Bring Mindfulness to Events

As May is mental health awareness month it brings to mind how often people have asked me over the course of my career “How do you stay so calm during events?” It is a skill that is enhanced by experience, event by event, emergency by emergency, and likely attributed to my over 20 years of mindfulness, yoga studies and practice! I have learned to choose my focus, as the saying goes ‘Energy flows where your attention goes.’ And what you focus on expands and intensifies. As an event planner, I understand fully the challenges when trying to focus on one thing at a time, and to find a solution during multitasking pressure, time constraints, information overload, and high expectations. Deepak Chopra says, “Mindfulness creates centered awareness” and with centered awareness we event planners (essentially ALL roles) can increase our productivity by reduced stress, improved focus and attention, enhanced communication and decision-making skills, emotional regulation, and through the cultivation of a greater sense of physical and mental well-being.

As the great Jon Kabat-Zinn says, “You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf”, it is a mantra I live by, here are some suggested ways to help incorporate more mindfulness into our work environments:

1. Mindful Meetings: Begin meetings with a short mindfulness exercise to center and focus everyone’s attention before diving into the agenda. This could be a brief meditation or deep breathing exercise. Foster a culture of collaboration by encouraging team members to approach interactions with openness, curiosity, and compassion. This can help reduce conflicts and enhance teamwork.
2. Mindful Movement Workshops: Offer workshops or training sessions on mindful movement practices that focus on connecting the mind and body through gentle, flowing movements. Encourage team members to take short breathing breaks throughout the day to stretch and relax. Simple yoga poses that can be done at the desk, such as neck stretches, seated twists, and shoulder rolls, can help relieve tension and improve focus.
3. Mindfulness Challenges: Organize team challenges or competitions focused on mindfulness practices. This could involve setting goals for daily meditation, yoga practice, a brief walk outside, a few minutes of stretching or mindfulness exercises. Encourage team members to take short mindful breaks throughout the day to pause, breathe, and reset. Rewarding team members who participate.

By integrating these mindfulness practices into our routine, we can all promote a more positive, focused, emotionally intelligent, fulfilling work environment, and ultimately help boost creativity, innovation and event planning productivity. Don’t we all want that?! Happy Mental Health Awareness Month!