For more information on the new Global Wellness Mindfulness Initiative, visit: mindfulness-initiative
Mindfulness and Technology in Leadership
By Louie Schwartzberg
Through his company Moving Art, Louie brings his stunning time-lapse and nature cinematography to audiences as diverse as the UN, TED, NASA, Oprah Winfrey’s Super Soul Sunday and 3D IMAX theaters worldwide. His film What’s Possible, directed by Lyn Lear and narrated by Morgan Freeman, recently opened the UN Global Climate Summit in New York.
Today’s culture demands we stay technologically interconnected at all times, but our digital dependency actually makes us less connected to each other, to nature and ultimately to ourselves.
In recent years, Fortune 500 CEOs, world leaders and many of the most prolific entrepreneurs have begun to speak publicly about their meditation practices. From the cover of TIME to last week’s 60 Minutes segment, mindfulness is becoming a mainstream buzzword. Research shows meditation not only increases productivity, but it can improve company morale as well.
Progressive companies are on to something. They understand their role and responsibility in shaping the technological landscape of the future, but they also realize creativity and innovation come from focused, healthy minds. These companies are examples of progressive leadership, proving technology and mindfulness DO mix, and we do not have to sacrifice our mental or physical health to succeed. When we leverage technology to bring us closer to our true nature, we have succeeded in the most modern sense.
Instead of seeing technology and nature as adversaries in an unwinnable war, we believe that, together, they can provide people with opportunities to improve their overall mental health. Creating technological spaces that incorporate the natural world will shift brain activity and behavior, bringing the mind into a calm, responsive, and focused state—the fertile foundation necessary for innovation and progress.
