I lead a mindfulness group at my institution. I’ve led this group since April 2017. I can’t believe it has been two years!!! As I reflect on what this group is and could be, I wonder, is this group a Community of Practice? I believe this comes down to engagement by group members.
When I launched the group, I was lucky to have the support of my HR department and executive leadership. I kicked off a series of mindfulness virtual meet-ups including office yoga and meditation. Although no one from HR or executive leadership has attended my mindfulness meet-ups, they at least support the concept in theory. Contemplating who attends group meet-ups and who does not has left me wondering what it would take for skeptics of mindfulness to give it a shot. I used to be a skeptic. (I even rolled my eyes at the word “mindfulness”). That is until I began experiencing chronic tension headaches and migraines daily. I saw a variety of doctors, but none could provide a resolution aside from medication to manage the pain. During this time, a friend suggested I try physical therapy. The physical therapy helped me significantly reduce the frequency of migraines and helped me stop them when they started. Why hadn’t even one out of the six doctors I had seen suggested physical therapy? What other treatments might I benefit from that I hadn’t considered?
This lead me to research mindfulness and meditation. I started meditating daily and began feeling fewer symptoms of stress. I became a convert. Mindfulness has merit! I was shocked at my own evolution. But I was also thankful because it opened by eyes to an additional way of considering the world and another way of being. I started the mindfulness group for three reasons. First, I wanted to encourage others to consider new approaches including meditation and help them find relief. Second, I could see that my colleagues needed time to pause and reflect. Their work was hurried, and I felt they missed opportunities to draw meaningful insights from important processes. Finally, I wanted support. I wanted to be part of a team that would support the further development of my new found practice.
Over the past two years my mindfulness group has gathered online to meditate together more than 100 times. We’ve written monthly newsletter content, shared research, and discussed ways to improve our practice. I believe we are a Community of Practice. Not everyone participates every week. We have a core group and many other members who come and go. We support each other in our practice. I will occasionally share information from this group here, and you can decide for yourself if our engagement meets the mark. I can at least say that I have met my original goals when starting this group, and I could not have done it without my community.
