{"id":6880,"date":"2019-08-02T17:18:03","date_gmt":"2019-08-02T11:48:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mindfulnessindiasummit.com\/?p=6880"},"modified":"2019-08-02T17:18:03","modified_gmt":"2019-08-02T11:48:03","slug":"mindfulness-important-tool-for-designers-mindfulness-india-summit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c4efilms.com\/msc\/mindfulness-important-tool-for-designers-mindfulness-india-summit\/","title":{"rendered":"Mindfulness Important Tool for Designers – Mindfulness India Summit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mindfulness is key to creativity and innovation\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Mindfulness is not a luxury, it’s now become a matter of necessity. Mindfulness is\u00a0a technique, and a mental state that requires discipline, stillness, awareness and acceptance. Being mindful is being focused on what you\u2019re doing, what you\u2019re thinking, and what you\u2019re feeling in each moment. Creativity can only flourish when you are able to tap into deeper intellect.<\/p>\n

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella,<\/strong>\u00a0emphasises about Mindfulness as an important skill for a leader. A large team from Microsoft participated last year at Mindfulness India Summit under leadership of\u00a0Reena Dayal Yadav<\/strong>: Director Microsoft Garage who was also a speaker at the summit.\u00a0Nupur Aggarwal<\/strong> \u2013 Designer at Microsoft India<\/strong>, also attended Mindfulness India Summit held at Mumbai in November 2018<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Nupur has written an article sharing her insights, tools and matrixes she gained from Mindfulness practice and advantages of Emotional Intelligence during Mindfulness India Summit.<\/p>\n

The article published on LinkedIn by her, is being reproduced for benefit of all readers.<\/p>\n

What is Mindfulness?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It is paying attention to the here and now with\u00a0kindness<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0curiosity<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Neurologically, there are two important parts of your brain involved here, the Prefrontal cortex and the Amygdala.\u00a0The\u00a0prefrontal cortex is\u00a0the most evolved brain region and it serves our highest-order cognitive abilities. Even quite mild acute uncontrollable\u00a0stress\u00a0can cause a rapid and dramatic loss of\u00a0prefrontal\u00a0cognitive abilities.\u00a0Whereas Amygdala, also lovingly called as the Cave dweller brain, can only process responses like Fight, Flight, Freeze or Forget in stressful situations.<\/p>\n

When faced with a difficult situation at work or home, what we experience is essentially an Amygdala hijack, where all the cognitive abilities go for a toss and we end up reacting in an undesirable manner.<\/p>\n

The way to a peaceful mind is to train your mind to rely on the Prefrontal cortex for making decisions in tough situations. Practicing mindfulness is a way to activate this area of your brain. Such contemplative practices purportedly lead to increased well-being and a lasting impact on the brain function.<\/p>\n

Being aware<\/strong><\/h2>\n

We have a tendency to go into an “Autopilot” mode with our mind. It\u00a0means\u00a0that our attention is always in the past or the future, and this distraction\u00a0makes\u00a0us reactive or\u00a0judgemental. Soon enough this\u00a0translates into a habit or a pattern of being distracted at all times. The need\u00a0is\u00a0to get off the autopilot and come to the\u00a0present. That’s called being “aware”,\u00a0which leads to mindfulness.<\/p>\n

Ways to being mindful during the design process<\/strong><\/h2>\n

When you start to feel overwhelmed by work and are bombarded with data and reports, there is a need to disconnect for a moment and recalibrate on what’s important. Beginning to observe our own thoughts can lead to greater clarity and more focus. Designers can benefit greatly from mindfulness. It is proven to inculcate creative problem solving, openness to criticism and well-being of individuals. And when individuals are able to realise their potential, it leads to happy and a vibrant design community. Design teams at companies like\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Ideo<\/a>\u00a0are using mindfulness and meditation to make better products.<\/p>\n

Here are a few of many ways you can inculcate mindfulness practices in daily life at work.<\/p>\n

Judgement-free listening<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Too often we hear what people are saying but we aren\u2019t fully present, often thinking of a response or distracted with other things, mentally or physically.\u00a0Human-centred design calls for us to be empathetic to users, identify their pain points and include them in the design research processes. Listening without judgement is at the core of user design process and a practice of it can ensure that designers can observe, empathise and improve constantly.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Mindful meditation<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Find a clean nook or a room where you can find some quiet, and a place that doesn’t have too many distractions. Take a comfortable seat and notice what you’re doing with your hands and feet. Ideally, they should be placed in a comfortable, still position. Bring your attention\u00a0to your breath or the\u00a0sensations in your body. You’ll notice that your mind starts to wander. There\u2019s no need to block or eliminate thinking. When you get around to noticing your mind wandering\u2014in a few seconds, a minute, five minutes\u2014just gently return your attention to the breath.<\/p>\n

