The Distracted Man’s Guide to Meditation by Joe Levy is a wonderful post. Face it, if meditation were a pill, you’d want it. If it was a workout, you’d probably be doing it already. You’ve heard all about its much-lauded de-stressing capabilities; you’ve read that it boosts immunity, regulates sleep, and enhances memory, focus, and your gray matter; you know successful, smart people do it (Kobe Bryant, Novak Djokovic, Jerry Seinfeld, those snide geniuses at Google who call their in-house meditation class “Neural Self-Hacking”).

You know all of this, but, almost assuredly, you do not meditate.

Why? “There are three things,” says Dan Harris, the ABC News correspondent who chronicled his encounter with meditation in the highly skeptical (and highly hilarious) memoir 10% Happier. “The first is that guys think it’s bullshit — that you have to wear your wife’s yoga pants or chant. The second is that people assume it’s impossible: ‘My mind is too busy.’ ” Last, Harris explains, is that men assume meditation is all about being mellow, that it will rob them of their edge.

Meditation for Marathoners

“We’ve been ill served by the art around meditation,” he says. “It shows people floating off into the cosmos with these beatific looks on their faces; that’s horseshit.” Harris believes meditation is more like a trip to the gym. It should feel like work, and if it doesn’t, then you’re probably cheating.

The workout metaphor is particularly apt. You should think of meditation as exercise, not magic or religion. Strip away the spiritual yada yada — the bells, the incense, your aunt in the oversize purple sweatshirt who’s always telling you that your chakras are blocked — and meditation is just training for your mind instead of your quads.

Which is why meditation has at least this much in common with CrossFit: It will be hard at first, and both the challenges and the rewards will increase over time. “It’s simple but not easy,” says Lodro Rinzler, a meditation teacher and co-founder of mndfl, a studio that takes a streamlined, boutique-fitness approach to meditation. “People think that if the mind wanders, they’re doing it wrong,” he says. “Everyone’s mind wanders. Be prepared — the mind is a wild beast.”

What makes meditation simple is that, according to Rinzler, you need to do only three steps: Sit with a relaxed, uplifted posture (“You don’t have to sit in perfect Lotus. You can sit in a chair”); bring your full attention to your breath; when your attention strays, as it surely will, come back to the breath.

The not-easy part: Trying to focus on your breath without getting caught up with what went wrong at work yesterday, or what you’re having for dinner later tonight, or why they didn’t give Gal Gadot a bigger part in Batman v Superman(or why — now that we’re talking about it — they don’t just give Gal Gadot a bigger part in every movie) is pretty much impossible.

“The mind is constantly going 100 miles an hour,” says Rinzler. “To think, ‘I’m meditating, it should go down to zero’ is unrealistic. It’s a gradual taming of the mind.” That’s taming — not emptying. “You will get lost a million times,” says Harris. “The whole game is to notice when you get distracted, and start over — and over and over and over. Every time you do, it’s a biceps curl for your brain.”

If you think you’re too ADD, antsy, or fidgety for meditation, think again. “Asking the mind to turn off is like asking the heart to stop beating — it’s not going to happen, and it wouldn’t be healthy if it did,” Rinzler says. In fact, he calls those moments when you catch yourself thinking “the golden opportunity.” Returning to the breath, again and again, trains the mind to be rooted in the present, not the past (work), the future (dinner), or fantasy (Gal Gadot). In this way, mindfulness is a little like being more awake: There’s less anxiety and more action.

A 10-Minute Meditation Session for Beginners

You do not need years of practice to achieve this. One study by Harvard-affiliated researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital showed detectable neural changes after eight weeks in subjects who meditated an average of 27 minutes a day. There were increases in gray-matter density in the hippocampus, which helps with learning and memory, and decreases in the amygdala, the part of the brain associated with fear, stress, and anxiety. Meditate regularly and, research suggests, you can even increase brain volume in areas that usually get thinner with age.

At this point you may be thinking, “There is no way I have time for meditating 27 minutes a day.” No need. You can feel results from meditation nearly instantly.

We can get started right now, if you can spare 19 seconds. Breathe in while you count to four, hold that breath for a seven count, then exhale for an eight count. Congratulations, you’ve just meditated. You likely feel just a little calmer — that’s the relaxation response kicking in — and you’ve taken your first baby step into the most popular form of meditation, called “focused-attention,” where you direct your attention on an object, in this case your breath. Turn those 19 seconds into a few minutes by simply repeating the sequence. You’ll stoke your parasympathetic nervous system — the opposite of your fight-or-flight reflexes — which can improve relaxation, digestion, and recovery from workouts. Ta-da.

I’d tried meditation before. About a year and a half ago, I went to 15 sessions at the Path, a meditation group in New York. I was surprised that the hourlong 8 a.m. classes — or sits, as they’re called in the meditation world — weren’t more difficult. (My foot fell asleep, but I didn’t.) Still, I didn’t experience much in the way of change. And every time one of the organizers talked earnestly about taking our experience home and establishing a regular practice (“maybe just five minutes a day”), I felt the same way I did as a teenager after the dental hygienist finished a cleaning with a little wisdom on the importance of flossing. Of course, you’re right! Not going to happen!

Turns out, skipping regular meditation was almost certainly the reason I didn’t get much out of my 15 hours at the Path, other than some free herbal tea and a bit of calm that disappeared minutes after I got to my desk. “Consistency is the biggest thing,” says Andy Puddicombe, a 43-year-old former Buddhist monk and co-creator of the meditation app Headspace. His app — which has been downloaded over 6 million times and claims over 5 million active users — bills itself as a “gym membership for the mind,” with its program functioning as a personal trainer. “The analogy holds true with physical training — go [to the gym] two hours once a week and you’re probably not going to see loads of benefit,” he says. “Go every day for half an hour and you’re far more likely not only to develop the habit but to see sustainable results.”

One of the many things that makes Headspace easy to stick with is that it doesn’t even ask for a half-hour — just 10 minutes. To goad you on, the app uses some of the same adherence tools that activity monitors like Fitbit do (emails congratulating you for progress; tallies of “run streaks,” or consecutive days meditating; mindfulness push notifications to fire up motivation). And it’s content-driven, and that content makes the hard work of meditation almost absurdly inviting and clear. The first 10 sittings come with animation that looks like a Zen version of Pixar, illustrating precepts about recognizing your thoughts and then letting them go via cartoons about learning to watch the traffic instead of running out into it and chasing cars. Take a breath, have a thought, and then let it simply drive away.

The app also offers sessions for activities like commuting, cooking, and running, all designed to help you bring mindfulness into the part of your life that happens when you’re not sitting with your eyes closed. The walking sessions were a real eye-opener, and not complicated — I just focused on my steps the way I would my breath.

I was only a few weeks in when I noticed small changes that felt oddly impressive. I was leaving fewer dishes in the sink (because I’d begun to recognize the feeling of dread a growing pile of dirty dishes produced), watching less TV (because it suddenly seemed ridiculous to use it as a soundtrack to scroll through Twitter and Facebook), and I wasn’t arguing with my wife over small things so often. It felt like there was a fraction more space between my thoughts and my mouth, and I didn’t have to vocalize every thought in order to have it. I wasn’t the only one who noticed my calmer, amenable self. For my birthday, my wife told me we were going to Montreal, a reward, I thought, for my new behavior. (I’d suggested the trip numerous times but had never managed to get her onboard.)

The changes seemed to be happening surprisingly fast, and I wondered if they were a placebo effect. I asked Harris, and he told me he’d gone through something similar. “The initial benefits took a couple weeks,” he says. “The first data point for me is that, at parties, I would overhear my wife telling people that I was less of an asshole.” But if the dishes were getting done and I was getting rewarded with a trip I’d given up on, why argue with success?

