How Mindfulness Can Improve Your Medical Writing and “Your Life”

9:30 AM - 12:30 PM

Helen Baldwin

Mindfulness is a way of paying attention, on purpose and non-judgementally, to what goes on in the present moment in our bodies, our minds, and in the world around us. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is the largest and best-known stress reduction programme in the world which has been embraced by many large corporations and educational institutions. MBSR is recommended by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in the UK and has been shown to be effective treatment for a wide range of medical disorders, as well as improving quality of life in healthy individuals. Studies have shown that taking time to practice mindfulness at work can improve concentration and productivity. There are many techniques that can help us to learn to be mindful. These include meditating’ (i.e. focusing) on the breath, our body, or on any activity that we are doing. We will practice a few simple techniques during the seminar so that participants can experience how it feels to be mindful. We will encourage the participants to share their experiences, challenges, and stresses of working as medical writers. We will then investigate how mindfulness techniques could help in these situations so that work becomes more enjoyable even when deadlines are looming.