Sarah Post

I’ve spent the last 18 years working in the corporate sector, and until November 2013, was Head of Employee Communications and Engagement for Carphone Warehouse. I have always firmly believed in the importance of a healthy body and mind, particularly for those of us working in fast paced, complex and often very stressful work environments.

While I was at Carphone, a friend sent me an article from Wired magazine on the work Google are doing to bring mindfulness into their business. The more I read around the topic, and began to appreciate the enormous potential for the workplace, the more I knew I had to get involved. The thought that I could help people in the workplace to reduce their stress levels, increase creativity and compassion towards themselves and others, and on a broader level help leaders to build more engaged and collaborative workplaces, was incredibly exciting.

I wanted to make something tangible happen, so joined the conversation and became involved with the All Party Parliamentary group (APPG) on Mindfulness. I am joint lead on the Mindfulness in the Workplace part of the inquiry which is looking at the question, can mindfulness can be a way to reduce stress and anxiety – and develop resilience, emotional intelligence and creativity - in the workplace? Following growing evidence and breakthroughs in the use of mindfulness to improve performance and combat depression, stress and mental health issues, the group was set up to increase awareness of how mindfulness can benefit society and develop recommendations accordingly http://themindfulnessinitiative.org.uk/who-we-are.html.

My work involves bringing my experience of corporate working environments, together with my communication and engagement skills, to help businesses to realize the benefits of mindfulness through a combination of the right language, tone, message, understanding of the audience along with the right trainer. My vision is a world in which mindfulness is viewed as sensible business practice, a way of living that becomes mainstream in corporate settings.