Mindfulness meditation has become mainstream, making its way into schools, corporations, prisons, and government agencies including the U.S. military. The mindfulness revolution appears to offer a universal panacea for resolving almost every area of daily concern. Recent books on the topic include: Mindful Parenting, Mindful Eating, Mindful Teaching, Mindful Politics, Mindful Therapy, Mindful Leadership, A Mindful Nation, Mindful Recovery, The Power of Mindful Learning, The Mindful Brain, The Mindful Way through Depression, The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion. Millions of people are receiving tangible benefits from their mindfulness practice: less stress, better concentration, perhaps a little more empathy. Needless to say, this is an important development to be welcomed – and its success in the arena of cognitive behavioural therapy is great news – but these successes have a shadow – the ‘true’ meaning of Mindfulness has been lost.

Mindfulness for the Mindful Manager is more akin to the ‘original’ Mindfulness conception – sati – a Sanskrit word derived from the verb ‘to remember’ that has been translated as Mindfulness. It is much more than ‘memory’, much more than simply recalling – it is an experiential learning that has become embedded in our ‘way of being in the world’ – our way of conducting ourselves.

Mindfulness Matters – as it is only Conduct that Counts.

To learn more, look in the Practical Wisdom section of the Members’ Area.