What if there was a way for an organization to support its staff during an extraordinary period of disruption and uncertainty, while strengthening the organization as a whole and the impact it has on the community? This is the question that Elizabeth Bridgewater considered as the COVID-19 pandemic turned the world and the lives of her Housing Trust staff upside down. The answer, she believed, might very well be found in mindfulness.
Elizabeth has experienced the transformative power of mindfulness. Off and on for the past ten years she has used her meditation practice to navigate complicated situations, both personal and professional. With the COVID pandemic, Elizabeth found herself in uncharted territory.
“I realized I needed to deepen my meditation practice, and decided I was going to practice every day, no matter how busy or overwhelmed I felt. As a result, I began to experience a deepening sense of possibilities, even in the midst of such incredible uncertainty and fear. I was actually able to dwell in both places at the same time – to sit with a tremendous amount of uncertainty and really focus on possibility. That is the magic of mindfulness.”
Mindfulness is described as learning to pay attention moment by moment, intentionally and with curiosity and compassion. As it turns out, mindfulness is expanding its already established popularity during these unprecedented times. Many organizations are offering mindfulness training to protect the mental health and well-being of their staff. When WWHT supporter and local wellness entrepreneur Barbi Schulick offered to make a class available to Housing Trust staff, Elizabeth seized the opportunity. She had benefited from Barbi’s deep knowledge and insights, and felt her staff could benefit, too. Over a six-week period during the summer months of working remotely, Barbi guided eight WWHT staff members in an Introduction to Mindfulness course.
” I was actually able to dwell in both places at the same time – to sit with a tremendous amount of uncertainty and really focus on possibility. That is the magic of mindfulness.”
Elizabeth bridgewater
“Anyone can find results from meditation, especially when they commit to a daily practice,” explains Barbi. “Mindfulness develops a sense of pause – the ease to take on what is coming at us, a growing ability to accept whatever is here. Through practice we learn to acknowledge the times when we lose this self-connection and simply begin again. When the mind wanders off, we treat it like a toddler or puppy that we can gently direct back home. In time, we develop the patience and compassion to recognize our vulnerabilities and include them in our humanness. Mindfulness gives us a broader, more open sense of awareness, and once we commit to a practice, we start seeing the results that brings — greater clarity, a default to kindness, wholeness.”
Each one hour Zoom session included a talk, a guided meditation and a question and answer period. Kayla Bernier-Wright is a Homeownership Specialist at WWHT, and participated in the 4-session class. “Mindfulness was definitely something I had been interested in for some time, but I couldn’t quite figure out the pathway in,” says Kayla. “When the email came out, it felt like a good opportunity. The timing was key, too, since we were all established in our work from home, and dealing with the issues that came with that. And there was still plenty of fear and uncertainty – it was all so unbalancing. I feel like I got a baseline understanding, and some valuable tools to build a practice, with no intimidation.”
As a teacher, Barbi often finds that people have a myth about practicing meditation. “We believe our minds are too full of static, too distracted to meditate. Actually it’s quite the opposite. We can meditate with a busy mind. The beauty is something bigger begins to be seen and opens up, our natural awareness, our breath, the grounding of our bodies. With practice, our experience starts to settle. “
At the same time the mindfulness class was occurring, Elizabeth was navigating the initial phase of the Chalet project – funded with CARES money, and on an impossibly tight timeline. “In the past, I would spend a good amount of time dwelling on the difficulty of a situation,” she says. “I realized that using my energy in that way was a waste of time – time I didn’t have! By dropping that layer of narrative, I was able to more readily respond to what was coming at me, one hurdle after another. My practice helped me break through that barrier, and get me to a space of curiosity, which is a very creative posture.”
Research suggests that mindfulness can go a long way toward fostering a culture of innovation. As a leader, Elizabeth wants to encourage more of the curiosity that a mindfulness practice can induce. “Mindfulness allows us to tolerate a lot of uncertainty and approach it with curiosity rather than fear. And by approaching life with curiosity, we begin to see possibilities that are not readily apparent. By contrast, fear keeps the world very small.”
Elizabeth also says by committing to mindfulness and her daily meditation practice, the relationships with an important community partner has been strengthened. She points to Groundworks, WWHT’s partner in the Chalet project. “We had to work through some early challenges –the speed at which things were happening, aligning our strategies – it all created an incredibly pressured environment. The way we managed this was to stay honest and open to one another and learn from each other’s strengths. We created space around the process that allowed for tension and pressure as we kept moving forward toward our goals. Having mindfulness at the leadership level really helped with that and enabled us to respond to an urgent community need in an extraordinarily short period of time.”
Although the sessions were all conducted via ZOOM, the course provided plenty of opportunities for connection. “I feel incredibly cared for and supported,” says Kayla. “It has helped me make some connections with co-workers, and I feel like I can reach out and ask how things are going. With Barbi’s help, I feel like I’ve been given permission to take some time to reflect, to be okay with things changing.”
Barbi continues to provide support and advice, and offers links to other helpful materials, like the app tenpercenthappier.com. “Feeling a connection with other meditators is meaningful, and keeping that community experience going,” she says. “There are lots of ways to receive guidance, and guided meditation can really help establish regular practice. After a time, the instructions become second nature and silent practice becomes easier. The important thing is remembering and having the commitment to practice daily, in whatever way that works for us.”
For Elizabeth, there is a bigger picture in play. “If I can show by example, and we can cultivate this culture and come up with more innovative solutions, we become a more powerful organization and have a deeper impact on our community. That’s what I’m hoping is the outcome. So we can be more creative in meeting the needs of our community.”
More about Barbi Schulick: Barbi has been practicing meditation for over 40 years and teaching for much of that time. She is a passionate advocate for its ability to transform brain chemistry, slow down our reactive responses to stress and conflict, soothe the nervous system and bring greater awareness to the underlying motivations of our actions. She uses this lens in her leadership coaching and organizational development work including her leadership role in founding New Chapter with Paul and with their new company“For the Biome”. They have committed a percentage of their revenue to WWHT. Barbi is currently studying with Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield, two respected leaders in mindfulness training in America. The course with WWHT was part of her practicum for her training. Barbi offers a live phone meditation open to the public every Wednesday at 11:30 through For The Biome. To sign up visit here: https://forthebiome.com/pages/free-meditation.
