To mark International Women’s Day this month, we’re featuring some of the female-lead startups and individuals in our digital health community making a difference in health and care!
Meet one of our amazing members Lori West; Founder and CEO of Business Brilliance.
Have you ever wondered what all the fuss about mindfulness is? Maybe you’ve tried it and decided it wasn’t for you?
As a mindfulness practitioner for 40+ years, I hear that a lot. Busy people with busy lives
keep getting busier and busier and busier until...
Presentee-ism
Workplace conflict
Imposter syndrome
Low self-esteem
Restless sleep
Burnout
Depression
Anxiety
Constant colds
IBS
Eczema and psoriasis
The list goes on.
Something’s gotta give, right? And consider that that something may just be the conversation you are having with yourself that mindfulness is not for you.
Mindfulness is for EVERYONE. In fact, I’d say it’s one of the biggest skills that’s missing from our education.
It’s not really about meditation. Sure, mindfulness is a type of meditation, but it does not require you to sit on a meditation pillow for 30 minutes chanting a mantra. It does not need you to take off your shoes and feel the wet grass between your toes.
All of those things are wonderful, but there is more to mindfulness than this. This is why a lot of people talk about mindfulness but don’t practise it. There’s a misconception that mindfulness requires time and effort that you don’t have. This is the myth I’m about to bust for you.
Mindfulness is about checking in with yourself. Using the breath, you consciously connect with your internal world to notice what’s going on for you. Think of it this way. If you only breathe in or out, you die. You need to breathe in to breathe out, and vice versa. Consciously using your breath helps you ensure your inner and outer experiences are aligned. And when they’re not, you can do something about it.
Let me share my perspective with you. While piloting a leadership development programme designed for women in STEM industries, I discovered two things:
The participants were fearful of what they would discover when they turned within to reflect
When they did reflect, it was as if they entered a foreign landscape, having no knowledge of, or language to describe what they were experiencing
Their lack of self awareness resulted in them finding themselves in a place of dissatisfaction with their careers. I realised I had to find a way to empower busy people to apply mindfulness in the workplace. I knew my methodology had to be:
Easy-to-use
Engaging
Effective
After three years of development, my methodology, I-AM-I, is being born.
What’s it all about? Well, I’ve based the methodology on HIIT principles with the purpose of helping people accomplish a specific outcome quickly and efficiently. Let’s break the acronym down.
I-AM-I stands for Intentional Applied Mindfulness Integration. Intentionality guides your will towards the accomplishment of something. Applied Mindfulness means that you actively connect with yourself to accomplish something Integration offers you the means to align your thoughts, emotions, feelings, sensations, attitudes, behaviours and actions to accomplish something. In essence, it is designed to help you accomplish the best result possible.
When you learn the skill, you can apply the I-AM-I method wherever you are — in a board meeting, during a sales pitch or even at a moment of conflict with a colleague.
I-AM-I enables you to elevate workplace performance with minimal effort. It empowers you to take charge of your career. It enables you to master your mind/body connection. And, no air pods, whale music or incense is required.
Words: Lori West
Lori has been a part of the Health Foundry community since 2021. A qualified psychotherapist, coach and mindfulness practitioner for over 20 years, Lori empowers you to take charge of your career by showing you how to master your mind. Her trademarked I-AM-I methodology, based on HIIT principles, enables you to expand workplace brilliancy intentionally applying mindfulness to integrate your thoughts, emotions, sensations, behaviours and results.