Mental health strategies for the workplace

In this IIL inclusion & diversity lecture Phil Toogood and Dr Clara Seeger introduced mindfulness as a way of cultivating greater mental balance. This was done through establishing a new baseline of sanity, beyond our habitual mental tendencies to be either task-focused or to fall into our default mode of rumination, obsessive thinking and mind wandering.

Phil and Dr Clara outlined addiction to stimulation and obsessive doing and illustrate, by way of neuroscience, the functioning as well as the limitation inherent in our brain's executive centre. This part of the brain is involved in the task-positive network, i.e. when we are consciously working on a task. It is energy-intensive and fatigues easily, shedding a new light on excessively long working days. Subsequently they then explained what happens in the brain when we are not focused on a specific task. We tend to ruminate, mind wander, fantasise, catastrophise, etc, often with a negative flavour. This is the baseline for most people and is called the Default Mode Network in neuroscience, a network that has been associated with several pathological mental conditions (Alzheimers, ADHD, etc).

They then talked about mindfulness and its neural correlates as a difference mind mode, which has been associated with numerous health benefits for practitioners. Rather than being focused on obsessive doing or compulsive thinking, this practice engages the brain in a different way, its focus on 'being' rather than doing. The lecture concluded with a guided mindfulness practice that can be practiced any time in order to cultivate a new, healthier baseline of the mind.

By the end of this lecture members will have gained an insight into:

• The perils of productivity: the limitations of our executive brain and the dangers inherent in working against your brain
• Why switching off is not always restful: the risks of a mind let loose
• How mindfulness can help us overcome the dysfunctions of our habitual mind and how to practise it

Chair:
Mary Bowie, Senior Counsel, Miller Insurance.

CPD events are open to CII and PFS members
Registration closes at 12pm two working days before the event date
For events held in The Old Library, Lloyd's pass holders may also attend and do not need to register
Original Photo ID (Driving Licence, Passport, Work ID with company logo and full name) is required to gain entry to all venues

Conditions:

• Email confirmations and original photo ID must be produced to security staff at the lecture venue
• Attendance confirmations are non-transferable to any other person or lecture
• All venues have limited capacity and registration and/or a Lloyd's pass does not guarantee admission

Please let us know what we can do to make our events fully accessible to you.

Contact:
Please contact Patricia Pedraza (07463 028327) with any queries regarding the CPD events programme.

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