Awareness in

Action
 Awareness in Action
Meeting the challenge
We live and work in times of change
and uncertainty characterized by
economic fluctuation, rapid technological
development and a work culture that
expects a 24/7 availability. For staff to
be able to respond effectively to these
challenges they need to be able to see them
not as problems but as possibilities for
growth and personal development. This
means providing a complete person-based
training with a vision and methodology
to engage directly with ’ your staff’s habit
patterns—both positive and negative. By
learning to recognize and understand these
habits staff can transform challenging
environments and pressures into
something that nurtures and sustains both
themselves and their colleagues at work.
Mind’s potential at work
Current scientific experiments are showing
that—contrary to what was believed
before— the physical brain changes in
response to experience This process is
known as neuroplasticity. One of the
groundbreaking conclusions of this
research is that our minds can reshape
the brain and that this ability endures
throughout our entire life. This ‘plasticity’
means we can train the mind and therefore
shape the brain with tools that provide the
foundation for our own wellbeing.
“The most important take home
message is we can change our brain by
transforming our mind.”
Professor Richard Davidson
Awareness in Action
The Awareness in Action approach begins
by examining the habitual responses that
limit our potential and constrain how we
use our minds. With this information as
a basis, the next step is to train the mind
to be peaceful, compassionate and clear-
seeing.
Because this training is concerned with
how people are able to work with their
own minds, it can deliver sustainable
personal development which enables staff
to take charge of their own wellbeing
at work, transforming excessive stress
and potential obstacles into sources
of positive development. This leads to
improved decision making, team working,
performance, communication and the
capacity to deal with clients with greater
effectiveness, clarity and sensitivity.
“A set of tools, grounded in practical
wisdom that can change people and
organisations. Highly recommended”
David Rand Director, MicroMentor
STRESS & PEACEFUL MIND 2
TEAMWORKING &
3
COMPASSIONATE MIND
CONNECTEDNESS & CLEAR-
4
SEEING MIND
LEADERSHIP AND
MANAGERS
5
HEALTH & CARE WORKERS 6
EDUCATORS 7

