Latest news with #mindfulness
Forbes
a day ago
- General
- Forbes
Why Loving-Friendliness Is The New Competitive Advantage
Dr. Gamini Hewawasam, founder of ManoLead, is a scholar-practitioner specializing in the intersection of mindfulness and leadership theory. We are living and working in an age of rising tension—across industries, cultures and communities. However, conflicts aren't just geopolitical. They unfold every day in the workplace: unresolved team friction, reactive decision making, emotional fatigue and erosion of trust. As volatility becomes the new normal, many leaders feel compelled to act faster, control more or push harder. Nonetheless, sustainable leadership in complex times requires a different skill: the ability to pause, reflect and lead with a clear mind, responding rather than reacting with stress, fear or nervousness. The Hidden Cost Of Reactivity In Leadership Modern neuroscience, leadership science and emotional intelligence research agree: a reactive mind is a compromised mind. Emotional reactivity reduces cognitive flexibility, distorts perception and undermines judgment. Hans Selye, in Stress without Distress, demonstrated how chronic emotional stress impairs decision making and weakens resilience. Studies in affective neuroscience show that emotional overload reduces activity in the brain's executive control center—the prefrontal cortex—and increases activity in the amygdala. And Harvard research on emotional intelligence by Daniel Goleman confirms that self-awareness and self-regulation are foundational to effective leadership, yet are rarely trained directly. The cost of untrained mental habits is clear: poor decisions, weakened relationships and cultures of anxiety. Loving-Friendliness: The Most Overlooked Leadership Capability I believe that one of the most effective—yet least understood—leadership traits today is loving-friendliness. This doesn't mean sentimentality or softness. Rather, it means cultivating a disciplined mindset of goodwill, even in high-stakes, high-conflict settings. Loving-friendliness (derived from the Pali term "Metta") refers to the capacity to care about others' well-being—not emotionally, but strategically and meaningfully—as a core function of leadership effectiveness. Scientific evidence supports its benefits: • Increased emotional regulation and resilience • Reduced stress and anxiety through improved amygdala-prefrontal connectivity • Improved interpersonal trust and empathy, core attributes of successful leadership These outcomes are not theoretical. In a study (registration required) I led with executive teams across multiple sectors, 90% of participants reported greater clarity, reduced interpersonal tension and improved ethical decision making after just two months of short, daily loving-friendliness practice. The Dhamma Framework: A Modern Operating System For Mental Clarity To understand the full impact of loving-friendliness in action, we must zoom out to a broader leadership framework: dhamma. Dhamma, while originally a Buddhist spiritual concept (see Walpola Rahula's 1994 book What The Buddha Taught), can be applied as a practical, experiential leadership framework emphasizing ethical clarity, mindful awareness and harmonious decision making. It invites you to follow a method and offers a trainable, repeatable technique for developing mental clarity, emotional resilience and ethical insight. Its power lies in real-world application: You experience it through deliberate mental training and apply it in daily leadership decisions. In this way, dhamma functions as a modern leadership operating system: It helps leaders stay composed in crisis, think clearly under pressure and respond to conflict without compromising values. The Five Core Mental Competencies Of The Dhamma Framework 1. Goodwill (Metta): The ability to lead with respect and care, regardless of others' behavior. Business Impact: Builds trust, psychological safety and influence. 2. Compassion (Karuna): The willingness to recognize others' struggles and act wisely without condescension. Business Impact: Strengthens emotional intelligence and loyalty. 3. Empathic Joy (Mudita): Celebrating others' successes without comparison or insecurity. Business Impact: Reduces internal rivalry, increases morale. 4. Equanimity (Upekkha): Staying emotionally balanced under pressure. Business Impact: Enables strategic thinking and prevents overreaction. 5. Insight (Pañña): Seeing clearly—through bias, noise and emotion. Business Impact: Drives better decisions with less regret. These are mental competencies that can be trained, much like negotiation, financial modeling or public speaking. How To Train For Clarity: A Daily Mental Practice For Leaders You don't need to attend a retreat or overhaul your calendar. You need a habit loop that strengthens your mindset, just like a daily workout builds physical strength. Try this simple, five-minute loving-friendliness practice before meetings, decision-making sessions or difficult conversations: 1. Start with yourself. "May I be calm and confident. May I lead with clarity." Use this mantra before a critical negotiation or performance review. 2. Think of a valued colleague. "May you feel appreciated. May our collaboration be meaningful." Apply when sending recognition or setting a tone for teamwork. 3. Think of someone you rarely interact with. "May your work bring purpose. May you feel respected." Try this in passing moments—elevators, Slack messages, hallway greetings. 4. Think of someone you struggle with. "May you be free from stress. May I relate to you wisely." Use this before responding to conflict or difficult feedback. 5. Extend to your whole team or organization. "May we work with integrity. May we grow with purpose." Center yourself before a strategic planning session or company-wide announcement. This small daily shift changes how you lead—and how people experience your leadership. Why This Matters Now In a landscape of global tension, emotional volatility and accelerated change, the edge no longer belongs to the most aggressive or most reactive. Rather, it belongs to the most composed, clear-minded and conscious. Dhamma gives leaders a scalable, science-aligned, non-religious method to meet today's leadership demands with confidence and clarity. Train The Mind That Leads You can't control the market. You can't control competitors. But you can train the mind that responds to them. By cultivating loving-friendliness and integrating the dhamma framework into your leadership approach, you unlock the rarest kind of intelligence: calm under pressure, clarity in the face of complexity and compassion in the face of challenge. This is what modern leadership calls for, and this is what the best leaders are training for. Forbes Coaches Council is an invitation-only community for leading business and career coaches. Do I qualify?
