SERIES 1 - Episode 5:

Mindfulness with Susan Peacock

In this episode Rachel is joined by Susan Peacock to discuss Mindfulness. Rachel and Susan explore the concept of Mindfulness and how it can help us all navigate our increasingly hectic and stressful lives. At a time when our attention is fragmented by so many elements of modern life Susan illustrates the benefit of Mindfulness in enabling us to focus on the present moment. Susan shares how she has helped individual clients and organisations use Mindfulness to support their wellbeing and efficacy with her pragmatic and deeply impactful work.

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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

ABOUT SUSAN PEACOCK

Susan Peacock is a Chartered Psychologist and mindfulness trainer with a background in global advertising. She founded LiveWorkWell in 2011 to help people be their best at work and in life in an increasingly uncertain, highly pressurised world.

Susan has trained and coached leaders and teams at top multinational companies and, through her partnerships, at the UK Parliament and the European Commission. Through Oxford University's Mindfulness Centre, she also co-delivers an advanced course on teaching mindfulness in the workplace.

Email: susan@liveworkwell.co.uk

Website: www.liveworkwell.co.uk

EPISODE RESOURCES

TOP TIPS SUMMARY

1. Firstly, if you are interested in mindfulness, try and make the time to invest in a regular practice and once you start feeling the benefit of that, it will get so much easier and become a habit. It may be that you have a bit of a start and stop relationship with this and that's fine, give yourself time. You can find Mindfulness courses at https://bamba.org.uk/teacher-search/ and https://www.eamba.net/ (some courses are offered virtually). Experiencing Mindfulness as part of a group can help you build a regular practice which forms a great foundation for incorporating Mindfulness into your whole life.

2. Mindfulness is so much about self-awareness and noticing, taking a step back and observing what's going on.

3. Developing curiosity will build your creativity and enable you to respond rather than react to situations or individuals.

4. With our inbuilt negativity bias mindfulness can help us notice what's good and help us to savour it.

5. Mindfulness supports our ability to be really focused on the task at hand, to be connected to the present moment which enables us to make better decisions, have more meaningful conversations, be more effective and feel calmer.

6. Practise taking a pause, just three deep breaths between meetings or phone calls or if you're feeling agitated, this will support your ability to really engage with the next moment of your day and be fully present and effective.

7. Build in moments and habits in your daily routine to ground yourself and connect with what you’re doing – making a cup of coffee, brushing your teeth, having a shower – use all the senses to connect with the activity

8. Notice habits that pull your attention – checking your phone, social media – be curious about whether their impact is positive. Would spending time connecting with your body and breath be more helpful?

9. There's a huge range of apps you can use to help support your mindfulness practice, here are some recommendations:

10. https://www.oxfordmindfulness.org/learn-mindfulness/resources/ - FREE

11. https://insighttimer.com/ - FREE

12. Headspace - https://www.headspace.com/

13. Calm - https://www.calm.com/

FURTHER READING

BOOKS

• Mindfulness – A Practical Guide to Finding Peace in a Frantic World by Mark Williams and Danny Pemberton

• Full Catastophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zin

• Breath by James Nestor

• Sane New World by Ruby Wax

• The Mindful Workplace by Michael Chaskalson

• Mindful magazine/website - https://www.mindful.org/

ARTICLES

• Harvard Business Review

• https://hbr.org/2016/11/a-simple-way-to-stay-grounded-in-stressful-moments

• https://hbr.org/2017/01/spending-10-minutes-a-day-on-mindfulness-subtly-changes-the-way-you-react-to-everything

• https://hbr.org/2016/03/how-to-practice-mindfulness-throughout-your-work-day

• https://hbr.org/2016/11/mindfulness-works-but-only-if-you-work-at-it

• https://hbr.org/2016/11/why-some-people-get-burned-out-and-others-dont

• https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2010/11/wandering-mind-not-a-happy-mind

• https://hbr.org/2017/01/to-recover-from-failure-try-some-self-compassion

• https://hbr.org/2017/09/heres-what-mindfulness-is-and-isnt-good-for

• https://hbr.org/2020/03/why-leaders-need-meditation-now-more-than-ever

• https://hbr.org/2015/01/mindfulness-can-literally-change-your-brain