What came next didn’t feel successful at all: All that awareness started piling up, and I felt overwhelmed by it. One of the upsides of being more mindful is the ability to explain my feelings without sarcasm. The downside is actually being more in touch with those feelings, including lots of annoyances I’d learned to tune out with TV, bourbon, and loud music (or all three at once). My insides started to feel like they were sweating — a weird internal struggle that no one else could see — which was an experience not nearly as fun as clean dishes.

According to Harris, this is a meditation tier-two problem. “You get over the hump, you do it every day, and then you start noticing moments like when your wife says something annoying — you now have the self-awareness to realize that your skin is crawling.” The old you would have served up a caustic remark without thinking. But now you have what Harris calls a superpower: mindfulness. “You have this urge to say something that’s going to ruin the next 48 hours of your marriage — but you’re aware of it, and so you have a choice.” Choose to acknowledge your feelings, then let them go, and you’re on your way to tier three. Here’s hoping he’s right. We leave for Montreal in 12 days.

Looking for more resources on mindfulness. Take a look at The Art Of Mindfulness: Why Mindfulness Matters.


I was fortunate enough to have started Tai Chi a moving meditation at a very early age. Practising Tai Chi for over 25 years has allowed me to build a solid foundation to support the most important aspect of EQ development, which is attention training.

If you are interested in supporting yourself or helping the teams you manage, the links below can help you learn more about EQ training.

  1. What is EQ?
  2. Emotional Intelligence Training Course
  3. Learn to meditate with the Just6 App
  4. Meditation and the Science
  5. 7 reasons that emotional intelligence is quickly becoming one of the top sought job skills
  6. The secret to a high salary Emotional intelligence
  7. How to bring mindfulness into your employee wellness program
  8. Google ’Search Inside Yourself’

Useful Links

  1. Revolutionary I Ching App Harness ChatGPT for Hexagram Insights, Apple App Store – Google Play Store
  2. Collection of engaging and enlightening stories for children that explore the principles of Taoism. Download on Amazon
  3. Learn more about the aiching.app
  4. Interested in Tai Chi?

Posted by Slanted Flying in Training  Tai Chi is the perfect moving meditation. I’ve found mindfulness and Tai Chi to be perfectly joined to boost mindfulness training. In our Tai Chi training we are often told to be mindful. So what is mindfulness, and why is it important to our practice of Tai Chi Chuan. Mindfulness is being aware, in the moment, being present in what you are doing and where you are at that moment.

We need to be mindful of all parts of the body, not only the isolated parts. For example in the movement “Single Whip”, it is very easy to be focused on the lead hand opening out, and not on the the opposite (hooked) hand or on the movement of the legs. This act of being mindful helps to not only unite the parts of the body together, but also the mind and the body.

Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D. is known internationally for his work as a scientist, writer, and meditation teacher. In this video below, he explains his working definition of mindfulness. This is another look at the meaning of mindfulness so we might better understand its use in our practice of Tai Chi Chuan.

In the video, he talks about an interesting and important part of mindfulness. That is to be non-judgmental while being mindful. Jon Kabat-Zinn then goes on to say what he means is to not to be caught in those judgements which colour the things we like or dislike.

How could being non-judgmental in our mindfulness affect our practice of Tai Chi Chuan? Perhaps one might not like the way the teacher is telling you how to learn a movement, which you might not quite agree with. If you practice this movement with that judgment in your mind, then you are not being truly mindful, and being in the moment to be aware of all the things that need attention. Perhaps you are proud of yourself that you can do the movements so well. Does this cloud your mindfulness so that you don’t notice flaws in your Tai Chi moving meditation?

Practicing your Tai Chi Chuan with true mindfulness is very difficult. There are so many things to remember when learning and even for those that have been practicing for many years. By practicing being mindful in the beginning stages of your training, you ingrain an important part of your training that will become more important as your Tai Chi develops.

As one becomes more proficient in their Tai Chi Chuan, the practice becomes more of an exercise of the mind more than of the body. The ability to maintain mindfulness in one’s practice is an integral part of achieving higher levels in the development of Tai Chi Chuan.

Tai Chi is a moving meditation

I was fortunate enough to have started Tai Chi a moving meditation at a very early age. Practising Tai Chi for over 25 years has allowed me to build a solid foundation to support the most important aspect of EQ development, which is attention training.

If you are interested in supporting yourself or helping the teams you manage, the links below can help you learn more about EQ training.

  1. What is EQ?
  2. Emotional Intelligence Training Course
  3. Learn to meditate with the Just6 App
  4. Meditation and the Science
  5. 7 reasons that emotional intelligence is quickly becoming one of the top sought job skills
  6. The secret to a high salary Emotional intelligence
  7. How to bring mindfulness into your employee wellness program
  8. Google ’Search Inside Yourself’

Useful Links

  1. Revolutionary I Ching App Harness ChatGPT for Hexagram Insights, Apple App Store – Google Play Store
  2. Collection of engaging and enlightening stories for children that explore the principles of Taoism. Download on Amazon
  3. Learn more about the aiching.app
  4. Interested in Tai Chi?

Originally found this article at The Atlantic which highlights that for outstanding leadership one requires strong emotional intelligence and Corporations’ newest Productivity Hack: Meditation proves it’s value.

Target, Google, and Ford have started teaching employees mindfulness. Will capitalism complicate something as simple as following your breath?

Since I started meditating two years ago, my practice has been shamefully sporadic. When I do manage to stop what I’m doing and sit down, device-free, I find following my breath to be a relief from—and a contrast to—what happens at work. But as David Gelles observes in his new book, that contrast is dissolving, perhaps for the better.

In Mindful Work, Gelles, a business reporter for The New York Times, catalogues the nascent trend of establishing employee well-being programs that promote mindfulness, an activity that is perhaps best described as doing nothing. More precisely, mindfulness means drawing one’s attention to the sensations of the present moment, and noting, without frustration or judgment, any mental wanderings that get in the way. It can be done anywhere—at your desk, on the subway platform—and at any time. Decades of research suggest that setting aside time for mindfulness can improve concentration and reduce stress.

Gelles first reported on the rise of corporate mindfulness programs in 2012 for The Financial Times, when he described a rare but promising initiative at General Mills. In the years since, similar programs have popped up at Ford, Google, Target, Adobe—and even Goldman Sachs and Davos. This adoption has been rapid, perhaps due to its potential to help the bottom line: Aetna estimates that since instituting its mindfulness program, it has saved about $2,000 per employee in healthcare costs, and gained about $3,000 per employee in productivity. Mindful employees, the thinking goes, are healthier and more focused.

I recently talked to Gelles about why mindfulness programs are sprouting up and what happens when you expose a practice unconcerned with materialism to the forces of capitalism. The interview that follows has been edited and condensed for the sake of clarity.

Joe Pinsker: In your book, you trace mindfulness in America back to Henry David Thoreau, who read plenty of Buddhist and Hindu texts. You also mention that Allen Ginsberg picked up this thread in the 1960s, but can you talk about its first moment of corporate uptake, in the mid-1990s?

David Gelles: There was a, perhaps unusual, very surprising, example. Long before Google was teaching emotional intelligence courses in Mountain View, Monsanto, of all companies, tried mindfulness. They had a very progressive CEO for a moment there, who had a personal interest in this practice. He brought in a very skilled and experienced teacher named Mirabai Bush, and they began teaching mindfulness to the executives of the company.

These executives who had been in the corporate world for the duration of their careers suddenly were exposed to ways of thinking and ways of relating to themselves and to each other and even to their customers and maybe even to the planet, that they had never experienced before. Some people had these real, very emotional openings. Some people, I’ve heard, actually quit the company when this started to happen. It was starting to make a difference in the way some of the top executives at this company were thinking about the world.

And then of course what happened is the CEO got fired, they shut down the program, and no one ever mentioned it again. These things happen in corporate America.