Fast Company
2 days ago
- Lifestyle
- Fast Company
3 tips for getting more satisfaction out of your routine
BY Listen to this Article More info 0:00 / 5:17 Get up. Start work. End work. Eat dinner. Get a few things done. Sleep. Rinse and repeat. Sometimes it can feel like weeks, months, or even years, fly by without feeling like much has happened. As a time management coach, I help clients make many tasks in life automatic so that they can accomplish more in less time and with less effort. To optimize our efficiency and effectiveness, routine is a necessary part of our lives. The only issue is when you're so systematized that you're not fully experiencing the joy and meaning in your life. You're just checking things off the list. But what if there could be some simple, accessible ways to slow down the passage of time and fully engage in your life? I'm here to offer you good news: There are. With these three simple tricks, you can start to feel like you're experiencing your days instead of speeding through them. Savor the Little Things Life's simple, everyday moments can be incredibly satisfying, if you let them. But so often, we're rushing through an activity or multitasking through it so much so that it simply passes us by. Researchers encourage mindful attention where you take notice of what's happening in familiar experiences to sensitize yourself to the joy they offer. I've found that some small, intentional choices can make a big difference in my life. One ritual that I've incorporated when the weather is nice is to sit outside during lunch and eat without doing anything else in particular. This little break to just stop and notice the grass, the trees, the flowers, the birds, and anything else around me helps me to fully experience the beauty of the season. Another choice that I've made is when I hold my daughter at night before bed to keep my phone away from me. It's not a very long time—just about 10 minutes—before I lay her down in her crib for the night. Although the time is short, I find it's some of the moments that I stop and appreciate the gift of her precious life the most. She's growing so quickly, and I don't want to miss out on enjoying my daughter because I'm doing something else while I'm with her or always trying to head on to the next activity. How about you? Is there an area where you could stop multitasking and more fully enjoy the precious moments around you? Sprinkle in Novelty Another way to extend the feeling of time is to sprinkle in dashes of the out-of-the-ordinary that break up your routine. When you're only doing your habits, your brain blends together the experiences from day-to-day. But when you do something distinctive, you experience the novelty effect where your brain has a higher state of attention and stores the experience as a separate and distinct memory. This could look like signing up to attend larger events like going to a new work conference or taking a vacation to explore a different locale. Or you can add in novelty in much smaller ways throughout your weeks to help you feel like life isn't passing by in a blur. On the professional side, small moments of novelty could look like adding in some networking lunches or events where you connect with new people and see new places. Or it could look like learning a new skill that you haven't tried your hand at before. Or it could look like setting up your computer at a new coworking space or coffee shop. On the personal side, you could attend a local festival instead of watching Netflix, check out a new restaurant in town instead of going to the place where you're a regular, or try out a new workout class instead of going to the one you've attended for years. It's completely fine—and even good—to have routines and do standard things you enjoy. But mixing up your experience every once in a while can help you slow down your subjective experience of time. Is there some novel experience you could insert in your life this week? Stop Trying to Keep Up In a time not so long ago or far away, there were no smartphones, no apps, and no streaming services. And life was well, good. Another way to slow down time is to take away the pressure that just because you could do something that you should. Just because someone you follow posted something doesn't mean you need to read it. Just because some major world event is happening doesn't mean you need to be an expert on it. Just because a new season of a show came out that you like doesn't mean you need to watch it now—or ever. Most of the content created in the world is entirely optional for you to read or consume. Letting go of the need to engage 24/7 can dramatically increase your feeling of being relaxed and like you have more time. In my personal life, I've placed boundaries on social media use. I don't even have accounts on some social media apps, and for the ones where I do engage, I try to limit myself to a few times a week. When I get the itch to engage more often, I try to pick up a book instead. It's a lot more satisfying to get through a relevant book than to scroll endlessly through a feed. Do you pressure yourself to keep up on content where you don't have an actual responsibility to engage? If so, how could you lower your standards to open up more time and space to just be? A lot of life is routine. That's not a bad thing. But by trying out these strategies, you can slow down your perception of time and experience deeper satisfaction in the moments. The super-early-rate deadline for Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies Awards is tonight, July 25, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply today. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Elizabeth Grace Saunders is the author of Divine Time Management and How to Invest Your Time Like Money and a time management coach. Check out her website for more information. More
