The practice of mindfulness has been around for centuries, yet it is a topic that is continuing to grow in popularity. Mindfulness is a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings and thoughts. The practice of mindfulness can help individuals achieve a healthy balance in their lives. More and more companies are embracing it as a part of their organizational culture and wellness programs.
As advisors at OneDigital, we continually engage in conversations with our clients that not only pertain to our industry, but often about the daily pulls of life both professionally and personally as well. We can all agree that we are constantly multitasking and being pulled in different directions while trying to satisfy demands from both work and home. We understood these challenges and wanted to create an event where clients could enjoy the company of other professionals with similar issues outside of the work environment. We brainstormed with our OneDigital colleagues to identify a topic that could help each individual to create balance in their life. The answer was simple – mindfulness.
We collaborated with Aetna to engage their Director of Mindfulness, Cheryl Jones, to introduce the topic of mindfulness to our clients. We invited our clients to the Glastonbury Boathouse in early December for an evening to slip away from the everyday routine to participate in a session with Cheryl Jones. We had an overwhelming response with nearly 100 registrants! It proved to be the perfect time of year to have this discussion, when many of us were challenged with the stress of year-end business activities and holiday time.
Whether mindfulness was a new topic or it was already a daily practice in their life, everyone in the room was drawn in by Cheryl’s inspirational knowledge, anecdotes and mindfulness exercises. Members of the audience shared their own personal experiences of how mindfulness has helped them find balance in their lives. Cheryl guided us through exercises and shared simple changes we can all make to help find balance, create awareness of being present in the moment, and leading an overall healthier lifestyle.
We were pleased to see our clients embrace this topic with enthusiasm and we received overwhelming positive feedback. One comment received was:
“The evening was exceptional! Cheryl Jones was inspiring and mindfulness should be part of everyone’s life. Thank you for hosting this fun and informational event”.
In our roles at OneDigital, we are afforded the freedom to be fresh thinking, strategic, and personal. We are thankful for having a partner like Aetna who was happy to support our idea and helped us deliver this fun and inspiring evening to our clients. Since the event, we have had many notes from thankful attendees appreciating the creative and informative topic. We have seen our clients begin discussions about incorporating mindfulness into their organizations. If you are interested in learning more about this topic, please reach out to your OneDigital advisor for more details.
Wishing you a balanced and mindful 2017!