Pinsker: So why then do you think that mindfulness is taking root in the corporate world now? My first-blush theory is that businesses are more likely to embrace things that they can quantify, and only really recently has the research into mindfulness been able to put really hard numbers on its benefits. Do you think that’s a good theory, or no?

I think that we’re in a place where we can have much more empirical conversations about this, which I think helps it be less of a woo-woo, New Age thing. Gelles: I think that’s a big part of it, absolutely. I think there are three main reasons why we’re seeing mindfulness in the workplace today more than ever before. The first is exactly what you said. Over the last 30 years, there’s been this tremendous volume of research. Academic research, scientific research that’s been really quantifying the effects of mindfulness. And we can now see it actually changes the structures of our brain in ways that we think are largely positive. It actually improves our immune system in ways that we can verifiably measure. It actually seems to reduce the stress we experience and the stress that our bodies seem to be reporting, through measures like heart-rate variability and cortisol levels. So the data is there. We know that it’s making changes and that these changes are largely beneficial.

And now, we’re just starting to see the next step of this. We’re starting to see companies do some work analyzing what happens when they roll out mindfulness at scale. And so at Aetna, the company I profiled in The Times earlier this month, healthcare costs actually went down at the company in the first full year after they rolled it out. All of a sudden, there’s this tantalizing promise that maybe it can even affect the bottom line. So that’s one reason. I think that we’re in a place where we can have much more empirical conversations about this, which I think helps it be less of a woo-woo, New Age thing.

The second thing I think that has helped is that over the last 30 years, mindfulness has become truly a secular pursuit. Yes, it has some relation, some origins, in traditional Eastern practices, but by no means today is what people are teaching and practicing anything like religion. And so I think the secularization, the fact that it’s a purely scientific practice almost, has made it much more accessible to big corporations in particular.

The third is, I think mindfulness is being accepted in the workplace today because we need it more than ever, it seems. We are so stressed. We are so bombarded with constant information overload. We are so addicted to our technology that the promise of a technique that allows us to come back to the present moment and stop obsessing about whatever it we just read in our Twitter stream or what we’re about to post on our Facebook page has a unique and enduring allure that is totally understandable. I mean, after a totally frenetic workday here at The Times, the opportunity to quiet down is totally lovely.

Pinsker: So if mindfulness is particularly relevant today because it encourages people to be more aware of the way that they’re coping with distraction, then how does the idea of mindfulness mesh with the modern burden of constant multitasking?

Gelles: I would actually say that multitasking is a myth. I think we rarely, if ever, can actually do two things at the same time. I think what we’re doing is very rapid task-switching, which leads to inherent inefficiencies. Now, is that part of the fabric of the modern workplace? To a certain extent, it is. And I think that’s the moment of opportunity. When I focus on actually writing a story, am I capable of focusing my attention just on the act of writing that story rather than checking Facebook every 30 seconds and glancing at Tweetdeck at the same time? It’s possible. Of course, my mind is attracted to these constant inputs, these constant stimuli.

But that’s the whole game. The whole game is to not necessarily give in to those urges. Now, if the phone rings, am I going to pick it up? Yeah. I’m not advocating for some kind of hermetic lifestyle in an office. But I think the point remains that if we can actually focus on doing one thing at a time, I believe the outcomes and the results have an opportunity to be better than if we were constantly distracted.

Pinsker: There have been all sorts of programs over the years that companies have put in place because they think that it’s the right thing to do at that time. Is there any sign that mindfulness will be a corporate fad of some kind, or are there signs that this really will have longevity in the American workplace? G

elles: There’s always the risk that these things become faddish. And one of the things that I call for in the book is a real focus on getting good teachers into the workplace. Because, absent good teachers, it’s going to be all too easy for the meaning and the richness of these traditions to be diluted and distorted, and that can easily go south very quickly.

That said, I think there’s real reason to believe that there’s an enduring demand for this. And whether or not it’s going to be called “mindfulness,” I don’t think it’s a fad that employees and employers are realizing that we have to take better care of our own minds and our own bodies and that, by doing so, we can actually create better companies and better outcomes. I think that that is a hopefully lasting shift in the way that many of the largest companies are thinking about how they have to do business.

Mindfulness can help us heal with our own reactions to negative events, either at the workplace or home, but they’re not going to prevent bad things from happening in the first place. Pinsker: In the book, you talk about the program at Green Mountain Coffee’s packaging and distribution facilities. And you raise that as an example of how mindfulness can be applied to even blue-collar professions. So I was wondering, has this been evenly deployed in white-collar and blue-collar jobs? And is it promising for both in the same way?

Gelles: Let me answer the second part first. I think everyone who’s interested in mindfulness could potentially benefit from it. I say “everyone who’s interested in it” because I’m not here suggesting that absolutely everyone should be meditating. Who am I to say such a thing? But for those who have a curiosity, an appetite for it, I think whether they’re a factory-floor worker or a C-suite executive, there’s merit in at least giving it a shot and seeing if there’s value for an individual.

As for whether or not the programs are evenly deployed, in my experience, the answer is probably no. This, for the most part, has probably skewed towards white-collar industries. But then again, our entire economy is skewing towards white-collar industries. We live in an information economy, so it’s not, perhaps, surprising that Intel, Adobe, Google, with their enormous workforces, are some of the biggest proprietors and proponents of this.

Pinsker: You seem to be worried a bit, especially near the end of the book, that as mindfulness is implemented, people might come at it from an angle of workers being “cured of stress” after a single session when really it’s supposed to be the launching pad for a long and constant process. What can be done, do you think, to prevent that sort of thing from happening?

Gelles: There are all sorts of potential pitfalls as this starts to ramp up in scale. One of them is ineffective teachers, whatever the medium, and another is this sense of over-promising and under-delivering. I think when people hear, “mindfulness reduces stress,” all of a sudden they think they’re going to be able to take one or two classes and jobs won’t be stressful anymore. And that’s just not the case, of course. Mindfulness can help us heal with our own reactions to negative events, either at the workplace or home, but they’re not going to prevent bad things from happening in the first place.

Pinsker: You provide plenty of examples of how mindfulness has led to, or at least played a role in, creating socially responsible corporate behavior. But another argument that’s running throughout the book seems to be that it’s a good business decision. You save money on health costs, and you gain a lot in productivity, for example. Is there anything contradictory about harnessing the power of mindfulness, which is in part meant to diminish the importance of worldly pursuits, to improve the bottom line?

Gelles: We live in a capitalist economy, and mindfulness can’t change that. I think what it can do, hopefully, is give individuals, influencers of organizations, and maybe even companies themselves the perspective that’s needed to make decisions and changes, even, that are beneficial, not just to the bottom line but to our emotional, physical, and social well-being.

Now, doing that is going to be easier at a private company than it is going to be at a big, public company with tons of bureaucracy and public shareholders and analysts who all expect quarterly profits to increase in perpetuity. So that alone is a big, inherent challenge with where we are right now, which is that our current economy values profit and increased quarterly profits above all else. And I think that’s an inherently flawed measure of success in the long term.

So, I don’t think the two things are incompatible because I think it’s about managing expectations. Nowhere have I heard, and I hope I didn’t suggest, that mindfulness is somehow going to lead to the next utopia. It’s not going to fix all our problems. But my hope is that it can help on the edges.

Pinsker: In the book, you mentioned in passing that Goldman Sachs has some sort of mindfulness program. Do you know what specifically their program consists of?

Gelles: They keep promising to bring me in and show it to me, but I haven’t actually seen it yet. My understanding is that they do offer mindfulness meditation classes to some of their employees. One of their board members, Bill George, is one of the loudest advocates for mindfulness in the business world. He actually teaches a course in mindful leadership in Harvard Business School.

