Mindfulness Training: Exploring the Benefits of Living in the Moment

Does your mind wander when you need to focus most? Would you like to be able to reduce stress, stop worrying and increase your productivity?

Yes? Join the club. You – like the rest of us – could probably benefit from mindfulness training.

What is mindfulness training?

Endorsed by the likes of Anderson Cooper and the Department of Defense, mindfulness training is a mental exercise that trains your brain to focus awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting feelings, thoughts and bodily sensations. In short – mindfulness means experiencing your life moment-to-moment, rather than worrying about past or future sources of stress.

Sounds good, right? We thought so too. Last year, Kaufman Rossin was invited to participate in a study focused on the effects of mindfulness training on attention, productivity and stress-levels. The study, conducted by Amishi Jha, PhD, associate professor of psychology at the University of Miami, specifically measured accountants’ response to stress during busy-season – when the hours are long and the stakes are highest.

At our employee seminar in December, we invited Dr. Jha to present the study’s results to our whole firm.

Does it work?

In the study of Kaufman Rossin professionals, teams participated in mindfulness training for either short-but-frequent or long-but-infrequent sessions. When the results of both teams were compared with a control group, participants in the short-but-frequent training sessions were significantly more successful at reducing stress and increasing productivity. Even the long-but-infrequent session participants were significantly more successful than those who didn’t receive training at all.

In fact, the professionals who participated in the mindfulness training found it so beneficial that we’ve invited Dr. Jha and her team back to conduct the training again this year.

“We’re excited to be able to open this training up to our whole company,” said Joy Batteen, human resources director at Kaufman Rossin. “The results of the study last year were so positive, and people in the community who practice mindfulness have found so many benefits, that we know it will be really beneficial for our team.”

And we weren’t the only ones who found success.

When tested as a treatment for serious medical conditions and illnesses, including HIV, anxiety, chronic pain and marital problems, mindfulness training has had positive effects. For depression, mindfulness training was found to be comparable to the use of antidepressants – without the associated toxicities.

In fact, some studies have shown that mindfulness training actually changes the shape of the brain.

How can I get involved?

Even if you can’t participate in a study, you can receive guided mindfulness training. If you’re anything like our busy accounting professionals, you probably don’t have endless hours to dedicate to mindfulness training – luckily, you can still reap the benefits. To learn more about mindfulness, visit The Jha Lab.