journalsinstruc.docx

1 – Journal

Interactive Mindfulness Activity and Reflection (IMAR): The Raisin Exercise

For this IMAR, you will need a few raisins; any color will do.
1. Place the raisins in front of you on a table or similar surface.
2. It is helpful to walk out of the room and re-enter since this can foster a sense of newness or curiosity.
3. Approach the spot where you’d placed the tiny objects and look at them as if for the very first time. Allow yourself to feel a sense of wonder and interest while resisting the mind’s tendency to label what you are seeing.
4. Take a few moments to pay careful attention to:
· The way the your item looks
· How it feels
· How your skin responds to its manipulation
· Its smell
· Its taste
If thoughts or judgments arise during your examination, that is okay; simply notice that your mind veered and bring your awareness back to your object with fresh eyes. You may find it helpful to spend one minute on each of the five aspects noted above.
It’s useful to repeat the exercise more than once. See if you can maintain a sense of openness and curiosity throughout each step.
Focusing on a single object such as a raisin is meant to bring your mind to the present, to what is right in front of you. It also allows for the practice of fostering curiosity and openness, which are useful in suspending judgments and preconceptions.
It is nearly impossible to avoid practicing mindfulness when you follow these instructions and take notice of what is in front of you in the present moment.
Reflection:
Consider the following statement: By focusing on the raisin in your hand and making a point to notice everything about it, you are unlikely to be expending energy, time and attention on worrying or ruminating about other parts of your life.
· Describe your experiences (good or bad) with the Raisin Exercise.
· Did you notice your attention shifting away from worries or ruminations about other parts of your life as you did this activity?
· How did this activity affect your mood or emotional state? (Consider how you may have felt before, during, and immediately after completing the activity.)
· Management experts like Peter Senge and others suggest that dialogue involves balancing inquiry and advocacy. With respect to leadership of human service organizations, do you see the mindfulness activity you just completed as relevant to this statement? If so, in what way? If not, why not?
2 – Journal

IMAR: The Three-Minute Breathing Space

This exercise is quick to perform and is an easy way to begin a regular mindfulness practice. The Three-Minute Breathing Space can be the perfect technique for people with busy lives and minds. The exercise is broken into three sections, one per minute, and works as follows:
1. The first minute:
Answer the question, “How am I doing right now,” while focusing on the feelings, thoughts, and sensations that arise and trying to put them into words.
2. The second minute:
Keep awareness on the breath while gently noticing when the mind wanders to thoughts and then easing back into sustained awareness of the breath.
3. The last minute:
Expand your focus of attention on the breath while observing the sensation of the ins and outs of each breath and how it affects the rest of the body.
It can be rather challenging to keep a quiet mind during this exercise and often thoughts pop up. The idea is not to block those thoughts, but rather just let them come into your mind and then disappear back out again. Try just to observe them.
Reflection:
· Describe your experience with The Three-Minute Breathing Space activity.
· Were you able to observe thoughts as they came into your mind and then allow them to disappear back out again?
· Discuss any mood or emotional responses you felt while doing this exercise.
· How could this activity be used within a human services organization to promote organizational effectiveness?
4 – Journal

IMAR: Mindful Walking

Search the internet for instructions or techniques for mindful walking or walking meditation. Try one or two 5-10 minute mindful walking sessions, following the instructions you discovered from your internet search.
Here are two suggested articles with instructions:

Mindful Walking Practice: How to Get Started (Links to an external site.)

Walk This Way (Links to an external site.)

Reflection:
Create a detailed journal entry to reflect on the following key areas:
· Describe your experience with mindful walking.
· How did this activity differ from The Raisin Exercise or The Three-Minute Breathing Space in terms of your focus and emotional regulation?
· Is this something you could imagine using again? Explain why or why not.
· What benefits might exist by incorporating an exercise such as mindful walking at an organizational level?
5 – Journal
IMAR: Guided Mindfulness Meditation: Wheel of Awareness
For this exercise you might find it helpful to use a mobile device with earphones so that you can sit or lie in a comfortable position as you listen along to the following guided meditation:

Guided Meditation with Dan Siegel (Wheel of Awareness) (Links to an external site.)

Reflection:
Create a detailed journal entry to reflect on the following key areas:
1. Describe your experience with guided meditation.
2. How did this activity differ from mindful walking or The Three-Minute Breathing Space in terms of your focus and emotional regulation?
3. Is this something you could imagine using again? Explain why or why not.
4. What benefits might exist by incorporating an exercise such as guided meditation at an organizational level?

Required References

Bates Communication Inc. (2012). Are you running meetings or are meetings running you? Retrieved from 
http://www.bates-communications.com/articles-and-newsletters/articles-and-newsletters/bid/59464/Are-You-Running-Meetings-Or-Are-Meetings-Running-You (Links to an external site.)

Bates Communication Inc. (2012). A call for leaders: What employees really want. Retrieved from 
http://www.bates-communications.com/Portals/25382/docs/art-whatemployeeswant.pdf (Links to an external site.)

Bonner, G., & McLaughlin, S. (2014). Leadership support for ward managers in acute mental health inpatient settings. Nursing Management (2014+), 21(2), 26. http://dx.doi.org/10.7748/nm2014.04.21.2.26.e1206
Changing Minds. (n.d.). Leadership theories. Retrieved from 
http://changingminds.org/disciplines/leadership/theories/leadership_theories.htm (Links to an external site.)

 (Read each theory – from “Great Man” to Transformational.)
Co-Intelligence Institute. (2003). Dialogue. Retrieved from 
http://www.co-intelligence.org/P-dialogue.html (Links to an external site.)

Gabel, S. (2012). Demoralization in mental health organizations: Leadership and social support help. Psychiatric Quarterly, 83(4), 489-96. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11126-012-9217-3
George, B. (2015). The power of mindful leadership. Huffington Post. Retrieved from 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-george/the-power-of-mindful-lead_b_7878482.html (Links to an external site.)

Guerrero, E. G., Aarons, G. A., & Palinkas, L. A. (2014). Organizational capacity for service integration in community-based addiction health services. American Journal of Public Health, 104(4), e40-7. Retrieved from ProQuest database.
Harker, R., Pidgeon, A. M., Klaassen, F., & King, S. (2016). Exploring resilience and mindfulness as preventative factors for psychological distress burnout and secondary traumatic stress among human service professionals. Work, 54(3), 631
Piana, D. (2010). The nonprofit paradox. Stanford Social Innovation Review, 8(3), 23-24. Retrieved from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 2063614471).
Power, A. K. (2010). Transforming the nation’s health: Next steps in mental health promotion. American Journal of Public Health, 100(12), 2343-6.
Raney, A. F. (2014). Agility in adversity: Integrating mindfulness and principles of adaptive leadership in the administration of a community mental health center. Clinical Social Work Journal, 42(3), 312-320. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10615-014-0487-0
Sand, T., Cangemi, J., & Ingram, J. (2011). Say again? What do associates really want at work? Organization Development Journal, 29(2), 101-107.
Wilson, J., Clarke, T., Lower, R., Ugochukwu, U., Maxwell, S., Hodgekins, J., Wheeler, K., Goff, A., Mack, R., Horne, R., & Fowler, D. (2017). Creating an innovative youth mental health service in the United Kingdom: The Norfolk Youth Service. Early Intervention in Psychiatry, 12(4), 740-746. https://doi.org/10.1111/eip.12452