Business Fit Magazine September 2019 Issue 2

Mindset & Emotion Mindfulness in the Era of Marketing MADNESS Mindfulness coach and practitioner Bhupinder Sandhu looks at how marketing promotes mindfulness as a brand when in fact true happiness is a state of mind and cannot be found through the possessions we own. Mindfulness has been in fashion in the West since the beginning of the 21st century; we see a beautiful woman, a top athlete or a blissed- out monk at the top of the mountain practicing mindfulness on the cover of the magazines. Marketing makes us believe that to be mindful we must either become like one of them or need loads of money. The question here is whether marketing companies are making this sacred art of Mindfulness a brand? And the answer is YES they are, as they have done with everything else. They have even branded death. Marketing is a great way to enhance your business but are you mindful of your product and the marketing strategy? Marketing is an art; it needs a lot of passion and creativity when done with a clear consciousness but it’s unscrupulous when psychological and scientific techniques are used to trick the human mind. Food companies hire food scientists, psychologists and even neuroscientists to 18 engineer a certain crunchiness/flavour to causes the dopamine hit they know consumers want more of. They psychologically manipulate our mind to believe in their product or service. Beautiful models in fast food adverts don’t actually consume the food they advertise and the giveaway toys for children are designed to make them return for more. It is important to be mindful of these strategies. We get hooked into buying foods and electronic gadgets which I call the modern-day addictions without being aware. The new norm for society is an addictive lifestyle where the mind is not run by the human part of the brain (Prefrontal Cortex, the newest part of the brain associated with complex cognitive behaviour, personality expression, decision making, and moderating social behaviour) but is instead controlled by the chimp part of the brain (limbic part, the oldest part in the human brain which is responsible for fight or flight responses). We are living in an era where we have the newest version of everything - phones, cars, clothes, you name it, we want the latest model. We wouldn’t use a 15-year-old phone to make phone calls, so why are we using the part of the brain our ancestors used when they were hunter- gatherers, to live our lives. 19

Business Fit Magazine September 2019 Issue 2 | Page 18