SOURCES 8

Change your mind transform, your organisation

 Awareness in Action
Stress & Negative Emotions
It is now known that if our mind is
influenced by anxiety, stress, anger, fear
or lack of self confidence we become
disturbed, inefficient and less able to
bring the full repertoire of our skills to
a situation. Unfortunately, nearly one
in three European workers are affected
by work related stress and between 50%
and 60% of all lost working days are
related to it. This manifests into various
‘organizational symptoms’ including: high
levels of absenteeism and labour turnover,
low employee morale and teamwork, a lack
of innovation and poor productivity. In
Awareness in Action we address this with
Peaceful Mind training which is designed
to be integrated within today’s busy office
environments.
Peaceful Mind
Training in a Peaceful Mind begins with
paying attention to what is going on within • An increased capacity for inner peace
ourselves and our environment through
learning mindfulness.
Developing mindfulness enables us to
to notice where we are getting caught
in unhelpful habits and to remain calm
even when coping with negative thoughts,
emotions and difficult situations .
Once a basis in mindfulness is established
we continue with meditation to calm
the mind down so that we can harness
its creative power more effectively and
transform the habits that undermine
our ability. Meditation returns us to the
present moment over and over, until
awareness, rather than distraction or
escape, is our habitual state.
On average, absenteeism will cost
your business 730 euros per employee
per year. CIPD Annual Survey Report
These techniques of mindfulness
and meditation are being shown by
neuroscientists to be powerful tools in
training the mind and reshaping the brain.
Studies of meditators show:
• Greater activity in the areas of the
brain connected to empathy
• A shift in brain activity from the
right pre frontal cortex which is
associated with negative emotions,
Peaceful Mind
and depression, towards the left pre
frontal cortex which is associated with
positive emotions and feelings of well-
being
• Optimum cognitive efficiency which
occurs when the pre frontal cortexes
are fully activated (this is the zone
where attention is paid).
When you are paying attention, you’re
calm and clear. Paying attention is
the basis of our own well-being and of
the role we play in the well-being of
our organization. It is a constructive
instrument for authentic presence, good
communication, effective problem solving
and transforming stress. It is a vital
element in managing today’s intense work
environments.
“I can recommend the workshop
‘Being well at work whole heartily to
everyone interested”
Department of Social Security CEO,
Holland
 Awareness in Action
Selfishness at work
Dangerous, unproductive, dysfunctional
(DUD) behavior is a product of selfishness
at work which research has found
decreases productivity by an average
of 50%. It manifests as ineffective
collaboration amongst staff, poor
communication resulting in meetings and
projects take longer than they should.
Emotions at work
In seventy work teams across diverse
industries members who sat in meetings
together ended up sharing moods —either
good or bad —within 2 hours. The same
effect holds in the office - people ‘catch’
each other’s moods sharing jealousy, envy,
angst or euphoria. The more cohesive the
group, the stronger the sharing of moods,
emotional history and triggers for stress.
We are wired to connect
This research reinforces recent scientific
research that shows that the brain is
a profoundly social organ. We are
constantly affecting each other’s moods
and thereby productivity at work. So it is
vital to nurture the right emotional climate Through training in compassion we
in order to create the conditions where
each individual can contribute their best.
Compassionate Mind
As a person increases awareness of
themselves and their actions at work,
they naturally deepen their awareness of
what is going on with their colleagues,
becoming more accessible, responsible,
and effective. Improved self- awareness
is the foundation of empathy which is
developed through a Compassionate Mind
approach to workforce development.
Compassion is not a soft option but an
essential element in collaborative working.
Cognisco Limited reports that
“employee misunderstanding” is
costing companies in the US and the
UK $37 billion per year.
develop the capacity to see other people
and their needs more clearly and develop a
deeper understanding of factors affecting
Compassionate Mind
their behavior both in relationship to
performing tasks and the operation of
teams.
This attitude is the basis from which to
transform interpersonal conflicts and team
dynamics and act with right intention
for the benefit of ourselves and others.
Training in compassion has a positive
impact on communication and creates
a nurturing workplace which allows the
expression of a full range of creativity and
team cohesion possible.
Sunday Times ‘Best Companies
to work for in the UK’ shows
that companies who have higher
levels of employee well-being, line
management and team-working have
13% lower staff turnover, less than
half the sickness absence of the UK
average, and on the stock market they
have consistently out-performed the
FTSE 100.
 Awareness in Action
Clear-Seeing Mind
The third element of the Awareness in
Action approach is training in Clear
Seeing Mind. This is fundamental in the
development of right view—the capacity
to see things as they actually are rather
than how they appear. By examining the
principles of change and impermanence;
cause and effect, and interdependence the
training encourages employees to:
• Go beyond their habitual approaches
to problem solving
• Use this understanding to arrive at
the right decisions
• Develop a more expansive vision for
individual staff,,the organization and
the wider environment
• Maintain a strong and warm
organizational heart, even in times of
difficulty
Through this training staff learn to
approach projects with clarity, openness
and inquisitiveness. Rather than trying
to apply tired solutions to problems they
are equipped to cope creatively and with
freshness by viewing the situation from
all perspectives.
“A shift in attitudes is necessary to
ensure that employers and employees
recognise not only the importance
of preventing ill-health, but also the
key role the workplace can play in
promoting health and well-being.”
Dame Carol Black’s Review of the
health of Britains working age
Being well at work
Training the mind to be peaceful,
compassionate and clear-seeing is the
basis for happiness and wellbeing at
work.
In her book, the How of Happiness, Sonja
Lyubomirsky (Psychology Professor at
the University of California) shows that
only 50% of our happiness is determined
by our genetic predisposition, 10% by
Clear Seeing Mind
life circumstances, with the remaining
40% within our power to affect and
change. This gives scientific endorsement
to the notion that individuals have a
considerable role to play in deciding their
own well-being.
Developments in brain imaging devices
now enable scientists to measure brain
activity associated with happiness.
Genuine happiness has been shown
to be directly related to self awareness
and cultivation of inner peace of. This
is important news for organizations
as individuals with a higher levels of
happiness have been shown to have
better immune systems, less of the stress
hormone cortisol, and exhibit greater
resilience and staying power at work.
“The price we have paid for
expecting to be so much more than
our ancestors is a perpetual anxiety
that we are far from being all that we
might be.”
Status Anxiety Alain de Botton
 Awareness in Action
Authentic Leadership The most effective leadership tool at
our disposal is our own mind. In order
to provide the most positive impact for
ourselves and others, we need to be willing
to engage in training our mind—just as we
engage in training in any other aspect of
our work.
authentic leadership.
Effective leaders care about results but
not at the expense of human beings.
Awareness in Action has experience in
working with developing leadership skills
in third sector management in the UK.

