Season 6 / Episode #1 - Mindfulness: Finding Your Calm While Everyone Tests It!
Send us Fan Mail You’re trying to stay present. Your inbox, workload, and everyone else’s “quick question” have other plans. In this episode of How to Keep Your Day Job , Lisa Goss explores mindfulness for real life: noticing when you’re overwhelmed, pausing before reacting, and setting boundaries that protect your time, energy, and capacity to care. From constant interruptions and difficult conversations to the work you carry home, we explore practical ways to respond with intention, offer yourself compassion, and recognize when you need rest or support. We introduce the STOP technique—Stop, Take a breath, Observe, Proceed—and discuss why caring deeply doesn’t require being constantly available. Because sometimes keeping your day job starts with taking a breath before hitting send. For education and reflection; this episode does not provide medical or psychological advice. Suggested Reading Wherever You Go, There You Are — Jon Kabat-Zinn. Bringing mindfulness into everyday life. Full Catastrophe Living — Jon Kabat-Zinn. Mindfulness practice in the context of stress and difficult experiences. Self-Compassion — Kristin Neff. Responding to yourself with kindness when things are difficult. Mindful Self-Compassion for Burnout — Kristin Neff and Christopher Germer. Practical exercises for depletion and recovery. Atlas of the Heart — Brené Brown. Finding language for emotions and experiences. The Burnout Challenge — Christina Maslach and Michael P. Leiter. Understanding the working conditions that contribute to burnout. Dare to Lead — Brené Brown. Courageous conversations, values, and leadership. Selected References Mindfulness and attention Mrazek, M. D., et al. (2013). Mindfulness training improves working memory capacity and GRE performance while reducing mind wandering. Psychological Science, 24 (5), 776–781. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797612459659 Acceptance and stress Lindsay, E. K., et al. (2018). Acceptance lowers stress reactivity: Dismantling mindfulness training in a randomized controlled trial. Psychoneuroendocrinology . https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29040891/ Attention and task switching Rubinstein, J. S., Meyer, D. E., & Evans, J. E. (2001). Executive control of cognitive processes in task switching. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 27 (4), 763–797. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-1523.27.4.763 Empathy and compassion Sinclair, S., et al. (2017). Sympathy, empathy, and compassion: A grounded theory study of palliative care patients’ understandings, experiences, and preferences. Palliative Medicine, 31 (5), 437–447. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5405806/ Burnout and workplace conditions World Health Organization. (2019). Burn-out an “occupational phenomenon”: International Classification of Diseases. https://www.who.int/news/item/28-05-2019-burn-out-an-occupational-phenomenon-international-classification-of-diseases Moral distress Deschenes, S., Gagnon, M., Park, T., & Kunyk, D. (2020). Moral distress: A concept clarification. Nursing Ethics, 27 (4), 1127–1146. https://doi.org/10.1177/0969733020909523 Connect with Morning Star Exchange If today’s episode got you thinking, we’d love to connect. Whether you’re a nonprofit organization, charity, clinical practice, small business, regulated professional, or leadership team looking to strengthen your organization, Morning Star Exchange is here to help. 🌐 Website - morningstarexchange.ca 📧 Email - info@morningstarexchange.ca 📱 Instagram - @morningstarexchangeinc 📘 Facebook - Morning Star Exchange 💼 LinkedIn - Morning Star Exchange Support the show This podcast is not associated with or endorsed by any company, employer or agency. By accessing this Podcast, you acknowledge that Morning Star makes no warranty, guarantee, or representation as to the accuracy or sufficiency of the information featured in this Podcast. The information, opinions, and recommendations presented in this Podcast are for general information only and any reliance on the information provided in this Podcast is done at your own risk. This Podcast should not be considered individual professional advice, nor is any guest or presenter speaking for any entity where they are not the sole proprietary.