Mindful walking<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Giving your attention to the walking can be a fruitful way to practice mindfulness. Walking does not require cognition. We do it without thinking. So we don\u2019t want to have to think deliberately about every step we take \u2013 but occasionally bringing awareness back into the automatic, everyday things we do is a way to experience our \u2018everyday\u2019 with a sense of newness and vibrancy. To walk mindfully, focus your attention on the actual experience of walking. Feel the ground beneath you as you walk. Listen and notice what this is like. Engage your senses as you do this. Notice the sights, the sounds, the smells, the feel of the place as you move through it.<\/p>\n

Design your surroundings<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Create a conducive environment for you to focus on the task that is ahead of you. Having a clean desk and a few plants around gives a sense of peace to your mind. Often take breaks from work to look around. A mindful gaze may reveal a new detail in the same office that you would’ve never noticed before. Somewhat of an “organised mess” is what works for some designers, when they find an inspiration to go after, and once that concludes, it is vital to clean up everything and start afresh.<\/p>\n

Journaling what you’re grateful for<\/strong><\/h2>\n

A study<\/a>\u00a0shows that when participants were asked to keep a journal diary of things they were grateful for, showed significant decrease in anxiety, stress and depression, and increased life satisfaction. Writing as little as 5 things one is grateful for in a journal can boost satisfaction and keeping a record of the same can help with improving attitude and reactions to personal and work situations. Had a great design review? Write that down!<\/p>\n

These are some takeaways when she attended the two-day conference in Mumbai, one of it’s kind and first edition of\u00a0<\/em>Mindfulness India Summit<\/em><\/a>. Attended by 200+ folks including industry leaders, doctors, psychologists, HR managers, leadership coaches, mindfulness practitioners and enthusiasts, it was a unique experience as one got a chance to deep dive into the world of mindfulness and experience it through workshops and talks.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Article Link<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

This year\u00a0Mindfulness India Summit<\/a> 2019 will be held on 30th<\/sup> \u2013 31st<\/sup> October at The Westin, Mumbai<\/strong>,<\/p>\n

Asia\u2019s largest conference on Neuroscience<\/strong>\u00a0,\u00a0Mindfulness, Emotional Intelligence, Happiness, well-being\u00a0and Positive Psychology.\u00a0<\/strong>Aim of the summit is to showcase\u00a0 Latest Research, science based cutting edge Tools,\u00a0Practices & Benefits<\/b> that can be used in the workplace\u00a0and in day to day life.<\/p>\n

300+ Top Mindful leaders<\/strong>\u00a0from leading organizations will join as participants from\u00a0Middle East, Singapore, Malaysia, Nepal, South Africa, Iran, Turkey, Russia, USA, Australia, China<\/strong>\u00a0and many more countries.<\/p>\n

Summit will be attended by\u00a0Educators, Schools, Professionals, Organizations, Leaders, Coaches, Medical practitioners, Psychologists, Trainers and Executives<\/strong>\u00a0from\u00a0top Indian and multinational organizations\u00a0to\u00a0learn powerful tools in Mindfulness and Emotional Intelligence.<\/p>\n

I am thankful to the Microsoft,\u00a0 Design team<\/strong> and their leaders<\/strong> for being part of Mindfulness India Summit<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Warmly<\/p>\n

Manish Behl –\u00a0<\/strong>Founder\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mindfulness India Summit\u00a0<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Asia's<\/a>

Mindfulness India Summit<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mindfulness is key to creativity and innovation\u00a0 Mindfulness is not a luxury, it’s now become a matter of necessity. Mindfulness is\u00a0a technique, and a mental state that requires discipline, stillness, awareness and acceptance. Being mindful is being focused on what you\u2019re doing, what you\u2019re thinking, and what you\u2019re feeling in each moment. Creativity can only […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6883,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_angie_page":false,"page_builder":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c4efilms.com\/msc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c4efilms.com\/msc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c4efilms.com\/msc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c4efilms.com\/msc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c4efilms.com\/msc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6880"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/c4efilms.com\/msc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6880\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c4efilms.com\/msc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c4efilms.com\/msc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c4efilms.com\/msc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}