I don’t know that any company says, “We’re practicing mindfulness, so look at us, we’re suddenly an absolutely flawless corporate actor.” Pinsker: I don’t want to single them out, but how do you reconcile a culture of mindfulness with a company like that, whose contributions to society are, shall we say, less than obvious? Is there a risk that a company could delude itself into thinking that it’s doing good in the world by promoting mindfulness among its employees?

Gelles: I think it’s easy to make the mistake of confusing a company with its employees. Only in a few instances in the book do I really try to say that mindfulness led a company to make decisions that stand in contrast to the way that they were behaving previously. The focus, I hope, is on the employees themselves. Mindfulness is most effective when individuals use it to take better care of themselves and treat their colleagues and other people they interact with in a more compassionate and accepting way.

This is where I really try to manage expectations, and I don’t know that any company says, “We’re practicing mindfulness, so look at us, we’re suddenly an absolutely flawless corporate actor.” I haven’t seen people making that argument. But again, I think you asked the right question, which is, is there a risk that companies use it as evidence that they are taking good care of their employees, even while, in other cases, perhaps, they’re not? But I think that’s where people like you and me have to hold them accountable.


I was fortunate enough to have started Tai Chi a moving meditation at a very early age. Practising Tai Chi for over 25 years has allowed me to build a solid foundation to support the most important aspect of EQ development, which is attention training.

If you are interested in supporting yourself or helping the teams you manage, the links below can help you learn more about EQ training.

  1. What is EQ?
  2. Emotional Intelligence Training Course
  3. Learn to meditate with the Just6 App
  4. Meditation and the Science
  5. 7 reasons that emotional intelligence is quickly becoming one of the top sought job skills
  6. The secret to a high salary Emotional intelligence
  7. How to bring mindfulness into your employee wellness program
  8. Google ’Search Inside Yourself’

Useful Links

  1. Revolutionary I Ching App Harness ChatGPT for Hexagram Insights, Apple App Store – Google Play Store
  2. Collection of engaging and enlightening stories for children that explore the principles of Taoism. Download on Amazon
  3. Learn more about the aiching.app
  4. Interested in Tai Chi?

History – How the course began

It started with colleagues joining me for Tai Chi practice. This lead me to explore the benefits of meditation which is exactly what you are doing as you calmly move through your Tai Chi routine. Colleagues reported feeling and noticing significant changes in their behaviour while practicing.

How powerful was a meditation practice?

This lead me to dive deeper into the health and meditation benefits of Tai Chi. On my journey I came across the work done at Google on their ‘Search Inside Yourself’ course. I found their research fascinating especially with regards to the six competencies that distinguish star performers from average performers in the tech sector. Turns out that four are emotional intelligence with the top two being EQ. What was mind-blowing was that emotional intelligence was trainable through a mindfulness meditation practice.

Emotional intelligence (EQ) is your ability to recognise and understand emotions in yourself and others. The ability to use this awareness to manage your behaviour and relationships more effectively.

Decades of research now points to emotional intelligence as the critical factor that sets star performers apart from the rest of the pack. It’s a powerful way to focus your energy in one direction with a tremendous result. Emotional intelligence has a direct link to your earning potential. Every point increase in EQ adds $1300 to an annual salary. This is true in all industries, at all levels all over the world. Besides supporting your career emotional intelligence training can support your life as well. Emotional intelligence influences health related outcomes. It reduces the perception of stress in response to trying situations. EQ strengthens the brains ability to cope with emotional stress. It helps you from having your amygdala highjack your brain. This resilience boost your immunity which protects you from getting sick.

Emotional intelligence training is essential because you gain value in many areas of your life. I have experienced the benefits thanks to my years of Tai Chi and blessed to have been trained by an amazing teacher, Grandmaster Dr Lin Feng-Chao. Who was a student of Cheng Man-ch’ing. I’ve also been witness to the effects a mindfulness meditation practice has had on colleagues and students. This is the main reason I developed a 6 week emotional intelligence training course at JUMO.

Corporations’ Newest Productivity Hack: Meditation. Businesses are experiencing the benefits of improving emotional intelligence in the workplace. We have a number of Mindfulness Meditation courses that can bring a productivity boost to staff, enhances focus, creativity and over all well-being. See an outline of what is covered in the emotional intelligence training course.


Individual Emotional Intelligence Mindfulness Meditation Workshop

Begin a journey of self discovery. Take a introductory class to learn the benefits of mindfulness meditation. We will teach you basic techniques so you can begin experiencing the advantages of a meditation practice. Studies show that emotional competencies are twice as important as pure intellect and expertise. Learn how meditation builds emotional intelligence which is a key factor in success at work and life.

Meditation is also a powerful tool in dealing with stress. The key to emotional intelligence is keen attention. Learn methods and techniques to gain this valuable ability. Mindfulness does not require having to sit cross-legged on a cushion. We show you how to practice mindfulness in all areas of your life. Additional Benefits of Learning to Meditate

  • Emotional stability improves
  • Creativity increases
  • Happiness increases
  • Intuition develops
  • Gain clarity and peace of mind
  • Problems become smaller
  • Meditation sharpens and focuses the mind
  • A sharper mind reduces tension, anger and frustration
  • Mindfulness meditation improves connections in the brain

Learn more about the science behind meditation. Science is making some amazing discoveries to a skill that has been around for thousands of years. Our post on the 7 Qualities of People with High Emotional Intelligence. Take an introductory 2hr class to begin your attention training NOW! For a full course take a look at the company 6 week option below.

What we cover in the course.

1. Attention Training Attention is the basis of all higher cognitive and emotional abilities. Thus the key to emotional intelligence training is ATTENTION. The idea is to create a quality of mind that is clear and calm at the same time. We use mindfulness meditation techniques to build attention. We explore ways besides the traditional sitting meditation to enable us to be mindful whenever possible. Allow the student to experiment and explore their own unique experiences to tailor mindfulness into their day to day activities.

2. Self-Knowledge and Self-Mastery Use your trained attention to better perceive ones own cognitive and emotive processes. Begin to observe ones thought stream and the process of emotion with clarity. Learn to observe from a third-person perspective. Once you can do that, you create the type of deep self-knowledge that eventually leads to self-mastery.

3. Creating Useful Social and Mental Habits “I wish for this person to be happy”, becomes your habitual instinctive first thought. Having such habits can change everything at work. This sincere goodwill is picked up unconsciously by others creating strong trust. This leads to highly productive collaborations. Such habits can be volitionally trained.

There are 6 Modules

The course consist of 6 main areas than run for an hour a week for six weeks. Ideally have a gap between modules so students can practice the mindfulness meditation practices.

Module 1: Talks about the importance of emotional intelligence training. The science and research that highlight the effects and benefits of a mindfulness meditation practice and how it supports the improvement and optimisation of EQ.

Module 2: The theory and practice of mindfulness meditation. Get into the nitty gritty.

Module 3: Mindfulness meditation is not just about sitting. We explore ways you can bring mindfulness to other parts of your life. A good example is walking meditation which appeals to more physical people. Why I enjoy Tai Chi so much, meditation in movement.

Module 4: Self-Confidence, this section is about looking within ourselves. A single word encapsulates this section ’clarity’.

Module 5: Self-Mastery, in the sections we make use of self-awareness to gain mastery over our emotions.

Module 6: Empathy & Compassion. Develop empathy through understanding and connecting to others. These are the keys for developing trust which are essential for effective and collaborative relationships.

3 Course Options

1 Day Emotional Intelligence Mindfulness Meditation Workshop

We cover modules 1,2 & 3 which build the core skill of attention training which is the foundation you need to build and improve EQ. A follow up day in the future once a student has developed a good meditation practice enables them to leverage modules 4, 5 & 6 more effectively.


2 Day Emotional Intelligence Mindfulness Meditation Workshop

We cover all the modules. Day 1 we cover modules 1,2 & 3 which build the core skill of attention training which is the foundation you need to build and improve EQ.