Washington Post
3 days ago
- General
- Washington Post
For young and Buddhist-curious, a moment of modern mindfulness
NEW YORK (RNS) — New York Zendo Shobo-ji was quiet on a Saturday morning in late June, far removed from the muted hum and chatter that lingers in Lenox Hill, in Upper Manhattan, even on rainy summer days. Inside, a small group of young adults sat zazen as an ordained member of the Triratna order led them through a mindfulness meditation. 'Be aware of the sounds around you, the quality of the air,' the practice leader said. As if on cue, a bird began cooing in the temple's garden.
The Independent
3 days ago
- General
- The Independent
For young and Buddhist-curious, a moment of modern mindfulness
New York Zendo Shobo-ji was quiet on a Saturday morning in late June, far removed from the muted hum and chatter that lingers in Lenox Hill, in Upper Manhattan, even on rainy summer days. Inside, a small group of young adults sat zazen as an ordained member of the Triratna order led them through a mindfulness meditation. 'Be aware of the sounds around you, the quality of the air,' the practice leader said. As if on cue, a bird began cooing in the temple's garden. The fact that everyone in attendance was on the younger side was by design: The practice is part of the Young Buddhist Initiative, a program designed to help those age 35 and underexplore Buddhist teachings and meditation — no experience needed. Previous sessions have covered topics such as mindfulness, the three poisons (greed, hatred and delusion, the root mental states that Buddhists say cause human suffering) and the meaning of enlightenment. The initiative is run by the Triratna Buddhist Community of New York and New Jersey, part of the international Triratna Buddhist Community founded in 1967 by Sangharakshita, the British spiritual teacher born as Dennis Lingwood. 'Triratna' refers to the Three Jewels or Three Refuges of Buddhism: the Buddha, Dharma (the Buddha's teachings) and Sangha (the Buddhist community). The fellowship describes itself as bringing Buddhist traditions into the modern world in a way that suits contemporary lives. ___ This content is written and produced by Religion News Service and distributed by The Associated Press. RNS and AP partner on some religion news content. RNS is solely responsible for this story. ___ In the United Kingdom, young people's retreats can attract more than 100 attendees; in the United States, it's just getting started. While the New York-area branch doesn't have a permanent headquarters, it runs regular Zoom events as well as in-person meetings and retreats at various locations, such as New York Zendo Shobo-ji. Ananta, who goes by a single name and is CEO of the nonprofit Karuna USA, led the recent day's practice, guiding the meditation from awareness of one's breath, body and surroundings to a reflection and discussion on recent actions that participants felt either proud of or guilty about — not to be deemed morally good or bad but to reflect on and let go. 'Experiences are preceded by mind, led by mind, and produced by mind,' he read from the Dhammapada, a collection of the Buddha's sayings. 'If one speaks or acts with an impure mind, suffering follows even as the cart wheel follows the hoof of the ox … If one speaks or acts with a pure mind, happiness follows like a shadow that never departs.' The Young Buddhist Initiative began out of a desire to create a nurturing space where young people could support each other in their spiritual practice. Ananta came across Buddhism at age 18 through a meditation group at his university in London and knows the value of having a cohort of like-minded peers. 'There are people like you who also have spiritual aspirations andare interested in leading a particular lifestyle. That can be very supportive.' Tamojyoti, an ordained member of the Triratna community who goes by a single name, agreed. 'We just have a different consciousness than young people. And I think maybe why those young people groups work so well is because that consciousness can flourish,' she said. One of the attendees at the session, Kizzy Joseph, a 28-year-old therapist from Brooklyn, was seeking to have conversations about spirituality with people in her age group and had been looking for Buddhist spaces across the city. Most groups she found took a too-intellectual approach to Buddhism, skewed older or were predominantly white. Headed to her first meeting with the Young Buddhist Initiative, Joseph feared she would be the only Black person in the room. 