Last wee
k I attended Wisdom 2.0/Business, a conference dedicated to innovation, mindfulness and purpose-driven work. You might not have heard about Wisdom 2.0 as it’s fairly new, but the main conference is held in the Bay area every year and attracts thousands of people from all over the world.
Their mission (from their website): “Wisdom 2.0 addresses the great challenge of our age: to not only live connected to one another through technology, but to do so in ways that are beneficial to our own well-being, effective in our work, and useful to the world”.
The speakers were all successful, mainstream business people who recognize that the paradigm needs to shift. Highlights included Mark Bertolini, the CEO of Aetna healthcare who offers free mindfulness classes to his 34,000 employees. He can make a compelling argument for these modalities from first hand experience.
He broke his neck in a skiing accident years ago and then could not work due to the side effects of all the painkillers he was on. He weaned himself off all of them through his yoga and meditation practice and with the help of his naturopath and acupuncturist.
He talks about the need to “creatively destroy” the current healthcare system. And he is on the inside! I couldn’t agree more.
Another highlight was Dan Harris, a co-anchor of ABC news. A high stress lifestyle, drug use and lack of coping skills led to his on-air panic attack on Good Morning America. A lifelong non-believer in religion with open disdain for the self-help community, his public humiliation forced him to consider new possibilities and he eventually embraced mindfulness as a key part of his healing. He even wrote a book about it called 10% Happier. You can watch an 8 minute video of this event and his subsequent journey here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywp4vaFJASE.
We were graced with a talk from Otto Scharmer, an MIT professor and founding chair of the Presencing Institute who gave a brilliant and inspiring talk on how the new conversations will be about Gross National Happiness instead of Gross National Product. He says we live in a state of “organized irresponsibility” and that disruption is the natural next step to build the better world we know is possible. It can only happen through deeper connection to self, others and the natural world and mindfulness is one of the best ways to get there. This is from MIT! You can learn more about this and even take a free, 6-week MITx class with Otto and his team by clicking here:
https://www.edx.org/course/mitx/mitx-15-s23x-u-lab-transforming-business-2286#.VEbukuf4taY
The world is surely changing if Blackrock Global, the world’s largest asset manager with 4.3 trillion dollars in assets, now offers a mindfulness and meditation program that is reaching over 1300 employees in 17 countries.
I met some amazing and inspiring people with big dreams and big hearts. One of my favorite connections: A health care executive who asked me to coach her around either making her workplace more compassionate or helping plan her exit strategy. YES to liberation, one person at a time!
Does your workplace feel innovative, mindful and purpose driven? If not, what would it look like if you decided to be the change you want to see in the world? Dream big, friends. It’s time.
With gratitude,
Erin
Fantastic! So exciting to hear that change is on the horizon in healthcare. We need it and mindfulness practices such as meditation and yoga are potent healing mechanisms. Thank you for sharing this information.