Day 2 we do modules 4, 5 & 6. Ideally one should give the students time to improve and refine their attention training. Best is to run the second day sometime in the future.


Introduction and Emotional Intelligence Kick Starter

We offer a 1 hour talk to introduce the benefits of mindfulness meditation. Show how it support emotional intelligence and give staff a kick starter to begin a meditation practice. Get a view into why EQ is so important in both work and personal lives. Learn techniques of mindfulness that do not require sitting cross-legged on a cushion.

7 Qualities of Emotionally Intelligence People

  1. They are adaptable. People with a strong EQ are not afraid of change. The understand it’s a necessary part of life.
  2. Strong Self-Awareness. People strong in self-awareness know what they are good at and what they still need to master. Understand what weaknesses they need to work on. Know what environments are optimal for their work style.
  3. Empathy. This is the strongest gift. Having an innate ability to truly understand people builds trust and authenticity. The foundation of any relationship work or personal.
  4. Not Perfectionists. Life is always changing it’s never static. People strong in EQ understand that perfection is impossible. They learn to roll with the punches and learn from mistakes.
  5. They’re Balanced. How someone is balancing their work and personal lives is extremely important. They eat well, get plenty of sleep and have interests outside work.
  6. Curiosity. People strong in EQ don’t judge, they explore the possibilities. An inborn sense of wonder makes them delightful to be around.
  7. They set an example for others to follow. Highly emotionally intelligent people don’t get flustered when things don’t go according to plan. Have a knack for getting along with others. An ability to rise above daily irritations earns people with high emotional intelligence the respect from those above them as well as from their colleagues.

If you are interested in supporting yourself or helping the teams you manage, the links below can help you learn more about EQ training.

  1. What is EQ?
  2. Emotional Intelligence Training Course
  3. Learn to meditate with the Just6 App
  4. Meditation and the Science
  5. 7 reasons that emotional intelligence is quickly becoming one of the top sought job skills
  6. The secret to a high salary Emotional intelligence
  7. How to bring mindfulness into your employee wellness program
  8. Google ’Search Inside Yourself’

Useful Links

  1. Revolutionary I Ching App Harness ChatGPT for Hexagram Insights, Apple App Store – Google Play Store
  2. Collection of engaging and enlightening stories for children that explore the principles of Taoism. Download on Amazon
  3. Learn more about the aiching.app
  4. Interested in Tai Chi?

At Just Being we have a course that can bring Mindfulness into your employee wellness program. Plus employees get to boost their emotional intelligence.

At Just Being we have a course that can bring Mindfulness to your employee wellness program. Plus employees get to boost their emotional intelligence. You have probably heard the term “mindfulness” come up in the workplace recently. It’s one of the easiest—and cheapest—ways to help your employees become healthier and happier. Why is mindfulness so popular? Every single person at your office has experienced stress or anxiety at some point in their lives, but not everyone knows how to deal with or cope with stress effectively. Mindfulness can be used as a preventive measure for stress, anxiety and difficulties with concentration. It also works to maintain and boost emotional wellness and awareness.

Mindfulness Explained

By dictionary definition, mindfulness is a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts and bodily sensations—used as a therapeutic technique. Mindfulness does not involve any evaluation, interpretation or judgment. In other words, mindfulness is awareness of perception that focuses on “being” rather than “doing.” Mindfulness allows us to block automatic and compulsory thoughts that can cause worry, stress or distraction. By focusing on the task at hand or present state of mind, these negative or distracting thoughts can be cleared away. When mastered, mindfulness creates a sense of control over conscious thoughts, behaviors and attitudes. We become mindful of what we are feeling and how we are acting. Any activity at any time or place can be done with mindfulness. Examples of activities that can incorporate mindfulness are unlimited—for example, exercising, creating art, playing an instrument, working or cleaning. Once mindfulness is learned and executed, it can truly be used in any situation to help boost concentration and identify emotional needs or feelings.

Benefits Of Practicing Mindfulness

With the increase in popularity, mindfulness finally has numbers to back its effectiveness. Although mindfulness is certainly not a new concept, studies have only recently demonstrated the benefits to employees’ well-being. Aetna took the lead with implementing mindfulness-based wellness programs, and their recent success was published in The Atlantic. Since implementing mindfulness-based wellness programs, Aetna has estimated a savings of about $2,000 in health care costs and has gained about $3,000 per employee in productivity. Mindfulness should be cultivated for not only the purpose of saving money in health care costs and productivity but to help reduce or prevent an unhealthy mentality in employees. A 2016 study found that employees who received a weekly two-hour training course on mindfulness over an eight-week period showed improvement in several different areas, including satisfaction of life and hope, along with reduced anxiety. Findings from this study also showed that these employees displayed higher levels of concentration on work, as well as improved interpersonal relationships.

Try Mindfulness For Yourself

Whether it’s at home, on vacation or during the workday, mindfulness can be implemented in several different ways. Here are a few simple ways to make sure you achieve mindfulness to increase your positive thoughts, actions and behaviors:

  • Meditation. Mindfulness is essentially the main framework behind any form of meditation, and there are many to choose from. Some include clearing your thoughts completely, while others involve being mindful of any thoughts or feelings that are present. If you are new to meditation, do some research to find which types of meditation you would feel most comfortable trying or starting out with. Meditation can be done alone, with an instructor or in a group setting. There are also some great apps that can help you relax.
  • Tai Chi is how I discovered mindfulness. Tai Chi is a moving meditation and besides is meditation benefits, there is many science studies showing the health benefits as well.
  • Yoga. In addition to being an effective way to build physical strength, yoga is a good way to build mental strength. Similar to meditation, yoga is an enjoyable way to practice mindfulness. If you have already been practicing yoga, you may not be aware that you have also been practicing mindfulness, especially if you have ever focused on breath awareness. If you have never done yoga before, don’t be afraid to give it a try. Yoga is great for anyone, regardless of age or physical ability.
  • Breathing exercises. This is a simple technique that can be done anywhere, including your desk! Breathing exercises take just a few minutes and can reduce stress and sharpen concentration. There are many resources available online if you need help getting started on simple breathing techniques.
  • Wake up on the “right” side of the bed. Starting your day off by practicing mindfulness will help you tremendously. There’s no doubt that a bad morning will ultimately lead to a bad day. Mindful recently published great tips on mindful things to do to start your day. Keep yourself as stress-free as possible when starting your day so that nothing negative spreads to your office, colleagues or interpersonal relationships.

Looking To Implement Mindfulness At Your Company?

If you are an employer looking to incorporate some mindfulness practices into your employees’ workday, good for you! However, it can be tricky to figure out where to start if you don’t have much experience. Here are a few tips on how to implement mindfulness at your workplace:

  • Educate. Although mindfulness is a trendy topic at the moment, it still remains a foreign subject to a lot of people. Make sure to educate your staff on what mindfulness is and what it means to practice it. Introduce mindfulness in a meeting and share facts and research on its benefits. Show that you practice mindfulness yourself and include ideas for simple ways to try mindfulness. Encourage employees to share positive experiences about any mindful behaviors.
  • Offer classes. Since mindfulness is a relatively new concept for many, try offering beginner sessions in or outside of your company for employees. Although mindfulness is not necessarily difficult to achieve or practice, it can be hard for beginners to know where to start. Company-sponsored classes on mindfulness, meditation or yoga can be an excellent jumping off point.
  • Practice in the office. Mindfulness can be practiced anywhere, including cubicles, desks and meetings. Try out some mindfulness activities at a meeting or staff outing to get employees engaged. Incorporate simple breathing techniques or beginner yoga poses and have employees try these at the end or beginning of a meeting.

Mindfulness is a step in the right direction when it comes to bringing a more holistic approach to your employee wellness program. Emotional and mental wellness have a huge impact on the well-being of your team. With a healthy mindset, it is easier to perform and concentrate during the workday. Try out mindfulness for yourself and challenge your wellness team to think of ways to bring mindfulness to all your employees.


