The value of mindfulness and how it has arrived at Google

Mindfulness has proven to be a foundational skill that started as a pure buddhist practice. Nowadays mindfulness serves as the core technique of several western programs ranging from curing stress-induced medical problems to curricula for teaching successful business leadership, such as the Search Inside Yourself (SIY) program developed at Google in 2002.

Mind is the root of all things. Neuroscience shows that attention is a fundamental function of the mind. Being able to direct attention to the present moment - and keep it there while performing daily tasks - is a great tool to navigate through life and its challenges with more engagement, more happiness, and more resilience. Focusing attention in a relaxed way enables us to disconnect from the overall noise found in a high-speed environment and get things done without feeling too overwhelmed by them. But being effective is not only about checking off more tasks - it is about how we are in resonance with our environment, how we interact with others, and how we face the increasing complexity in our professional life.

The aim of this seminar is to provide a practical experience of mindfulness with a short introduction to how it can be applied in a technology driven world as experience by digital workers.