Juggling, multitasking, overstretching and overbooking; we are all guilty of committing these verbs on a daily basis. It’s easy to find yourself running through life without being fully present in each moment. The practice of mindfulness can help you reacquaint yourself with the present and accept experiences as they happen whether good or bad.

Health Initiatives, in collaboration with the RESILIENCE ERG, invite all Georgia Tech employees to carve out time in your busy lives for the Mindfulness Book Club. This club will help you build the foundation you need to uncover simple approaches to increasing mindfulness within your chaotic every day. Join your colleagues every Wednesday over lunch from noon – 1pm with a guided discussion of Mindfulness Meditation: Your Guide to Achieving a Life of Peace by Reducing Stress and Anxiety through Mindfulness Meditation by Daniel K. Barton. Each week focuses on a new chapter where you are invited to share your experiences and collaborate on key takeaways that can easily translate into your professional and personal lives.

Tiffiny Hughes-Troutman, Ph.D., Director of Health Behavior within Health Initiatives said, “We know from the research that the practice of mindfulness has a powerful influence on health, well-being, and happiness and I want employees to experience these benefits through the book club.” Practicing mindfulness can bring both physical and psychological improvements to your health. Being mindful makes it easier to enjoy moments as they occur, become fully engaged in activities, and creates a greater capacity to deal with adverse life events and anxiety. By focusing on the here and now, many people find that they are less likely to get caught up in worries about the future or regrets over the past. They are also better able to form deep connections with others. Mindfulness has also been shown to help relieve stress, treat heart disease, lower blood pressure, reduce chronic pain, improve sleep, and alleviate gastrointestinal difficulties.

Hughes-Troutman created this club with the intention that employees on campus can improve their focus and work more effectively at their jobs. If you are ready to take the first step in fully embracing each moment, go to healthinitiatives.gatech.edu/mindfulness for a list of locations and to register.   

Registration is required and you must purchase your own individual copy of the book. The first chapter will be discussed during the first session August 29th.