Mindfulness Meditation and Optimal Performance

by George Pitagorsky

In the continuing search for performance improvement there is a growing interest in meditation in businesses and other organizations, including the U.S. Army, Google, and major law firms. Research on the effects of meditation on the brain, on healing and as a stress reliever has been regularly coming out of the scientific community. A recent NY Times article¹ highlighted the possibility that meditation changes the density of brain matter in areas associated with memory, sense of self, empathy and stress. The article states that "It has been hard to pinpoint the benefits of meditation, but a 2009 study suggests that meditation may reduce blood pressure in patients with coronary heart disease. And a 2007 study found that meditators have longer attention spans."

Mindfulness meditation is a style that is the focus of many of these studies. It is a simple and ancient technique, introduced in this country in the 1970s. The technique begins with a focus on the sensations of the breath or body while maintaining awareness of the arising of thoughts, feelings, sounds, sights, smells and tastes. This practice brings improved concentration and an increased ability to be mindfully aware of whatever is happening in and around the individual. 

Why the Interest?

In organizations optimal performance is the grail. It may be measured by the number of people served well, revenues, sustainability, among other performance characteristics.

Mindfulness meditation increases mindfulness and mindfulness is a foundation for the ability to be responsive as opposed to reactive in relationships and in stressful situations. Arguably this ability to respond rather than react is a basic requisite for effective behavior. Not only does it enable individuals to be less physically effected by stress and less likely to be distracted, it also enables the step back needed to become free from conditioned behavior and dysfunctional beliefs and mental models.

The benefits meditation bring are valuable contributors to sustainable effective performance.

Self Management

The interest in meditation is positive but like any powerful tool, meditation must be understood and managed well. There are a number of meditation techniques some focused on concentration others on insight or the cultivation of mindfulness. Here we will focus on insight or mindfulness meditation.

If we see meditation as a tool, we can ask what do I want to do with it, what is its purpose? That takes us back to performance.Mindfulness and concentration by themselves are not enough. If we want to use meditation to enhance performance, individuals must thoroughly understand what they are doing, how they are doing it and why they are doing it. It is quite possible to cultivate mindfulness and concentration and be a master thief or assassin, or to blindly follow a detrimental course of action. Meditation must be combined with clear objectives, hopefully based on ethical behavior and a clear sense of the nature of our own minds and relationships. It is each individual's responsibility to make sure that they are using meditation's benefits for the benefit of both themselves and others.

Meditation as Medication

With performance as a goal, we can easily see meditation as kind of a natural "medicine" to relieve stress and make the individual healthier, calmer, more concentrated and less reactive. 

But remember that this practice has its roots in wisdom traditions where meditation is a means to reach personal liberation; not just medication.

If you come to meditation for medication, be aware that rather than cutting off your feelings like a narcotic, it heightens your awareness so you see things more clearly, are more aware of causes and effects and see the difference between the primary stressors and the secondary ones that we add. The secondary ones can be eliminated, and they are the ones that cause the greatest damage.

If you are ready to confront the underlying causes of your behavior and to become responsible for your actions, then mindfulness meditation may be for you. If you are looking for an easy way to reduce your stress without having to address its real cause, then take a pill.

Is meditation a cure all? No. It is a third of the total program to optimize performance. Meditation must be combined with equal measures of wisdom and skillful behavior. Systems thinking and process awareness, goal and value driven behavior, effective communications and healthy relationships and, of course first-rate methods are needed to enable optimal performance.

Is it easy? It is simple but not necessarily easy. Meditation requires resolve and effort. It is like exercise and dieting. It needs time and attention. Though from a time standpoint it doesn't require as much dedicated time as, many people think. 

The essential practice is moment to moment mindfulness; bringing attention to the present moment over and over again to avoid getting caught up in distracting thought streams triggered by emotions and irrational desires and aversions. While moment to moment mindfulness meditation is greatly enhanced by formal sitting practice, even without formal practice, it has effects that you can observe for yourself.

For instructions on how to meditate visit

http://www.pitagorskyconsulting.com/articles/article/6339267/106485.htm

[¹] SINDYA N. BHANOO, NY Times, January 28, 2011, 10:29 AM, How Meditation May Change the Brain