The Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing supports organizations that wish to enhance employee and organizational wellbeing through mindfulness with webinars, onsite workshops, retreats, and our Mindfulness at Work course. This course is available onsite for organizations in the Twin Cities metro area, and online for access by employees throughout greater Minnesota and around the world.
Mindfulness at Work is a self-paced, experiential course designed to teach core mindfulness skills while also exploring specific applications to the workplace setting. The course explores key mindfulness traits and how they relate to essential workplace skills, such as presence, emotional regulation, resilience, cognitive flexibility, and communication, all of which are critical skills for thriving at work. By exploring these topics from the perspective of the workplace, participants will gain an understanding of how to apply evidence-based techniques to help them succeed on the job. This course is 6 weeks in length, with weekly class time of 90 minutes for the onsite version, or 30-45 minutes for the online version, and formal home practice of 10 minutes per day.
More than 75% of past participants surveyed realized a reduction in stress upon completion of this course, and 93% were very satisfied or satisfied with the course. Additionally, 90% strongly agree or agree that Mindfulness at Work should be offered to others in their organization, including the University of Minnesota.
If you are interested in Mindfulness at Work for Individuals, please click here.
Bring Mindfulness at Work to Your Company or Organization
What You'll Learn
- Define mindfulness and discuss the benefits of mindfulness in the workplace
- Identify how stress manifests for you personally and how you can use mindfulness to increase your capacity to bounce back
- Harness mindfulness to regulate emotions and respond skillfully in challenging situations
- Employ mindful strategies to overcome the negativity bias, broaden perspective, and increase cognitive flexibility and creativity
- Apply mindful strategies for more effective communication and connection
- Develop a personal mindfulness routine by completing the regular out‐of‐class practices
Course Resources
Resources and activities for each week of the course will be provided in a workbook or on a course website, for the online class format. A typical week will consist of the following activities:
- Weekly topical introduction (in person or live/recorded video) from instructor and guided exercises
- Instructor-led guided meditations and suggestions for practice activities
- Individual daily meditation practice and journal entry
- Supplemental readings/viewings
- In online course format, online check-in/participation (e.g., online discussion, media share, etc., depending upon course delivery model)
Topical Areas
- The Role of Mindfulness in the Workplace
- From Reacting to Responding: Managing Stress Skillfully
- Perspective Matters
- Cultivating Resilience
- Communicating and Connecting
- Gratitude and Commitment
Program Structure
The course can be delivered in the following formats:
On-site Mindfulness at Work Course:
- Enrollment of up to 24 individuals per section
- Course duration of 6 weeks, with 90 minutes of weekly course content
- Formal home practice of 10 minutes per day
Online Mindfulness at Work Course:
- Enrollment of up to 50 individuals per section
- Students move through weekly content at their own pace
- Course duration of 6 weeks, with 30-45 minutes of weekly course content
- Formal home practice of 10 minutes per day
Location & Delivery Format
Onsite courses can be taught at suitable locations within the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. Online courses are taught utilizing a course management system and are available globally.
Instruction
Center courses and workshops are facilitated by our experienced instructors, who have deep experience in teaching mindfulness and meditation courses, workshops and retreats within the University, community, and organizations.
Alex Haley, JD, MBA is an assistant professor at the Center, where teaches undergraduate and graduate courses, assists with clinical research and helps support mindfulness programming for public, non-profit and for-profit organizations. He has practiced meditation for over 15 years, taught extensively, and has worked for start-ups, mid-sized companies and large multinationals both domestically and internationally in legal and business roles.
Louise Delagran, MA, MEd has worked as an elearning consultant for Fortune 500 companies for more than 20 years before becoming the director of the learning resources group at the Center. She has been involved in research and authored a number of articles on mindfulness. She has practiced mindfulness for more than 16 years and regularly teaches courses on wellbeing and mindfulness.
Mariann Johnson currently serves as a Mindfulness Instructor for the Center. Prior to joining the Center as a staff instructor, she helped establish the Center’s Mindfulness at Work program and was a member of the Mindful-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) instructor team. Mariann also served as the Center’s MBSR instructor for research projects.
Evaluation
As part of a major land-grant university, the Center is committed to systematically evaluating its programs using best practices in data collection. We employ a pre/post Perceived Stress Scale inventory survey in conjunction with our Mindfulness at Work course, in addition to a post-course evaluation, querying participants regarding their experience with the course.
More than 75% of past participants surveyed realized a reduction in stress upon completion of this course, and 93% were very satisfied or satisfied with the course. Additionally, 90% strongly agree or agree that Mindfulness at Work should be offered to others in their organization, including the University of Minnesota.
Outcomes
Course participants report improved work-related outcomes including:
- Increased ability to identify when they are stressed at work and methods for responding
- Enhanced understanding of how their habits and attitudes impact their perceptions of work events
- Increased attentiveness to what others are saying
- Acquisition of specific strategies for dealing with challenges at work