The experience of mindfulness and its application in the workplace : An explorative study

Abstract

In recent years mindfulness has become increasingly popular in the world of organizations. This popularity has led to mindfulness resources in organizations being developed faster than its scientific evaluation. There is little understanding on its meaning and implications for individuals in the context of the workplace as research has focused on quantitative method approaches and disregarded the voices of the individuals. For this reason, this study sought to describe the experience of mindfulness and explore its application and utility in the context of the workplace from a first-person perspective. The objectives that guided this thesis were: (1) to examine the contributions of previous research and identify gaps and controversies in mindfulness literature,(2) describe the experience of mindfulness in its practitioners, (3) discover how mindfulness is applied in the workplace by its practitioners, the challenges they face, and the perceived effects of its application, and (4) examine the relationship between the relational processes through which mindfulness is taught, practiced, and experienced to the way practitioners perceive its meaning and its social utility in the context of their workplaces. A total of four informants, who identified as mindfulness practitioners and had been actively practicing mindfulness for at least a year while they were employed, were recruited to participate in the study through a convenience sampling method. The participants were individually interviewed, and the data was analyzed through a thematic analysis. The findings of this study illustrate differences in the narratives and application of mindfulness when utilized in the context of the workplace and in daily lives. Mindfulness in the context of daily life was a planned activity in the informants’ lives and was understood as a self-help tool which also had unexpected positive implications in the quality of life and relationships of the informants. Mindfulness in the context of the workplace was used as a stress management tool in moments of increased stress, which allowed them to cope with the demands of their environment and meet the expectations of their jobs. It was also revealed that there were contradictions in the discourse and application of mindfulness initiatives in the workplace.