Page 26 - Horizons magazine

MINDFULNESS AND MEDITATION: MY

PERSONAL RETURN ON INVESTMENT

Kate Zourkas is a wife, mother, author, yoga teacher, mindfulness advocate and management consultant. Kate is
the founder and owner of Yoga Bella and teachers privately from her home in Sydney, Australia. Her website is
http://readyaimbalance.blogspot.com.au/

I am a yoga teacher and to THREE MINDFULNESS ACTIONS I HAVE TAKEN
become a yoga teacher you are
asked to meditate and work on 1. I became more aware of my own thoughts and became
your own practice so that you more mindful about what goes on in my mind by observing
can then teach and guide others. and choosing my thoughts carefully. I want to fill my head
Therefore, mindfulness and medi- with more positivity and reduce the negative noise or mental
tation form a large part of my chatter. I took a step forward in taking ownership of what
personal practice, as well as the goes into my head and this is a pretty powerful first step.
yoga classes I teach, and person-
ally I have seen some really good results. 2. I started to treat myself better. I put myself first and
started to focus on my own mind, reactions, and opinions. My
I have been researching lately on the return of investment number one rule is to ‘Be kind to myself’ and I constantly use
of mindfulness and meditation and how it is being used in that to keep myself in line. In addition, I have learned how to
the corporate environment. say ‘no’ and not feel guilty, which is easy to write but much
harder to put into action.
Many organizations in the USA have regular meditation
classes or quiet rooms available for their employees and 3. A regular meditation and yoga practice has been the
they have only positive things to say about the programs backbone to my mindfulness journey. I started with guided
that they've introduced. Companies like Google have really meditations and I highly recommend that to anyone who is
embraced the mindfulness movement and I think other or- starting on their mindfulness journey. Also, learn to breathe
ganizations will follow quite quickly as it is becoming more properly; most of us just breathe into our upper chests and
mainstream and there are clear benefits linked to return on don’t breathe down into our diaphragm. Learning how to
investment. breathe will have a huge impact on your state of mind. Yoga
has been an amazing way to improve the balance between my
This has made me think about what is the return on invest- body and mind, and it supports me to feel centered.
ment for mindfulness and meditation? And I have come to
the conclusion that I can only really talk about it from my WHAT IS MY OWN PERSONAL RETURN ON INVESTMENT?
own personal experience and the actions that I have taken
to improve my mindfulness and the benefits that I have seen Increased time, because I stopped filling my life with noise
firsthand. (mental chatter takes up a lot of time and energy and is
stressful).
It seems to me that people generally don’t start on their
mindfulness journey to become better leaders or employ- Increased productivity.
ees, they do it for themselves to improve their own personal Increased focus, clarity, and decision making.
awareness and create their own versions of inner peace.
Feeling centered and balanced through most situations. I view
stress differently and I feel more like an observer rather than
a participant of stress.

Increased presence. When I am home I am present. When I
am working I am present. I focus on what is in front of me.

I have learned to let go of things quickly. If I do get angry or
stressed, I get over it faster and move on.
Increased self-esteem and self-empowerment. I feel good
about myself and to me this is the most benefit. Feeling good
about yourself will open doors and opportunities beyond your
wildest imagination. We are all awesome in our own way, we
just need to open ourselves up beyond the noise to see it for
ourselves.
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