“This shift [in business culture] “The course was a resounding

A good leader works from the perspective
of right view—the courage to see things
as they really are. This is achieved
through a deep understanding of the
interdependence of events and situations.
When this view is linked with integrity
and vision we act with right conduct— a
compassionate approach that can shape
and mould a sustainable transformation of
our organization and the people we aim to
support.
Studies have shown that even when
a boss isn’t highly visible (for example
the CEO works behind closed doors
on an upper floor) his attitude affects
the moods of his direct reports, and a
domino effect ripples throughout the
organisations emotional climate
can only come about if the senior success. All who participated, without
leadership of business act to change exception, found it very beneficial.”
themselves”
Alan Boyle QC Inns of Court, London
Danah Zohar in Spiritual Capital UK
Leaders cannot afford to be distracted,
overwhelmed, controlled by destructive
emotions, such as frustration, anger,
anxiety or panic, that undermine
leadership abilities. Instead they need to
be able to work with their emotions and
worries in a manner which helps create
a healthy environment for their staff to
operate well.
Neuroplasticity demonstrates that
by training the mind we can literally
restructure the physical brain and
strengthen and expand circuits that are
helpful and weaken and shrink those
that cause and sustain unhelpful patterns
and develop qualities that resonate with

Leaders and Managers

 Awareness in Action
Caring for yourself, caring for others
People who work in caring professions
face many difficulties but one that is
constant is the challenge to stay open
and responsive to the needs of the people
they support without becoming either
indifferent to their needs, or overwhelmed
by them.
Care workers will spend any amount of
time learning techniques to teach their
clients but can quickly feel guilty if the
object of attention is themselves. One of
the things we stress in our workshops is
that learning to quieten one’s mind, and
open one’s heart through mindfulness
and meditation is the surest way to enable
you to offer more to the people you work
with—whether they are people in need, or
colleagues in business.
Taking the time to work with oneself in
this way is the best safeguard against effective in caring for others, and—most
burn-out and emotion-fatigue and importantly— to be able to sustain it on a
increases one’s stability and capacity. To long-term basis.
put it simply—everyone benefits: you, the
clients and your management! We have experience in working
with care-givers, psychologists, and
As part of our workshops we work to physiotherapists.
increase awareness of how to care for
ourselves in order to better serve others.
We do this through examining the habits “You must be the change you
we bring to our working life and assess wish to see in the world”
which ones are getting in our way. We
look at the effectiveness of mindfulness Mahatma Gandhi
and meditation as means to calm and
settle the mind, and provide a basis for a
compassionate action. By experimenting
with exercises to develop compassion, we
will explore the possibility that caring for
others can nourish our own well-being
rather than depleting it.
“It was a very valuable day for us—not
only as cranial sacral therapists, but
also for our personal live”
Corinne Mulder Scholingscommissie
UCN
Awareness in Action offers an
opportunity to examine what it means
to take responsibility for one’s own
well-being in order to become more
Carers and health workers
 Awareness in Action
Compassionate Education
Everything that we now know about the
brain, indicates that training the mind
reshapes the brain. Qualities such as
patience, calmness, cooperation and
kindness can now be regarded as skills
that can be learned by training the mind.
Children’s brains are literally being
molded by beneficial and negative
experience both knowingly and
unknowingly. An educator’s task needs to
include enabling children to understand
and regulate their emotions,
The pre frontal cortex of the brain is
crucial to providing emotion regulation.
This area is a convergence zone for
thought and feelings —very strong
activation in the PFC has been shown
to lead to diminished activation in the
amygdala (a key site particularly for
negative emotions).
Learning skills such as mindfulness,
meditation and compassion has been
shown to improve the function of the PFC
therefore improving emotion regulation.
It has also been shown to improve
