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In this episode of the WorkMinded podcast, learn how mindfulness can help us navigate the ups and downs of change.
In This Episode
00:10 – Mindset, Emotional Impact, and Working Style for Change Management
00:36 – An Organizational Science Perspective on Change
01:09 – How Mindfulness Can Support Change Management
01:38 – Season 3 Wrap-Up, Acknowledgments, and Resources
02:16 – Mindfulness Session for Managing Change
Resource Links
Mindful Change Management blog post
Yoga for Managing Change class video
Manage Change Mindfully 5-Day Course
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Episode Transcript
Hey everyone, and welcome to WorkMinded.
Mindset, Emotional Impact, and Working Style for Change Management
During this season of the WorkMinded podcast, we’ve focused on managing change. We looked at how our mindset and attitude can influence our ability to deal with change. We talked about the emotional impacts of change within our organizations and communities. And we learned that changing our working style affects how we focus and connect.
An Organizational Science Perspective on Change
Organizational scientists continue to approach change from a variety of angles. They develop different models about the steps and stages that occur during change. They look at how individual personality traits influence the outcome of change efforts. And they explore specific elements that might help or hinder the change process. It’s tempting to try to boil all of this down to one formula for success. But working with change isn’t always straightforward. That makes it easy to feel overwhelmed when we experience change ourselves.
How Mindfulness Can Support Change Management
Mindfulness can be a powerful tool for navigating change, and many schools of mindfulness teach us different ways to manage constant change in our lives. Whether you call it coming home, finding your anchor, or turning inward, each of these practices aims to help us get to know a place of internal stillness that we can turn to, even when the external world is anything but still. Today we’ll practice tuning into that stillness to help navigate the ups and downs of change.
Season 3 Wrap-Up, Acknowledgments, and Resources
As we move into today’s mindfulness session, we want to say thanks once again to our amazing guests from this season of the show. We’re also continuing to add resources for managing change on our webpage, including our blog post on the organizational science of change; on-demand yoga for change; and our 5-day course on mindfulness for managing change. Check all this out on our website at www.workminded.net, and be sure to connect with us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. And now let’s get started with today’s mindfulness session.
Mindfulness Session for Managing Change
Organizational scientists studying change often approach their research from a “within person” perspective. This means they look at how much individuals tend to vary within themselves when it comes to certain factors in their approaches to change.
When change is flying all around us, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and ungrounded. Our experience of change can be like a rollercoaster. One day you might feel like you can handle any change the world brings your way, while another day just the thought of dealing with something different could feel completely overwhelming.
Mindfulness can help us to cultivate a more steady approach to change. Tapping into a place of stillness within ourselves can help us to stay centered internally, even when change is swirling externally. Today’s session will help you bring your awareness to that place of stillness and stability within yourself. This can help to make the rollercoaster of change a little less abrupt.
To start, let’s settle in. Remember that your wellbeing during mindfulness is completely your own responsibility, so choose somewhere safe and comfortable with no distractions. Let your eyes close gently, rest your hands somewhere effortless. Open up your posture – sit a little straighter and a little taller, and drop your shoulders away from your neck and ears.
Now start tuning in to your breath. There’s no need to do anything special here. Just breathe at your natural pace. Then start to notice where you are most aware of your breath. Do you notice cool air flowing in near your nostrils? The rise and fall of your chest? Your abdomen expanding near your belly? Without thinking about it too hard, let your breath show you where to focus your attention. Then bring your awareness to this place and continue to focus your attention there. All you need to do is continue breathing naturally with your focus resting gently on this place.
If your mind starts to wander or thoughts start to drift in, gently remind yourself that you’ve set aside this time for mindfulness and bring yourself back to focusing on the breath.
Continue to rest your attention at this place, reminding yourself there is no action you need to take. Just tune in to whatever steadiness and tranquility you might find by continuing to focus on your breath.
As we wind down, ease back into your day with small movements, wiggle your fingers and toes, start noticing sounds in the room, maybe take a long, deep sigh. Try to open your eyes last and let your other senses guide your return to being present.
The more you practice tuning in to this place of stillness, the more accessible it will become for you in times of change. You can come back to this session over and over again. You can also explore more practices with us in our 5-day course on mindfulness for change. Whichever path you choose, we hope this episode helps to make your experience with change just a little bit less of a rollercoaster.
Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next time.