I was fortunate enough to have started Tai Chi a moving meditation at a very early age. Practising Tai Chi for over 25 years has allowed me to build a solid foundation to support the most important aspect of EQ development, which is attention training.

If you are interested in supporting yourself or helping the teams you manage, the links below can help you learn more about EQ training.

  1. What is EQ?
  2. Emotional Intelligence Training Course
  3. Learn to meditate with the Just6 App
  4. Meditation and the Science
  5. 7 reasons that emotional intelligence is quickly becoming one of the top sought job skills
  6. The secret to a high salary Emotional intelligence
  7. How to bring mindfulness into your employee wellness program
  8. Google ’Search Inside Yourself’

Useful Links

  1. Revolutionary I Ching App Harness ChatGPT for Hexagram Insights, Apple App Store – Google Play Store
  2. Collection of engaging and enlightening stories for children that explore the principles of Taoism. Download on Amazon
  3. Learn more about the aiching.app
  4. Interested in Tai Chi?

In business, a small mistake or misjudgment can become a large problem. Google teaches meditation to hep with emotional intelligence.

This is so true, even Google focuses on EQ. One of the main reasons why I took my years of Tai Chi training and built an EQ course for the developers I managed. My Tai Chi has allowed me to build a solid foundation to support the most important aspect of EQ development which is attention training. Original article.

In business, a small mistake or misjudgment can become a large (and expensive) problem. So wouldn’t it be awesome if there were a simple way to improve your concentration, productivity, and decision-making?

Well, there is. The solution already exists.

It’s called mindfulness and it’s a simple, zero-cost way to improve your performance in business and in life.

Sometimes we get caught up in what’s going on around us. A day’s work can be hectic, with multiple tasks to complete and competing priorities to organize. If you’re putting out fires in your business, you start treating every little challenge like a fire hazard–you think less and react more each time.

But mindfulness enables you to pay attention to your thought processes and emotional states, in a calm and non-judgmental way, so that you’re better able to understand and modify your actions.

A Different Way of Knowing

“Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way: On purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally.”

That’s the definition of mindfulness by Jon Kabat-Zinn, Professor of Medicine Emeritus and creator of the Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. He also wrote several books including: Wherever You Go, There You Are; Mindfulness for Beginners; and, Full Catastrophe Living.

The American Psychological Association (APA) emphasizes that “mindfulness is a state and not a trait.” This is good news. It means we can all increase our levels of mindfulness.

It may be hard to believe that something so simple can have such life-changing effects, but research bears out its benefits.

Google Teaches Meditation – The Benefits of Mindfulness

According to the APA, research on mindfulness has found the following benefits:

  • Reduced rumination (a compulsive focusing on one’s distress rather than solutions)
  • Stress reduction
  • Boosts to working memory
  • Improved focus
  • Less emotional reactivity
  • More cognitive flexibility
  • Increased satisfaction with relationships
  • Other benefits, such as enhanced self-insight, morality, intuition and fear modulation, as well as improved immune functioning, reduced psychological distress, faster information processing, decreased task effort, and fewer distractions

Mindfulness is so beneficial that, according to Mark Robert Waldman and Chris Manning, PhD, creators of the NeuroLeadership course for the Executive MBA program of the Loyola Marymount University, awareness is one of the 4 Pillars of Wealth (the other 3 being motivation, decision making, and creativity).

And the way to enhance awareness is through mindfulness, Waldman and Manning say in their book, NeuroWisdom: The New Brain Science of Money, Happiness, and Success. They write:

The more you practice mindfulness, the more you begin to realize that you are not your thoughts…. In this heightened state of awareness, you’ll begin to have small ‘aha’ experiences that give you sudden insights into different aspects of your life.

Small wonder, then, that Google has had a mindfulness training program since 2007.

It Takes Only A Few Moments to Develop Mindfulness

You can cultivate mindfulness in many ways. Practices like yoga, tai chi, and qigong are effective. Much of the research around mindfulness focus on meditation. However, you don’t have to commit to 30 minutes of daily meditation to develop mindfulness.

According to NeuroWisdom, mindful breathing is the easiest way to enhance mindfulness. Here’s how you do it:

Breathe slowly through your nose. Take note of the temperature of the air as it enters your nostrils. Notice its temperature as you breathe out. Put one hand on your chest and another on your belly. Observe how they rise and fall with each breath. Stay with this for as long as you like.

Brain scans show that just a few minutes of mindful breathing is enough to bring about positive changes in the brain. So even just two minutes of mindful breathing helps.

And when something upsetting happens, respond with mindfulness, so you break out of that stressful, reactive pattern of behavior:

1. Calm yourself.

2. Resist the urge to react instantly. Take your time, and breathe.

3. Observe what’s going on around you and inside you. Don’t judge, just observe.

4. Make a deliberate assessment, not only of the reality of the situation, but of how you feel and why.

5. Analyze the different options or paths that lead forward from this point. Choose the one that makes the most sense from a calm, self-aware perspective.

6. Take that path. Stay mindful as you follow it.

Take a few minutes each day to practice mindfulness, and you’ll get smarter, more relaxed, and more successful.


I was fortunate enough to have started Tai Chi a moving meditation at a very early age. Practising Tai Chi for over 25 years has allowed me to build a solid foundation to support the most important aspect of EQ development, which is attention training.

If you are interested in supporting yourself or helping the teams you manage, the links below can help you learn more about EQ training.

  1. What is EQ?
  2. Emotional Intelligence Training Course
  3. Learn to meditate with the Just6 App
  4. Meditation and the Science
  5. 7 reasons that emotional intelligence is quickly becoming one of the top sought job skills
  6. The secret to a high salary Emotional intelligence
  7. How to bring mindfulness into your employee wellness program
  8. Google ’Search Inside Yourself’

Organisational Wellness program – 36% reduction in stress,62 minute increase in production each week,7% lower healthcare costs and $3,000 saved per year, gained productivity.

I came across this article via the ‘Search Inside Yourself’ website. It highlights some interesting stats regarding wellness programs in orginisations. A 36% reduction in stress, 62 minute increase in production each week, 7% lower healthcare costs and $3,000 saved per year based on gained productivity.

Mindfulness can create better organisational wellness

Recent research reveals that these benefits add up to make an impact on organisational culture and effectiveness. Most compelling of these comes from insurance giant Aetna, which developed an internal mindfulness training programs with much support from their CEO Mark Bertolini.

Below is the article.

Personal wellness is a journey, one that can last a lifetime. My journey has led to a yoga routine where I perform asana, pranayama, meditation, and Vedic chanting before work. A skiing accident in 2004 resulted in a spinal cord injury and constant pain from neuropathy. This daily practice helps alleviate my discomfort without the use of medication. It also helps me to be more centered and fully present in the moment.

My personal wellness journey has also influenced Aetna’s organisational wellness. Based on my personal experience, I fully supported the development of yoga and mindfulness-based programs at Aetna. I know that some of my colleagues were rolling their eyes when they heard about it. Just because our CEO practices mindfulness and does yoga, does that mean that we have to learn? Can this really help?

The results since launching these programs in 2011 show that they do actually help. Employees participating in our initial mind-body stress reduction pilot programs (mindfulness and Viniyoga) showed significant improvements in perceived stress with 36 and 33 percent decreases in stress levels respectively.

Helping employees build resilience and reduce stress isn’t just the right thing to do – it can also help the bottom line. Stress is a universal issue that has a direct impact on people’s health and increases health care costs. Highly stressed individuals are at greater risk for many different health conditions, such as coronary heart disease, some cancers, diabetes, depression and anxiety, and obesity. The International Labour Organisation estimated that 30 percent of all work-related illness is due to stress, accounting for $6.6 billion of losses in the U.S. alone. Our research supported these facts, as the participants reporting the highest stress level in Aetna’s pilot programs had medical costs nearly $2,000 higher for the preceding year than those reporting the lowest stress levels.