'To my happy surprise, there were three other women of color and another person of color — I think they identify as nonbinary. I was really surprised by how diverse the space was.' According to the 2023 PRRI Census of American Religion, the average age of a U.S. Buddhist is 52, but survey numbers come with the caveat that gathering statistics about Buddhists is difficult, as many people, like Joseph, engage in Buddhist beliefs and practices without formally identifying as Buddhist. Protestant by birth, Joseph became unhappy with the rigid religious structure she was raised in and began exploring different approaches to spirituality in her teens. She feels a 'gentle calling'toward Buddhism and finds it less forceful than the faith of her childhood, but doesn't defineherself as a Buddhist. In her personal life, she also practices ancestor veneration and Reiki. Still, the Young Buddhist Initiative provides something that she hadn't found in other spaces: a feeling of connectedness and emotional safety. 'It's first and foremost about creating an environment where people of all ages, including younger people, feel comfortable and welcome. One of the things I'm noticing is that we have a number of transgender people that are young, and so I think it feels almost like the environment is open and welcoming for everyone,' said Michael King, a 58-year-old New Yorker who has been attending Triratna meetings and practices for four years. (Despite its name, New York's Triratna practice attendee ages typically range from 40 to 60, hewing closely to PRRIs national average.) The group tries its best to cultivate that environment. Those in attendance at the late June session spoke quietly but frankly about fights in personal relationships or embarrassing moments at work, receiving acceptance, not judgement, in return. A break for tea and cookies in the temple's kitchen made room for casual conversation. When it was time to discuss karma and hypothetical moral situations, we were reminded that it's not about a strict binary of 'good' or 'bad,' but 'skilled' or 'unskilled': that is, aligned with Buddhist precepts and leading to either happy or unhappy results. The five precepts of Buddhism — abstaining from killing living beings, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying and intoxication — were also interpreted through a modern lens. Alcohol, for example, was considered not to be bad if used moderately; on the other hand, mindlessly scrolling through social media could become a form of intoxication. The group discussed white lies, supporting friends and power dynamics, never landing on an answer that was considered universally correct. For Tamojyoti, Buddhism can provide a way to transform the anxiety that many young people feel in response to the state of the world into action. 'Young people want to stand for something, and Buddhism is all about your truth, your values, interconnection, compassion.' 'If we're going to change the way this world is operating, it's going to happen through young people,' King said, expressing a desire for young people to come to the Dharma and make an impact. 'I think a lot of people in my generation have wanted to live more of a Dharmic life, meaning that we're pulling away from those structures. But those structures can't change unless we're in there changing them.' ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Associated Press
3 days ago
- General
- Associated Press
For young and Buddhist-curious, a moment of modern mindfulness
NEW YORK (RNS) — New York Zendo Shobo-ji was quiet on a Saturday morning in late June, far removed from the muted hum and chatter that lingers in Lenox Hill, in Upper Manhattan, even on rainy summer days. Inside, a small group of young adults sat zazen as an ordained member of the Triratna order led them through a mindfulness meditation. 'Be aware of the sounds around you, the quality of the air,' the practice leader said. As if on cue, a bird began cooing in the temple's garden. The fact that everyone in attendance was on the younger side was by design: The practice is part of the Young Buddhist Initiative, a program designed to help those age 35 and underexplore Buddhist teachings and meditation — no experience needed. Previous sessions have covered topics such as mindfulness, the three poisons (greed, hatred and delusion, the root mental states that Buddhists say cause human suffering) and the meaning of enlightenment. The initiative is run by the Triratna Buddhist Community of New York and New Jersey, part of the international Triratna Buddhist Community founded in 1967 by Sangharakshita, the British spiritual teacher born as Dennis Lingwood. 'Triratna' refers to the Three Jewels or Three Refuges of Buddhism: the Buddha, Dharma (the Buddha's teachings) and Sangha (the Buddhist community). The fellowship describes itself as bringing Buddhist traditions into the modern world in a way that suits contemporary lives. ___ This content is written and produced by Religion News Service and distributed by The Associated Press. RNS and AP partner on some religion news content. RNS is solely responsible for this story. ___ In the United Kingdom, young people's retreats can attract more than 100 attendees; in the United States, it's just getting started. While the New York-area branch doesn't have a permanent headquarters, it runs regular Zoom events as well as in-person meetings and retreats at various locations, such as New York Zendo Shobo-ji. Ananta, who goes by a single name and is CEO of the nonprofit Karuna USA, led the recent day's practice, guiding the meditation from awareness of one's breath, body and surroundings to a reflection and discussion on recent actions that participants felt either proud of or guilty about — not to be deemed morally good or bad but to reflect on and let go. 