why you should do it
Analysis, strategy building, and visioning are key thought processes when facing a sustainability opportunity. However, our own internal judgments and biases may cloud our thinking, causing us to miss critical information in the analysis, and misguiding the direction of our vision, strategy, and implementation. Labeling, describing, and becoming less judgmental are iterative processes that help us recognize our own biases as they appear, and surmount them. Sustainability professionals must be able to turn toward, acknowledge, and accept those with different viewpoints, just as we must acknowledge and accept what we perceive to be our own shortcomings. Thus, mindfulness is an essential component of compassion, whether the compassion is directed towards oneself or towards others. Being tolerant, appreciative, and loving to oneself enables the sustainability professional to be appreciative, tolerant, and loving with others.
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non-judgment
& describing profile
What it is, How to do it,
Why you should do it, & Why we know
Why we know
A study conducted in 2007 by Creswell, Way, Eisenberger, and Lieberman, found that the mindfulness practices of being non-judgmental and describing with words is associated with ever-present emotional reactions. Study participants who regularly practiced mindfulness did not activate the fight-or-flight region of the brain (the amygdala) during a labeling exercise, while participants who did not practice mindfulness did activate the amygdala. In other words, mindfulness practice prevented the study participants from feeling anxious or stressed when they labeled their emotions. Similarly, mindfulness enhanced functioning in the prefrontal cortex, which aids in decision making. By practicing mindfulness, we can make the brain’s decision-making pathways more efficient, and keep the brain from tapping into fight-or-flight during decision making. By being non-judgmental, and describing and labeling emotions, sustainability practitioners can approach their ongoing emotional reactions in a useful way. When we practice self-compassion and empathy, we are literally learning to process emotional reactions differently, in a way that makes us less likely to let anxiety or stress influence our decisions.
appreciative, tolerant, and loving with others. Compassion and empathy for the self creates a snowball effect, making us more likely to reach out, connect with stakeholders, experience empathy, and be compassionate towards others. Doing so enables us to avoid or cope with negative experiences like distress, frustration, and fatigue, and to avoid burnout.