In simplest terms, mindfulness meditation is the practiced art and discipline of keeping ourselves aware and present in the moment. In the process, people benefit from decreased stress, improved mental focus and reduced depression, writes New York Times staffer and longtime practitioner David Gelles in Mindful Work: How Meditation Is Changing Business from the Inside Out.
These tangible advantages led companies such as General Mills, Target and Google to add mindfulness meditation to their roster of in-house programs for workers. General Mills employees who took a seven-week course reported feeling more comfortable with themselves, more productive and better able to “prioritize their tasks each day,” among other benefits. At Adobe’s San Francisco office, demand for the company’s mindfulness initiative, Project Breathe, is high. Likewise, Google’s Search Inside Yourself mindfulness and emotional intelligence course is one of the most popular offerings on campus.
Gelles’ personal journey into meditation is the backdrop for this adroit exploration. He deftly describes what mindfulness is and what it isn’t, presents the science behind it, and handily succeeds in convincing readers that the practice is worth exploring.
by David Gelles
March; Eamon Dolan Books; $27