In addition to improving health, these programs can improve employee productivity and decision-making. With the success of the pilot, the program was expanded to all Aetna employees. More than 13,000 employees have participated in one of these programs over the past three years. Participants are regaining 62 minutes per week of productivity with an approximate dollar return, in terms of productivity alone, of more than $3,000.

As a result of the success with the programs at Aetna, we have started incorporating mindfulness-based approaches into the wide range of wellness programs we offer to our employees and our customers. While these programs are all different – some focus on coaching a healthier lifestyle, while others focus on a specific health issue like weight loss – they share some common characteristics. The wellness programs that are most effective are simple, engaging, based on people’s personal values, goal-oriented and fit into people’s daily lives.

Our innovative approaches to wellness can help our employees and customers improve their health and save money. More broadly, these programs are a core element of our strategy to build healthier communities, a healthier nation and a healthier world.

Image from unspalsh by Toa Heftiba


I was fortunate enough to have started Tai Chi a moving meditation at a very early age. Practising Tai Chi for over 25 years has allowed me to build a solid foundation to support the most important aspect of EQ development, which is attention training.

If you are interested in supporting yourself or helping the teams you manage, the links below can help you learn more about EQ training.

  1. What is EQ?
  2. Emotional Intelligence Training Course
  3. Learn to meditate with the Just6 App
  4. Meditation and the Science
  5. 7 reasons that emotional intelligence is quickly becoming one of the top sought job skills
  6. The secret to a high salary Emotional intelligence
  7. How to bring mindfulness into your employee wellness program
  8. Google ’Search Inside Yourself’

Just 6 Seconds of mindfulness can make you more effective. All you need is a single breath to help build your attention to start growing emotional intelligence. See our EQ training course.

All you need is a single breath is a great post By Chade-Meng Tan. Literally 6 Seconds of Mindfulness Can Make You More Effective. Some days it’s really draining to be a senior executive. You sit in meetings for hours on end, and every decision you need to make is difficult—all of the easy decisions have already been made at levels below you. On those days, you know you could be a much more effective leader if you could approach each meeting with a fresh perspective. But in order to do that, you first need to put down the baggage you carried in from all your previous meetings. You can do it. And you can do it in just six seconds.

I led the creation of a Google training program called “Search Inside Yourself,” which was designed to help people put down that mental baggage and approach each new situation with a present, focused mind. It quickly became the most highly rated course in all of Google, with huge waiting lists. Search Inside Yourself works in three steps. It begins with attention training to create a quality of mind that is calm and clear. We then focus on developing a depth of self-knowledge that leads to self-mastery, because when you can clearly and objectively see when and how you are triggered, you can begin to effectively deploy mental and emotional strategies to skilfully navigate those situations. Finally, we cultivate mental skills such as empathy and compassion, which are conducive to better social skills.

Many participants have told us that they became better leaders and gained subsequent promotions thanks to the skills they learned from Search Inside Yourself. For example, one engineering executive learned to manage his temper and gain increased clarity by, in his words, “learning to discern stories from reality.” He became so effective that he was promoted, even after transitioning to a part-time role. Another participant learned to handle stress so much better that her physical health visibly improved. A sales executive, already a good communicator due to the nature of his job, learned that when he listened with empathy, spoke with moral courage, and held a caring attitude for the person he was interacting with, he became an even more effective communicator and executive. Over and over again, our participants tell us the training changed their lives. These skills did not take long to learn. In every example above, the benefits were realised with fewer than 50 hours of training. But getting the training’s earliest benefits doesn’t even require 50 hours.

My colleague Karen May, vice president at Google, developed the ability to mentally recharge by taking one “mindful breath” before walking into every meeting. It takes her roughly six seconds, and in that time she brings her full attention to one breath, resetting her body and mind.

There are two reasons why taking just one mindful breath is so effective at calming the body and the mind. The physiological reason is that breaths taken mindfully tend to be slow and deep, which stimulates the vagus nerve, activating the parasympathetic nervous system. It lowers stress, reduces heart rate and blood pressure, and calms you down. The psychological reason is that when you put your attention intensely on the breath, you are fully in the present for the duration of the breath. To feel regretful, you need to be in the past; to worry, you need to be in the future. Hence, when you are fully in the present, you are temporarily free from regret and worry. That’s like releasing a heavy burden for the duration of one breath, allowing the body and mind a precious opportunity for rest and recovery.

This skill is used by some of the world’s best athletes. For example, I once asked tennis superstar Novak Djokovic about it, and he confirmed that the mental technique has game-changing consequences (literally, for him).

The ability to reset and calm the body and mind in mere seconds is how athletes like Djokovic sustain high performance for extended periods. The ability to calm the body and mind on demand has profound implications for leadership. Imagine that you’re responding to a severe crisis with your peers and everybody but you is frazzled, because you alone can calm down and think clearly.

The ability to think calmly under fire is a hallmark of great leadership. The training and deployment of this skill involves paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally. The more you bring this quality of attention to your breath, the more you strengthen the parts of your brain involved with attention and executive control, principally the prefrontal cortex.

This ability is one in a collection of mental and emotional skills that form the foundation of highly effective leadership. Another such skill is the ability to assess yourself accurately, beginning with your moment-to-moment experience of emotions, and culminating in you clearly knowing your strengths, weaknesses, and purpose in life. Studies show that accurate self-assessment is a necessary condition for outstanding leadership because it enables people to build effective teams around them that add to their strengths, complement their weaknesses, and contribute to a clear, common purpose.

Learning to calm the mind starts with being more mindful of the body. By bringing mindful attention to the body, you strengthen the part of your brain called the insula, which is highly correlated with strong emotional awareness and empathy. When combined with practices such as journaling, this improves self-assessment, and when combined with practices such as mindful listening, it strengthens empathy, all of which lead to higher emotional intelligence. Even if your company doesn’t have a mindfulness training course like Search Inside Yourself, you can begin to benefit with your first mindful breath, in the first six seconds. Try it today, and see how much more present, effective, and productive you can be.


We saw the benefits of emotional intelligence training at JUMO and was the main reason we developed the Just Being course to help all. The mindfulness meditation course are now available to individuals and business outside of JUMO. We have also started developing a mindfulness app called JUST 6 for students to be notified to stop, find their breath point, breath in and breath out and then continue on with their day. An app to help them build their mindfulness practice.

I was fortunate enough to have started Tai Chi a moving meditation at a very early age. Practising Tai Chi for over 25 years has allowed me to build a solid foundation to support the most important aspect of EQ development, which is attention training.

If you are interested in supporting yourself or helping the teams you manage, the links below can help you learn more about EQ training.

  1. What is EQ?
  2. Emotional Intelligence Training Course
  3. Learn to meditate with the Just6 App
  4. Meditation and the Science
  5. 7 reasons that emotional intelligence is quickly becoming one of the top sought job skills
  6. The secret to a high salary Emotional intelligence
  7. How to bring mindfulness into your employee wellness program
  8. Google ’Search Inside Yourself’

Balancing school, work, friends and family can feel like a juggling act, and many students turn to alternative methods to cope with their mental health concerns. Learn to meditate and boost your EQ skills.

How much of your time do you dedicate to meditation? It’s a rising practice in the United States: According to federal estimates, more than 18 million Americans practice meditation on a daily basis.

But if you think meditation is a purely spiritual or ritualistic practice, you should reconsider your position. Meditation (in many forms, including mindfulness meditation) is purported to come with a host of benefits to your wellness and productivity.

Related: I Tried This Oprah Meditation Hack Every Day for Two Weeks. Here Are My 5 Takeaways.