'Experiences are preceded by mind, led by mind, and produced by mind,' he read from the Dhammapada, a collection of the Buddha's sayings. 'If one speaks or acts with an impure mind, suffering follows even as the cart wheel follows the hoof of the ox … If one speaks or acts with a pure mind, happiness follows like a shadow that never departs.' The Young Buddhist Initiative began out of a desire to create a nurturing space where young people could support each other in their spiritual practice. Ananta came across Buddhism at age 18 through a meditation group at his university in London and knows the value of having a cohort of like-minded peers. 'There are people like you who also have spiritual aspirations andare interested in leading a particular lifestyle. That can be very supportive.' Tamojyoti, an ordained member of the Triratna community who goes by a single name, agreed. 'We just have a different consciousness than young people. And I think maybe why those young people groups work so well is because that consciousness can flourish,' she said. One of the attendees at the session, Kizzy Joseph, a 28-year-old therapist from Brooklyn, was seeking to have conversations about spirituality with people in her age group and had been looking for Buddhist spaces across the city. Most groups she found took a too-intellectual approach to Buddhism, skewed older or were predominantly white. Headed to her first meeting with the Young Buddhist Initiative, Joseph feared she would be the only Black person in the room. 'To my happy surprise, there were three other women of color and another person of color — I think they identify as nonbinary. I was really surprised by how diverse the space was.' According to the 2023 PRRI Census of American Religion, the average age of a U.S. Buddhist is 52, but survey numbers come with the caveat that gathering statistics about Buddhists is difficult, as many people, like Joseph, engage in Buddhist beliefs and practices without formally identifying as Buddhist. Protestant by birth, Joseph became unhappy with the rigid religious structure she was raised in and began exploring different approaches to spirituality in her teens. She feels a 'gentle calling'toward Buddhism and finds it less forceful than the faith of her childhood, but doesn't defineherself as a Buddhist. In her personal life, she also practices ancestor veneration and Reiki. Still, the Young Buddhist Initiative provides something that she hadn't found in other spaces: a feeling of connectedness and emotional safety. 'It's first and foremost about creating an environment where people of all ages, including younger people, feel comfortable and welcome. One of the things I'm noticing is that we have a number of transgender people that are young, and so I think it feels almost like the environment is open and welcoming for everyone,' said Michael King, a 58-year-old New Yorker who has been attending Triratna meetings and practices for four years. (Despite its name, New York's Triratna practice attendee ages typically range from 40 to 60, hewing closely to PRRIs national average.) The group tries its best to cultivate that environment. Those in attendance at the late June session spoke quietly but frankly about fights in personal relationships or embarrassing moments at work, receiving acceptance, not judgement, in return. A break for tea and cookies in the temple's kitchen made room for casual conversation. When it was time to discuss karma and hypothetical moral situations, we were reminded that it's not about a strict binary of 'good' or 'bad,' but 'skilled' or 'unskilled': that is, aligned with Buddhist precepts and leading to either happy or unhappy results. The five precepts of Buddhism — abstaining from killing living beings, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying and intoxication — were also interpreted through a modern lens. Alcohol, for example, was considered not to be bad if used moderately; on the other hand, mindlessly scrolling through social media could become a form of intoxication. The group discussed white lies, supporting friends and power dynamics, never landing on an answer that was considered universally correct. For Tamojyoti, Buddhism can provide a way to transform the anxiety that many young people feel in response to the state of the world into action. 'Young people want to stand for something, and Buddhism is all about your truth, your values, interconnection, compassion.' 'If we're going to change the way this world is operating, it's going to happen through young people,' King said, expressing a desire for young people to come to the Dharma and make an impact. 'I think a lot of people in my generation have wanted to live more of a Dharmic life, meaning that we're pulling away from those structures. But those structures can't change unless we're in there changing them.' ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
