than to learn to ‘Be’ present, there is increasing, quality research showing that the regular practice of mindfulness are extensive and can significantly facilitate the following:
1. PERFORMANCE and productivity
By improving focus and attention both performance and productivity are enhanced.
Performance anxiety around demanding times and projects has been shown to be lowered.
Those who partake in a mindfulness outlet, enjoy increased executive brain function brain and creativity to see projects from a different perspective.
2. WORKFORCE MORAL
Mindfulness practice can help create overall significantly happier and more independently motivated and unified teams.
There is increasing evidence that organisations and leaders who nurture relationships and are seen to care about the wellbeing of their workforce, have much higher levels of retention, staff moral and inter-personal relationships.
3. COMMUNICATION and decision making
Mindfulness helps to create a calmer working environment, hence social, emotional and communication skills such as empathy, recognising what others may need have been shown to improve.
Decision making can both quicken and feel more aligned for people who meditate.
4. HAPPINESS
Mindfulness enables us to recognising we have a ’monkey mind’. It helps us understand why the stories we tell ourselves aren’t always helpful or true.
By offering tools for managing challenging or strong emotions and ‘recentering’ during difficult situations, those who mediate often feel both more connected to self, and closer interpersonal relationships, both contributing factors to overall happiness.
5. HEALTH
People who partake in regular meditation have been shown to enjoy better energy, decreased fatigue. Hence it's practice reduces sick leave, injury and accident rates and overall stress levels are reduced.
A mindfulness practice affects our hormones and nervous systems in a great way, leading to better sleep, stress management and overall health management. It has been shown to decreased reliance on certain medication and dramatically improve the self awareness around the body and mind, as it facilitates the connection between the two.
'A Happy Worker is a Productive Worker' - Marilyn Tam
the Mindfulness at work proJECT
We develop a bespoke programme and rhythm to match your organisation's aims, participants, budget and schedule.
This may range from a one off trail lunch time workshop, weekly or bi-weekly facilitated sessions, to a series of monthly workshops. All designed to launch your 'Mindfulness at Work' project in the most beneficial way to your organisation.
Some proposed topics for the full mindfulness at work process include:
Breathing techniques and starting to be ‘present’
Staying focused and recognising the monkey mind
Observing thoughts and feelings
Managing intense emotions, stressful times and situations
Going deeper with body scanning
Accessing the body’s wisdom and intuition
Keeping mindfulness practical - positioning, mindful eating, walking and other mindful ‘activities’
Q & A / ‘troubleshooting’
Options for post programme support:
Group support can be offered online or with regular or occasional in person or online group facilitation sessions.
Private mindfulness coaching support can be offered with online or in person coaching.
Refresher sessions and annual team building days can be arranged, with specific aims to optimise performance, manage stress and promote resilience and mindfulness.
Further health, performance and personal coaching in individual or group sessions.
DO NOTE
The Mindfulness at work programmes are not designed for deep ‘therapeutic’ treatment for particular ailments. They are designed to improve the work environment due to the benefits discussed above, equip attendees with an invaluable life tool and to increase awareness of themselves and others.
Private coaching is available and more appropriate for those with more significant and specific health issues.
Whilst Mindfulness it is a common and popular ‘buzzword’ at the moment, its origins are actually very old and are found in a wide range of Eastern Philosophies such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism and Christianity. The Mindfulness at Work programmes are however taught as a totally secular topic.
PROFESSIONAL BIO
Originally from the UK and now living near Geneva, Switzerland, Sally Dibden is a Life, Health & Success Coach to dynamic achievers around the globe. She also runs her Physiotherapy, Pilates and Yoga Clinic in France where she lives with her family.
Sally is the founder of The Wellbeing Consultants, a company formed over 10 years ago, with the mission of empowering busy people, often leaders in their fields (and homes!) to optimise their health, happiness and performance. She observed that the high achievers she worked with often struggled to maintain balance across their professional and personal life. That consequently, whilst they were highly successful in many ways, they were also at high risk of health problems, ranging from mild anxiety and depression, to complete exhaustion and burnout.
Sally has added a wealth of qualifications along the way including pilates, acupuncture, energy medicine, psychology, a PGC in sports therapy to name a few. Over recent years she has also added certifications in holistic health and transformational life coaching.
THE RESEARCH
The World Health Organisation have declared stress as the 21st century health epidemic. Here’s a few other statistics about the extent of this problem:
According to the Health and Safety Executive, stress is now the single biggest cause of sickness in the UK. Where over 105 million days are lost to stress each year, costing UK employers over £1.24 billion.
Leading UK doctors estimate that 70 to 85% of visits to general practioners and family doctors, are for stress related problems.
Nearly 66% of companies with effective health and productivity programmes believe they perform better than their competitors (Towers Watson 2011).
In a recent survey by Virgin Healthmiles, 77% of employees responded that “health and wellness programs positively impact the culture at work” ( Virgin HealthMiles Inc. and Workforce Management Magazine).
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance warns that managers must 'raise their game' to create happy and healthy workplaces (BBC).
In the UK, almost 31 million days of work were lost in 2013 due to back, neck and muscle problems (Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Compared with sick pay and loss of work with the absent or under-performing employee, specialist mindfulness coaching can be a very worthwhile and empowering option.
