Practicing Mindfulness at Work – A 6 Week Meditation Series at ArcStone

David Carnes has been fascinated with meditation since age 12. Now he practices for 48 minutes each morning. This 48 minutes of silence happens before he comes to tackle his busy day as CEO of ArcStone. Now he's taking the practice of meditation to ArcStone employees.  

You may have tried meditation in the past, or maybe you've never believed in its power, but indulge me for a minute and think about how sitting – with the intention of dissolving any thought that enters your mind – for even 10 minutes could affect you. Or going even further, imagine what would happen if you and your coworkers sat in a circle for 10 minutes, and no one said anything at all. 

This is how we started our "Six Weeks to Enlightenment" series. Last Thursday at 11am about 15 of us sat in the yoga studio next door to our office. And for the first time in our company history, we were trying our hardest not to think.

Why did ArcStone start offering a meditation series? 

David walked us through what mediation has meant to him and what we might expect.

He first admitted how challenging it can be and how it can even take six months to really get into the flow of it. The comparison he drew went like this:

As you start out with mediation, you need...

• the patience and care of a father teaching a talented child woodworking 
• the gentleness of a mother feeding her newborn baby
• the playful curiosity of a puppy entering the backyard for the first time

As I reflected on what this means, it became clear how these three qualities could exude into more than just meditation. Patience and kindness can go a long way with your clients, coworkers and yourself, and so can the ability to laugh problems off sometimes or to see your work as fun.

Then David went into how meditation has brought clarity into his life. He calls it "lubricant for life." Rather than thinking through things to the point where they stop making sense, meditation can help you to stop thinking so much, in hopes that your thoughts will be clearer and more insightful.

And why did the ArcStone team say yes to joining?

To be honest I was expecting a small handful of people to show up the first day. I assumed only the people I knew attended yoga would be willing. When I saw everyone who came I was surprised at the numbers and how everyone had their own reason to join. 

My reason, as well as some others', derived from wanting a time to quiet my racing mind. Many of us had always wanted to try meditation, but had never taken the time so this offered the perfect opportunity (as it was right in the middle of the workday).

Others reflected how many of the people they admire meditate, so they wanted to see if it worked for themselves as well.

Some really honest folk expressed how they didn't believe it could actually work, so of course they had to give it a try to prove or disprove their point. 

How could you get this started yourself?

First start with "finding your seat" - read more in this pdf about meditation posture. Our next task the first week was to find a time of day that worked best for us so as to make meditation a daily habit. And lastly, David recommended we sit for 20 minutes each day and simply "notice" how we felt. 

Each night this week (I have to admit I skipped the weekends...) I did indeed sit for 20 minutes before bed. Despite the temptation to get angry with myself for my inability to be still or to be frustrated with my loud roommates outside my door, I listened to David's instructions to simply notice what it felt like to sit and what happened to my thoughts as I tried to let them go. 

I'm looking forward to seeing how this affects not only my daily life but also our office. Stay tuned!

– Here's the link to all our meditation posts – 

Curious about starting a personal mediation practice?  Find a certified meditation coach or message us @arcstone or email us