<em>Mindfulness in Motion</em> (MIM): An Onsite Mindfulness Based Intervention (MBI) for Chronically High Stress Work Environments to Increase Resiliency and Work Engagement

Abstract

A pragmatic mindfulness intervention to benefit personnel working in chronically high-stress environments, delivered onsite during the workday, is timely and valuable to employee and employer alike. Mindfulness in Motion (MIM) is a Mindfulness Based Intervention (MBI) offered as a modified, less time intensive method (compared to Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction), delivered onsite, during work, and intends to enable busy working adults to experience the benefits of mindfulness. It teaches mindful awareness principles, rehearses mindfulness as a group, emphasizes the use of gentle yoga stretches, and utilizes relaxing music in the background of both the group sessions and individual mindfulness practice. MIM is delivered in a group format, for 1 hr/week/8 weeks. CDs and a DVD are provided to facilitate individual practice. The yoga movement is emphasized in the protocol to facilitate a quieting of the mind. The music is included for participants to associate the relaxed state experienced in the group session with their individual practice. To determine the intervention feasibility/efficacy we conducted a randomized wait-list control group in Intensive Care Units (ICUs). ICUs represent a high-stress work environment where personnel experience chronic exposure to catastrophic situations as they care for seriously injured/ill patients. Despite high levels of work-related stress, few interventions have been developed and delivered onsite for such environments. The intervention is delivered on site in the ICU, during work hours, with participants receiving time release to attend sessions. The intervention is well received with 97% retention rate. Work engagement and resiliency increase significantly in the intervention group, compared to the wait-list control group, while participant respiration rates decrease significantly pre-post in 6/8 of the weekly sessions. Participants value institutional support, relaxing music, and the instructor as pivotal to program success. This provides evidence that MIM is feasible, well accepted, and can be effectively implemented in a chronically high-stress work environment.

Mindfulness in Motion for People with Multiple Sclerosis: A Feasibility Study

“…Taken together, the positive findings from the SF-36, MFIS, MHI, and FFMQ support various improvements to QOL. 15 This is important because QOL can be affected by physical, cognitive, and emotional symptoms associated with MS. 1,4,5,11,14 Mindfulness in Motion uses music and more yoga stretches than traditional mindfulness-based stress reduction, was created for working adults with limited time, and was hypothesized to be effective for people with MS. 40 Our hypothesis was confirmed in this feasibility study, which yielded significant improvements in both physical and mental health for people with MS compared with studies using mindfulness interventions that were much more time-intensive. This study has several limitations.…”

“…3(p 1258) The present results corroborate those of the study by Grossman et al, 8 which found statistically significant improvements in QOL and reduced depression, anxiety, and fatigue with an 8-week mindfulness-based stress reduction program (n = 74) compared with usual care (n = 74) in people with MS. Because a central piece of Mindfulness in Motion is the yoga movement, it is important to note that other interventions using yoga as the primary intervention have also found improvements in mental and physical health for people with MS. 21,22,[24][25][26][27][28][29] Mindfulness in Motion uniquely combines yoga and mindfulness, attempting to glean the benefits of both of these mind-body approaches. 40 In the present study, improvements in mindfulness were demonstrated specifically in the areas of observing, acting with awareness, nonjudgment, and nonreactivity. These findings were and psychosocial subscales and the total MFIS score; in contrast, improvement in the physical subscale was not statistically significant (Table 4).…”

“…In addition to the weekly group sessions, participants are expected to individually pursue a 20-minute daily mindfulness practice using CDs or MP3s. 40 …”

“…4 One such program, Mindfulness in Motion, which combines yoga, mindfulness meditation, and relaxing music, has been shown to be an effective lowcost stress-reduction intervention to improve quality of sleep and perceived stress in healthy adults. 40,41 Mindfulness in Motion has also effectively decreased biologic markers of sympathetic nervous system activation for health-care professionals working on a surgical intensive care unit, 42 lowered elevated levels of inflammation (C-reactive protein levels) in nonobese people at risk for cardiovascular disease compared with randomized controls, 43 and showed changes in brain function in older adults compared with randomized controls. 44 The study reported herein tested the feasibility of Mindfulness in Motion for people with MS to determine whether they could perform the minimal yogic movement integral to the intervention and to assess QOL measures for this population to design suitable outcome measures for a future trial using the program for people with MS. To our knowledge, Mindfulness in Motion has not previously been used with this population.…”

Feasibility, Acceptability, and Preliminary Effectiveness of a 4-Week Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy Protocol for Hospital Employees

“…Interventions similar to MBCT (but not MBCT specifically) have been associated with significant improvements in stress and burnout, as well as other psychological outcomes, among nurses, physicians, physical therapists, and social workers (Cohen-Katz et al 2004, 2005; Galantino et al 2005; Goodman and Schorling 2012; Klatt et al 2015; Shapiro et al 2005). Indeed, a review of ten controlled trials of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) for healthcare professionals found significant improvements in anxiety, depression, empathy, compassion, stress, burnout, spirituality, life satisfaction, rumination, and positive and negative affect after 4 to 8 weeks of mindfulness training (Irving et al 2009).…”