3 Benefits of Mindfulness in the Workplace

Mindfulness, the act of using meditation to gain control of unruly thoughts and behavior, is gaining popularity at high profile companies like Google and Apple. There’s a reason why mindfulness is being adopted in corporations everywhere. The benefits are enormous and its practice is easy to implement and maintain. Here are three benefits meditation offers that can impact your career success.

1. Reduces stress and negativity

Mindfulness uses calming techniques to regulate emotions. Its calming influences help to reduce stress and negativity. Symptoms associated with elevated levels of stress including anxiety, irritability, and low energy can be turned around with focused mindfulness techniques.

Harvard University psychologist, Ellen Langer, conducted studies on mindfulness and found positive results connecting improved performance through mindfulness activities. Lowering stress and controlling negative reactions and thoughts can increase resiliency during hectic workdays.

Those who practice mindfulness meditation report higher levels of satisfaction in their relationships with others and they are better able to handle conflict thereby reducing stress and negativity. Mindfulness meditation helps build emotional resilience, meaning you are able to bounce back from bad moods more quickly and are less likely to become upset or hold on to volatile feelings.

2. Improves emotional well-being

Mindfulness can create greater emotional intelligence, also known as EQ. It can also increase the ability to navigate social situations and promote better personal decisions to form stronger bonds with colleagues and associates. There are significant benefits to mindfulness that shield employees emotionally when exposed to unsupportive work environments, enhance well-being while at work and contribute to lower levels of burnout for employees in a variety of careers.

In particular, impacts to EQ are eye opening. According to TalentSmart, provider of EQ testing, EQ is responsible for 58% of a person’s job performance and the strongest predictor of performance.  They also found that 90% of top performers are also high in EQ and an employee with high EQ can earn $29,000 more than someone who is not high in EQ. The impact mindfulness has on employees can translate to a more successful employee.

3. Encourages creativity

A healthy outlet for self-expression, enhanced problem-solving, and a heightened level of concentration are all potential foundations for creativity. These necessary components can be fostered through mindfulness activities. Creativity hinges on a healthy mental state. Mindfulness helps to get into a creative frame space by breaking down the negative thoughts that hinder the creative process and encourage self-expression. The benefits of developing a mindfulness routine can impact your professional success. With the volatility and pressure that can occur in the workplace, the ability to regroup and process in a positive way is invaluable to staying mentally healthy. Give mindfulness techniques a try!