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Published Oct 25, 2018

Mirabai Bush — Contemplation, Life, and Work

Mirabai Bush delves into the profound impact of integrating mindfulness and contemplative practices into everyday life, including workplaces like Google, emphasizing emotional intelligence, empathy, and inner awareness across various sectors such as education, military, and judiciary.
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  • Mindfulness at Google

    Mirabai Bush's introduction of mindfulness at Google marked a transformative moment for the company. Initially, the concept struggled to gain traction, but with strategic framing around emotional intelligence, it quickly gained popularity. Bush collaborated with Daniel Goleman to emphasize the importance of emotional intelligence in the workplace, leading to over 2,000 employees participating in the course 1.

    When you sit down and quiet down, become calm, quiet, stable, you have to do that in order for any kind of insight to arise.

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    This initiative highlighted the potential of mindfulness to foster deeper self-awareness and insight among employees.

       

    Mindful Emailing

    Mindful emailing, a practice developed at Google, offers a simple yet profound approach to digital communication. The practice involves pausing after drafting an email to take deep breaths and consider the recipient's perspective, focusing on emotional impact 2. This technique encourages empathy and clarity in communication, leading to more thoughtful interactions.

    You just type out your email, either a response or an initiating email, and then you stop, take three deep breaths.

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    Participants found this practice transformative, with some even opting for direct phone calls instead of emails.

       

    Integration Strategies

    Integrating contemplative practices into business environments requires innovative strategies, as demonstrated by Mirabai Bush's work. At Google, she focused on embedding the values of mindfulness into the corporate culture, promoting creativity and holistic growth 3. This approach aligns with the concept of 'right livelihood,' where work contributes to personal and planetary well-being.

    We were trying to create an organization based on principles of what they call in the east right livelihood.

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    Despite challenges, these strategies have begun to shift corporate ideals towards more sustainable and mindful practices.

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