Evidence? The American Psychological Association (APA) has aggregated some of the most empirically proven positive benefits of mindfulness meditation here; they include findings of:

  • Less rumination. How much time do you spend dwelling on past failures and current challenges? Research shows that mindfulness meditation can reduce ruminating thoughts, which in turn can help you think more clearly and positively.
  • Reduced stress. It probably comes as no surprise that people who practice daily meditation also show fewer signs of stress. This makes meditation even more important for those in prominent and decision-making roles, such as entrepreneurs or CEOs.
  • Improved memory. Working memory also seems to increase with regular meditative practices, helping you retain more information.
  • Better focus. Meditating in short sessions can help you focus on your work better throughout the day, reducing your chances of getting distracted, and sharpening your cognitive potential.
  • Greater emotional control. People who practice mindfulness show less emotional reactivity; in other words, they have greater control over their emotions, and are less likely to react impulsively to frustrating or emotionally charged situations. This could aid in making more logical decisions and remaining calm.
  • Self-observation. In addition to higher emotional control, meditation practitioners tend to have more powers of self-observation and introspection. These abilities allow them to recover faster when negatively provoked, and disengages automatic pathways, making it easier for practitioners to break bad habits.
  • Higher relationship satisfaction. Those who practice mindfulness meditation also report higher levels of satisfaction in their personal relationships. This proactively protects practitioners against the negative effects of relationship conflict.

Related: How Meditation Can Transform Your Business

The scientific evidence is convincing, but could your business really benefit from a short daily practice like this? These entrepreneurs seem to think so:

  1. Ray Dalio. This billionaire ounder of Bridgewater Associates encouraged his 735 employees to practice transcendental meditation on a regular basis. In a _Business Insider_ interview, Dalio said, “I did it because it’s the greatest gift I could give anyone – it brings about equanimity, creativity and peace.” Since then, meditation practices have spread throughout Wall Street.
  2. Jeff Weiner. The CEO of LinkedIn since 2009, Weiner has taken the social app’s membership from 33 million to more than 430 million. Part of his philosophy for success, he’s said, involves his appreciation for health, love and time. In the realm of “health,” Weiner has acknowledged using an app called Headspace to meditate daily. He frequently recommends the app to his employees and partners.
  3. Bill Ford. The executive chairman of Ford Motor Company, Ford takes time to meditate each day, no matter what. During his close call with bankruptcy nearly a decade ago, Ford admitted in a _Harvard Business Review_ piece, “The practice of mindfulness kept me going during the darkest days.” Meditation helped him improve his productivity but also to make decisions with compassion and kindness.
  4. Marc Benioff (with Steve Jobs). Benioff, founder of SalesForce, recommends meditation to all aspiring entrepreneurs and meditates every morning himself before work. His practice started after he received a piece of advice from Steve Jobs to “be mindful and project the future,“ according to a piece in ZDNet. Benioff has said he also takes time to express gratitude, as another way to clear his mind at the start of the day.
  5. Russell Simmons. Current chair and CEO of Rush Communications, Simmons is perhaps better known as the cofounder of Def Jam Recordings. A few years ago, he wrote a piece for Entrepreneur detailing his perspective on meditation and encouraging new and experienced entrepreneurs alike to build the habit. It’s worth a read if you’re interested in a first-person perspective on the matter.

Related: How Transcendental Meditation Improves Your Decision Making

Both anecdotal and empirical evidence seem to suggest that regular time devoted to mindfulness meditation can help you feel better, think better and work better. If you haven’t yet given meditation a chance, try carving out a spot for it in your daily routine.

I found this a valuable read and originally found the post here.

Image from unspalsh by Afonso Coutinho


I was fortunate enough to have started Tai Chi a moving meditation at a very early age. Practising Tai Chi for over 25 years has allowed me to build a solid foundation to support the most important aspect of EQ development, which is attention training.

If you are interested in supporting yourself or helping the teams you manage, the links below can help you learn more about EQ training.

  1. What is EQ?
  2. Emotional Intelligence Training Course
  3. Learn to meditate with the Just6 App
  4. Meditation and the Science
  5. 7 reasons that emotional intelligence is quickly becoming one of the top sought job skills
  6. The secret to a high salary Emotional intelligence
  7. How to bring mindfulness into your employee wellness program
  8. Google ’Search Inside Yourself’

Studies show that people who practiced meditation had amazing positive effects. Meditation affects mind and body in may ways. Plus it’s the foundation of EQ.

You will be amazed to know how meditation affects mind and body. It even helps develop emotional intelligence. Below is a small list of the effects meditation has.

How Meditation Affects The Brain

1. Reduces Brain Inflammation A study showed that people who practiced meditation had less stress related inflammation in the brain. The brain could easily perform more activities related to focus and calmness.

2. The Brain Grows Along with distressing our mind, it also increases the area of the brain associated with attention span. The gray matter or Pre-frontal cortex grows as you indulge in meditation. This helps in making more connections inside the brain. it further leads to increased functions.

3. Increased/ Better Memory As a person grows, the frontal cortex of the brain starts to shrink. This further leads to thw lapse in memory. However, it has been found out that meditators have more grey matter in this part of the brain. This increases memory and helps in decision making as well.

4. Increases Your Consciousness Meditation helps in becoming more conscious. A person who meditates become more connected to the surroundings and the people around. A person starts finding a connection and meaning in everything. With a continuous practice feelings like fear, anger, pride, desire stop ruling your mind. They are replaced by the feelings of Neutrality, willingness , courage and more.

5. Keeps Brain From Aging A study in the journal frontiers OF Psychology found that as the gray matter in the brain decreases in both the mediators and others. However, the decrease was much less in the mediators. As a person ages, diseases like Alzheimer’s, Dementia start ruling over. According to the same study, meditation helps in slowing this progression.

6. Has A Permanent Effect Many people may think that meditation makes your brain healthy for a short duration. However, this is completely false. Meditation changes the default way of how your brain functions. The Amygdala shrinks and the frontal cortex grows. This shifts our entire perception of living to a much higher level.

How Meditation Affects The Body

1. Alleviate Symptoms Caused By Sickness Many studies have found out that meditation enhances the effectiveness of usual medical treatment. I am not suggesting you to replace any treatment provided by the Doctor. But practicing meditation along with it will complement the conventional treatment.

2. Strengthens The Immune System Studies show that meditation improves the quality of you immune system response. A study showed that mediators who were given flu shots had the larger number of antibodies in their blood. The level was comparatively lower in non-meditators. It also increased positive emotions in the brain.

3. Reduces Fatigue If you find yourself tired and dizzy, you don’t need to jump on to a cup of coffee. Indulge yourself in a little session of Meditation. Meditation might have a more stimulating effect on your body than a cup of coffee.

4. A Decrease In Muscle Tension Meditation draws attention towards different areas of the body. Controlling the breathing and calming the mind help muscles in relaxing. A technique called-Progressive muscle relaxation can be used in the beginning of meditation. This creates tension between muscles and then relax them throughout the body.

5. Heart And Blood Pressure Too much physical or mental stress leads to constricted blood cells and high blood pressure. This may further lead to burnout, depression and more. Controlled breathing i.e. an important part of meditating, lets body produce nitric acid. This helps in opening up blood vessels and thus maintains your blood pressure.


I was fortunate enough to have started Tai Chi a moving meditation at a very early age. Practising Tai Chi for over 25 years has allowed me to build a solid foundation to support the most important aspect of EQ development, which is attention training.

If you are interested in supporting yourself or helping the teams you manage, the links below can help you learn more about EQ training.

  1. What is EQ?
  2. Emotional Intelligence Training Course
  3. Learn to meditate with the Just6 App
  4. Meditation and the Science
  5. 7 reasons that emotional intelligence is quickly becoming one of the top sought job skills
  6. The secret to a high salary Emotional intelligence
  7. How to bring mindfulness into your employee wellness program
  8. Google ’Search Inside Yourself’