"Health is not merely the absence of disease or infirmity but a positive state of complete physical, mental and social well-being. A healthy working environment is one in which there is not only an absence of harmful conditions but an abundance of health-promoting ones"
- The World Health Organisation
Why specialise in mindfulness?
Sally's career, empowering people about their health and wellbeing, has involved teaching mindfulness to pretty much every one of the thousands of clients and patients she's worked with - from the very young to elderly, from athlete to sedentary office worker.
Her interest in mindfulness started over 20 years ago and has gradually grown over the years. Originally qualified as a Chartered Physiotherapist in the UK, a large part of her training and experience was spent in NHS hospitals, sports clinics and the military. Her work was essentially to help people to heal, which invariably covered breathing well – the essential principle of mindfulness. It was also to empower people to understand their bodies better and adopt a beneficial mindset to perform at their best.
Despite all she knew, Sally succumbed to burnout whilst she was building several businesses, alongside raising her children in a country far away from the family support familiar to previous generations. She was seeing similar same stress induced problems in her clients - particularly amongst high achievers with either demanding work or young families.
Sally passionately believes that prevention is much more efficient, quicker and cheaper than the cure, yet this is in complete conflict to the way many of us run our life, and the way society and work structures are set up.
She believes that we all have incredible potential that can only be fulfilled if we’re equipped with the skills required for our unique make-up and our fast paced world.
Over the years, Sally has found both personally and professionally, that mindfulness is one of the most empowering tools to do so, as people can embrace it in their own time and hence weren't therapist dependent.
Whilst it's not a 'cure all', Mindfulness provides a strong foundation for more empowered conscious living. By learning and practicing the principles of mindfulness, her clients are able to calm their nervous system so they can be truly present at work, home and play. The added bonus is that they optimise their performance, health and happiness along the way.
FURTHER RESOURCES:
Why use Mindfulness? https://www.ted.com/talks/andy_puddicombe_all_it_takes_is_10_mindful_minutes#t-64561
Stress in the Workplace http://www.who.int/occupational_health/topics/stressatwp/en/
A FEW TESTIMONIALS
“My organization held a retreat for the legal team and Sally came to animate a mindfulness session. My team had never practised mindfulness before. Sally was able to create a connection with the group through a brief introductory exercise allowing everyone to feel confident and at ease. Sally has deep knowledge of peoples’ overall wellbeing and with her intuitive style and holistic approach she knows how to best approach a group and present a new topic or area of work to be explored. For the main part of the session, the group moved outside in the garden and Sally guided us through various mindfulness exercises with her calm and serene style. My team greatly enjoyed the experience and particularly remembered Sally’s soft voice that accompanied the exercises. Thank you Sally for organising this great session including the materials and allowing me to bring mindfulness to my team!”
Liliane von Wyl, Head of Legal & Compliance, International Baccalaureate, Geneva
“Sally is my my secret success weapon! Running a business is a real challenge, and it was at the point where I felt that it was consuming all of me that I reached out to her. I quickly realised that investing my time and money with Sally was helping me shift my energy and these changes meant that I was starting to balance my time between work and home. I've learned what wellbeing truly is and that doesn't necessarily mean that I'm meditating all day. It's just taking care of myself, so I can pursue my dreams.”
Grant Pierrus, founder and CEO of the award winning blog and marketing agency, The Interior Style Hunter, London
" When I first started seeing Sally I was constantly overwhelmed and exhausted. We spent time constructing a schedule to include some me time. Once I realised that I deserved a break too, I felt more rested which in turn allowed me to be more constructive with my time instead of the constant fire fighting. Thank you Sally! "
Kamelia Mirfa, Ambassador to The Compassion UK Charity, Geneva
" Sally had a transformative influence on my life, encouraging true introspection and inner work to manifest the life that I dream of, and to be at ease with the strength within, not distracted by the noise, that can be so deafening. Sally is Gods voice guiding you: mind, body, spirit to the fullness of self and of life and of love. I have been greatly blessed to share and be guided. Thank you thank you thank you!”
Chidiogo Akunyili, Community Lead, Global Shapers, Africa, World Economic Forum, Geneva
“I think Sally's genius is in her unique ability to impart concrete information paired with her uncanny ability to get to the root of a problem in minutes. She offers both concrete suggestions and the opportunity to delve deeper into root causes. She also combines professionalism with a gentle empathetic touch. Sally really cares about the personal growth of her coachees, and this goes a long way to embed her wise teachings. What I gained was a more diligent attitude to quarterly and daily goal setting, time management at work and at home, and an affirmation of the power of body work to connect with the subconscious. Above all I felt a great sense of purpose and a bounce in my step...”
Dr Tanya Murphy, Founder of www.zoetrust.org, Nyon, Switzerland
We pride ourselves on excellent customer service. You are very important to us.
To fully understand your company's unique situation we would be delighted to liaise with you, preferably in a meeting or phone call to discuss how we can be of service.
There are also several other ways we can support the health, happiness and performance in your organisation. Do check out our Corporate High Performance and Wellbeing Services and the Services pages for further information.