Top down approach?

If we want to introduce mindfulness in our companies, we will need to be able to demonstrate what the benefits can be, both for the employees and for the company.
Here are some of the advantages I see:
- stronger personal leadership of eacvh individual
- more empathic relationships among collegues
- better customer focus
- more open mind
- more flexible & creative
- less absenteism through stress related problems
- higher employee satisfaction
My guess is that we will need a top down approach. Meaning: we first will have to reach the management.
what are your ideas about the potential benefits & the best approach?

the stress multiplicator

This afternoon I experienced a nice example of what I call the "stress mulitiplictor." I took a taxi at the trainstation in Antwerp. After I told the driver my destination, he started the car and pulled out of the taxi stand without looking if the road was safe. To his surprise an upcoming driver hooted to warn him. The taxidriver was so upset, opened his door an shouted: "I am fed up with all this agression in traffic", he slammed the door and drove on. ( who is the agressor?) After 20 meters he was forced to stop before a traffic light. The light turned green but the car in front hesitated a few seconds: the taxdriver started hooting! (who is the agressor?) When we continued our road he started complaining how everybody in Antwerp was unpolite and spoiled. "What we need is a good war, to bring them back to reality." (who is the agressor?) I tried to change the subject by saying it was rather cold for the time of the year. To which he replied "yeah, i'm sure we will get a lousy summer as well." (so he even is able to predict the future)

I watched the whole spectacle with a mindful attitude, as if I was watching a reality show on tv. But I do feel sorry for the taxi-driver. I think I will print some business cards with at the one side a smiley and at the other an inspirational quote.
I will hand out these cards next time I experiece a similar situation.What quote do you suggest to put on this card?

Traveling in 3 dimensions

The nice thing about traveling is that you can do it in 3 dimensions. The first dimension is the preparation. This is the Kingdom of the Expectations: planning the road and the places to visit, the stops, reading travel guides, etc. The second dimension is the actual journey: this is the Kingdom of the Experiences: being on te road, seeing places, meeting people. Sometimes there is a certain disappointment when the kingdom of the Experiences does not match with the kingdom of the Expectations. These two dimensions are finite. The last dimension is infinite: it lasts forever: this is the Kingdom of the Memories, when we lingering back about the past experiences.

Brain science has found that the impressions of the here and now, as well as the reconstruction
of the past and the creation of the future takes place in the same area in our brain: the hypocampus.

For the journey to Brunnsvik, which I am now preparing, I live in the Kingdom of the Expectations as well as in the Kingdom of the Memories. i have made a similar journey 3 years ago, in the summer of 2007. Then it was a 5 days retreat in Brunnsvik, followed by a 4 days practicum for Mindfulness Trainers in Jarno. Our teachers then were Melissa Blacker and Florence Melo-Meyers. On my desk I still have a souvenir from this retreat: a wooden airplane with a propeller with solar cells: as soon as the sun starts shining the little propeller starts spinning, like the windmills of my mind. on the wings are the autographs of Melissa and Florence. They gave me wings.

Preparing the journey to Brunnsvik

On June 15th I will leave my hometown Ghent (Belgium) to start a journey of 1.600 kilometers by car to Brunnsvik in Sweden. There I will attend a 7 days retreat on Mindfulness with Jon Kabat-Zinn (the man who introduced mindfulness in the western medical world) and his colleague Saki Santorini. I will not be alone: there will be 120 delegates from 15 different countries.
The purpose of this blog is to share experiences about this retreat. On site I hope to be able to make a youtube documentary with interviews with participants to learn about their experiences and expectations.

What is the impact of what I tend to call your "Alternative MBA" (mindfulness based attitude) on your life, both at home and at work?

If you are one of the 120 people who registered can you please share with me:
- what are your expectations?
- do you have experience with mindfulness?
- if so, what is the impact on your private & professional life?

My overall aim is to inispire people that mindfulness might be the plan B our western society needs to better manage the anxiety and stress. Plan B is the alternative (or back-up plan) for the actual Plan A which is so popular in our world: in Plan A we live on Automatic pilot and Accumulate stress; in plan B we Become more mindfull...
looiking forward to your feedback