Why Mindfulness?

You might be wondering, “why a mindfulness break? I thought this company was about improving environmental and social outcomes.” And, that is a good question because Strategic Nature, LLC is about improving the environment and helping to build a more just and equitable world (note: more and more environmental conservation and social justice are seen as health issues, but more on that another time). We are not specifically focused on health services.

Mindfulness, the act of paying attention on purpose without judgement, is often associated with stress reduction and wellness, which does sound like a kind of health service. However, trying to improve the environment and make the world a more just and equitable place is no small feat. For most people who work towards these important goals, there are times when it feels impossible to create real change, and it can be stressful. There is a need to integrate wellness into all activities, including work.

When you are invested in trying to address big challenges (or small ones for that matter), it can feel like there is no time to spare to take care of yourself. You might say that you will do something to take care of yourself this weekend or take a vacation after reaching a particular milestone, as if, taking care of yourself and taking care of the world around us are separate issues.

We don’t have to put caring for the environment, caring for people, and caring for ourselves in separate buckets. They can be the same bucket. In fact, they are already in the same bucket. Our relationship with ourselves relates to our relationship to other people and to our biological and physical environments. How we treat our thoughts and feelings impacts how we see and interact with the world around us.

How and what we pay attention to matters. When we are in the habit of focusing our attention on external things, like social media or politics, we can forget how to pay attention to our own experience (or we might be afraid of what we find if we pay attention to our own feelings, that is normal, too). There is a lot of scary stuff happening in the world and, if we absorb it all without really notice the effect it has on our thoughts and feelings, we are bound to feel helpless, anxious, depressed, and stressed.

If we can pause to notice our thoughts and feelings, we can consider multiple options and make appropriate choices. If we pause when we encounter challenges at work, we can look objectively at the situation and proceed thoughtfully, perhaps seeing new possibilities or a new course of action. When we greet our own self-criticism with kindness, over time that self-criticism gets quieter. When we notice our colleagues and friends having challenges, we can use kindness and compassion towards them, instead of judgment. We may even be able to listen in new ways and see how we can truly support them.

We can make a difference in the world, but we can make a more meaningful and sustainable difference in the world if we do it mindfully. But, mindfulness takes practice. And that is why we offer a mindfulness break (and nature mindfulness walks).

If you are interested in trying a mindfulness break, but you aren’t sure what to expect, here is a brief description. The mindfulness break is a guided practice working with the breath, body, thoughts, and feelings. Participants sign up on our website and receive a zoom link. Everyone gathers via zoom, though perhaps, in the future we will also offer an in-person option. Some people may choose to keep their cameras on, while others choose to turn off their computer camera. Either choice is fine.

Everyone is instructed to find a comfortable seat (or lie down, your choice). We begin right away to practice greeting whatever is present without judgement. As we sit, we settle into the seated position, scanning the body, silently noticing any thoughts or feelings. This can be really hard, so we also practice inviting kindness and self-compassion for our own experience. Often, we use the breath as a focal point and an anchor. Each guided practice is a little different, but each session is an opportunity to practice paying attention and doing so with kindness.

I hope you will join us for a mindfulness break, a nature mindfulness walk, or take a listen to one of the recordings on our blog.