Can Work Ever Be Full? Mindful Practice
How me (and my dog 🐶) practiced mindfulness this week!
Spooky season is here, so over the weekend, I took my dog to the Washington Park Annual Dog Halloween Parade and watched him strut amongst a pack of other costumed canines.
And let me tell you, there’s no one more mindful than this little guy:
🐕On the walk over, he paused ever so often to give the fire hydrants, lamp posts, and trees a good sniff. No rush nor judgment (I imagined), just presence and awareness. His own version of stopping to smell the roses.
🦴Once there, a nice lady offered him a well-deserved treat. From that point on, nothing else mattered. He was fully immersed in the crunchy goodness of that chicken gizzard stick. No multitasking, no distractions: total absorption.
🐶Then, as the morning gave way to midday, he lay between my feet, soaking in the sun. If I could read his mind, I’d bet there was nary a worry, only pure savoring of the moment.
My pup, perhaps, knows that the benefits of mindfulness are plentiful. In the workplace, it can show up as improved performance, better relationships, reduced stress/burnout, and sharper cognition, among others.
Researchers describe mindfulness as a psychological state that varies from moment to moment. That is, you might be listening nonjudgmentally and fully attentive in one meeting, and wandering and distracted in the next.
Yet even though the practice fluctuates, it appears that the capacity to be mindful is inherent.
And so I thought, certainly I can’t let my dog out-mindful me!
So, here are some ways I practiced mindfulness at work this week:
I set an intention: Every other day, my accountability buddy (the ever-so-talented Lisa "Rubi G." Ventura ) and I meet at the crack of dawn to tackle our writing goals. On Tuesday, after staying up (against my better judgment) to watch the wildest game of baseball I’ve ever seen (Game 3 of the 2025 World Series- one for the books!), I missed my alarm, my writing session, and had to rush to make it to class (I teach I/O Psychology at CUNY). Already frazzled, I thought it’d be helpful to set an intention: “Today I will remain calm and focused.”
Setting intentions forces you to be more present in the moment so that you can take action and make decisions that better align with your desired path. By setting an intention for peace of mind, I created the space to match my behavior to maintain that calm.
Check out the calm collection for some cool intention ideas.
I engaged in a little sensory exercise: Still feeling rattled on my way to the subway, I took some time to ground myself via the 5-4-3-2-1 Method, and made a mental list of:
👀 5 things I could see: The colorful graffiti on a building wall, pigeons gathering at the steps of a church, a line spanning around the block for an Instagram-famous coffee shop, a billboard for luxury handbags,and steam rising from the subway grate.
🖐️ 4 things I could touch: The leather strap of my bag on my shoulder, the smooth surface of my phone on my hand, the concrete beneath my shoes, the textured bark of my favorite tree.
👂3 things I could hear: The cawing of the neighborhood crows as they flew about calling out to each other, the footsteps of people hustling down the sidewalk, the honking of cars weaving through traffic.
👃2 things I could smell: The musky cologne of the gentleman waiting alongside me for the light to change, the earthy petrichor left over from the rain.
😝 1 thing I could taste: The minty residue of toothpaste in my mouth
The reason this exercise is known to be effective is that it shifts attention away from the anxious mind and into the present moment.
I started (and ended) the day with a few deep breaths: Before I even turned on the desktop, I paused, released the tension in my shoulders and jaw, and took three intentional breaths. Before replying to an email from students requesting extensions, I stopped and took a deep breath. And before attending a meeting on student-centered pedagogy, I stopped and took a deep breath. In fact, I even wrote it on a sticky note: “Don’t forget to pause and breathe”.
Physiologically, deep breathing calms the sympathetic nervous system (the high-alert state it seems we’re constantly in these days) by activating the opposing parasympathetic nervous system (responsible for the “rest” state). It allows the body to reach a state of homeostasis, or balance, and thus brings your mind away from fight-or-flight and back to the now.
I stopped multitasking: Multi-tasking is in many ways the opposite of mindfulness. It divides attention, making you less effective and productive, and has even been found to lower IQ.
As someone who operates with multiple tabs open, both in my computer AND in my head, I made an intentional effort to focus on a single task at a time. I ate lunch without the usual phone scrolling, allowing myself to truly savor my food. While talking to others, I listened actively, rather than planning my reply. And when I walked to the bathroom, the copier, or the coffee shop, I noticed and felt every single step.
Studies suggest that this kind of mindfulness improves learning, memory, and emotional regulation.
I checked in with myself: As noted in a previous post, reflection goes a long way when it comes to mindfulness. As such, I made it a point to ask myself a few pointed questions throughout the day.
Before opening social media: “Why am I opening this right now?” Surely, there was something else I could be doing besides doomscrolling. Did I really need to be on the ‘gram, or was I logging in purely out of habit?
During the middle of the day: “What’s one thing going well so far?” This helped me count my wins and gave me an always-welcome boost of dopamine.
At the end of the day: “What felt meaningful today?” This allowed me to fully sit with my experiences and gain more understanding as to what it is that fulfills me.
Your turn:
How about you? How have you practiced mindfulness this week? How do you plan to practice it in the upcoming weeks?
There are many ways to practice mindfulness. See additional examples here!
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Work with me 1:1 or in team settings: this is exactly the kind of work I help clients with. Aligning their work with their life’s deeper meaning. Learn more at:
This was such a treat, and BK is truly the best boy. Thank you both for your lessons on mindfulness. It really is a life-changing practice. Thank you for sharing and for the shout-out! 💕