cognition and working memory tasks that
underlie academic performance.
Particularly when it continues over time,
emotion regulation skills are beneficial for
the body and lower the levels of the stress
hormone cortisol in the body. Cortisol can
affect circuits in the brain (amygdala and
the hippocampus) which are particularly
important for learning and memory
“It is our choices,Harry that show
what we truly are, far more than our
abilities”
Harry Potter and the Chamber of
Secrets: J.K. Rowling
A compassionate educational approach
provides a foundation for both a positive
learning environment and a basis for
emotional awareness grounded in the
experience of the benefits of mindfulness
and mediation.
Educators
 Awareness in Action
Our Training of your work situation—both in terms sessions are available
Each Awareness in Action workshop is of content and duration • Workshops conclude with making
designed specifically for individual clients a plan for how to continue to apply
and is practical, interactive, investigative Further Options what we have learnt, so people leave
and experiential. They include video • Awareness in Action can offer with a tool kit of methods and a plan
clips and the latest scientific resaarch that introductory presentations to brief for how to integrate them in their
shows the effectiveness of the methods management personnel, or orientate working life.
we use. The emphasis is on creating an participants before the programme
CLIENT LIST
environment for participants to explore begins
what is going on for them and to discover • We can design modules to be part In the UK
solutions that they feel inspired to try of your own in-house training BROWNING HOUSE, LEEDS
over a reasonable period of time. programme
SEARLE COURT, INNS OF COURT,
• We offer follow-up sessions—in
LONDON
How can Awareness in Action work with person and on our website—to check
your organization? how participants are integrating the COMMUNITY & VOLUNTARY
We offer: material · Individual counselling SERVICE, MANSFIELD
• Presentations, lectures and seminars NHS LOTHIAN CAMHS,
• Workshops SCOTLAND
• Advisory sessions—individual and Example Workshop Titles
HEART OF BIRMINGHAM PCT
group
In Europe
Happiness and Well-Being at Work
How could this work in your VAN EDE & PARTNERS, ARHNEM,
organization? Transforming Stress and NETHERLANDS
• Contact Awareness in Action to Frustration at Work
THE RED CROSS, BARCELONA,
explain the context in which you New Perspectives on Working as a SPAIN
would like a programme to run Team SPIRIT IN BUSINESS, ZURICH,
• Talk through in detail the particular SWITZERLAND
angles you are interested in Authentic Leadership
• We will put together a programme Mindfulness at Work
specially designed to meet the needs

Our training
 Awareness in Action
Our work is Inspired by
Secular techniques of Mindfulness,
Meditation and Compassion
The application of the Buddhist tools of
mindfulness, meditation and compassion
in a secular context
This is an approach introduced by the
Dalai Lama in his book Ethics for the New
Millennium.
“My call ... [is for] a radical
re-orientation away from our habitual
preoccupations with self towards
concern for the wider community of
beings with whom we are connected,
and for conduct which recognizes
others’ interests alongside our own.”
Ethics for a new millennium His
Holiness the Dalai Lama
Neuroplasticity
Twenty years ago neuroscientists believed
that the adult brain had little margin
for change but the research pioneered
by Richard Davidson of Wisconsin
University has led to these ideas changing
considerably.
Now, neuroscientists are talking about understanding the nature of reality and
Neuroplasticity—the concept that the promoting human well-being.
brain is continually evolving in response
to our experience, through a continuous
“400 of the top organisations
process of neural development.
in 40 countries agree that better
human capital information
Happiness Debate
improved resource management and
It would appear that in the developed
profitability.“
world income has doubled in the last fifty
The IBM Global Human Capital Study
years but levels of happiness have not
2008
increased—in fact there is more crime,
more depression and more alcoholism
that fifty years ago.
Why is this? There is a large body of
current research on happiness and well-
being and its implications for society and
government.
The work of the Mind and Life
conferences
Which aims to establish mutually
respectful working collaboration and
research partnerships between modern
science and Buddhism — two of the
world’s most fruitful traditions for
Our sources