Google's Life-Changing Mindfulness Course - Business Insider

In 2012, Meng published a book based on the course, called "Search Inside Yourself: The Unexpected Path to Achieving Success, Happiness (and ... Business Tech Finance Markets Strategy Retail Advertising Healthcare Intelligence Life Entertainment Culture Travel Food Health Parenting Beauty Style News Politics Military&Defense Sports Opinion Reviews Tech Style Home Kitchen Beauty Travel Gifts Deals Money All A-Z Advertising Business Careers Coupons DoorDash Walmart Dell Staples UnderArmour Culture Design Entertainment ExecutiveLifestyle Finance Food Health Healthcare Intelligence Latest Life MarketsInsider Media Military&Defense News Opinion People PersonalFinance Politics Premium Retail Reviews Science Sports Strategy Tech Transportation Travel TV BeautyExplorers BestinTown BonkersClosets FestivalFoodies MoviesInsider PopCultureDecoded TheMakingOf TheUltimateList Featured BetterCapitalism CitiesConnected InsiderTV MasterYourMoney NextStop SustainableFinance TransformingBusiness About About Advertise Careers ContactUs Corporate CorrectionsPolicy Follow RSS Sitemap Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube LinkedIn Subscriptions Intelligence Premium USMarketsLoading... H M S Inthenews Closeicon Twocrossedlinesthatforman'X'.Itindicatesawaytocloseaninteraction,ordismissanotification. Chevronicon Itindicatesanexpandablesectionormenu,orsometimesprevious/nextnavigationoptions. HOMEPAGE Subscribe Subscribe Home Chevronicon Itindicatesanexpandablesectionormenu,orsometimesprevious/nextnavigationoptions. Strategy Here'sWhatGoogleTeachesEmployeesInIts'SearchInsideYourself'Course DrakeBaer 2014-08-05T19:59:06Z FacebookIcon TheletterF. Emailicon Anenvelope.Itindicatestheabilitytosendanemail. Twittericon Astylizedbirdwithanopenmouth,tweeting. Twitter LinkedInicon Theword"in". LinkedIn Fliboardicon AstylizedletterF. Flipboard Linkicon Animageofachainlink.Itsymobilizesawebsitelinkurl. CopyLink AdamBerry/GettyImages Everyyear,thousandsofGooglerstakeoneofadozencompanycourseson mindfulness meditation ,theincreasinglyprevalentpracticeofhavinga"balancedawareness"ofwhat'shappeningaroundyou. Themostpopularclass—titled"SearchInsideYourself"—regularlyhasawaitliststretchingsixmonths.  "Iknowthissoundsmelodramatic,"aGoogleemployeereportedonanafter-courseexamination,"butIreallythinkthiscoursechangedmylife."TheclasshasbeentaughtatGooglesince2007andcanbetakenas eitheratwo-and-a-half-dayintensivecourseorin19hoursoversevenweeklysessions. It'sthebrainchildofChadeMeng-Tan,aSingapore-bornengineerwhowashiredasGoogleemployeeNo.107backin1999.Meng(ashe'sknowntohiscolleagues)hasmadesignificantcontributionstothecompany,includingrampingupitsChineselanguagecompatibility.Menghasalso influencedGoogle'sculture.He'sfamousinthecompanyforhostingVIPsthatgracetheGoogleplex;hereportedlyhasawallofhimselfsmilingwithcelebrities,includingpresidentsClinton,Carter,andObama.  "I'mnotinterestedinbringingBuddhismtoGoogle,"Meng hassaid."IaminterestedinhelpingpeopleatGooglefindthekeytohappiness."That'sthescopeofMeng'sambition. Hisjobdescriptionreads: "Enlightenminds,openhearts,createworldpeace." MengtriedtolaunchmeditationcoursesatGooglebeforetheSearchInsideYourselfclass,butcouldn'tfindtherightpositioning—untilhealigneditwithanothermovementinorganizationalpsychology:emotionalintelligence."ThepeopleIwantedtoreachwerethosewhomightlookatthecoursedescriptionandsay,'Thisisallhippiebullshit,'"Menghassaid.  Bybrandingmeditationasaworkoutforyouremotionalintelligence,MengwasabletoangleSearchInsideYourselfasacontemplativetrainingprogramthatwouldhelppeoplebetterrelatetothemselvesandothers,thusprovidingadifferentiatingsetofskillsinengineer-heavycultureslikeGoogle. "EverybodyknowsthisEIthingisgoodfortheircareer,"MengtoldWIRED."AndeverycompanyknowsthatiftheirpeoplehaveEI,they'regonnamakeashitloadofmoney."  Thecourse—whichgotashoutoutinaNewYorkTimescolumnlastweek—isfastbecominganinstitutioninandoutsideoftheGoogleplex.In2012, Mengpublished abook basedonthecourse,called"SearchInsideYourself:TheUnexpectedPathtoAchievingSuccess,Happiness(andWorldPeace)." It'sgoneontobeabestseller,receiveheapsofawards,and isbeingtranslatedinto24languages. Asacourse,SearchInsideYourselfisbrokenintothreeportions: • Attentiontraining:"Atanytime,whateverishappeningtoyou—whetheryou'reunderstress,you'rebeingshoutedat,oranythingelse—youhavetheskilltobringthemindtoaplacethat'scalmandclear.Ifyoucandothat,itlaysthefoundationforemotionalintelligence,"Mengsays.• Self-knowledge:"Onceyourmindiscalmandclear,youcancreateaqualityofself-knowledgeorself-awarenessthatimprovesovertime,anditevolvesintoself-mastery.Youknowaboutyourselfenoughthatyoucanmasteryouremotions," Meng says.• Creatingmentalhabits:"Forexample,thereisthementalhabitofkindness,oflookingateveryhumanbeingyouencounterandthinkingtoyourself,'Iwantthispersontobehappy.'Oncethatbecomesahabit,youdon'thavetothinkaboutit;itjustcomesnaturally," Meng says.AccordingtoaGooglespokesperson,theclassiseffectivebecauseofthewayittiesneurosciencetothefirst-personresearchthatmeditatorshavebeendoingforsome2,500years.  Whileinstructorschange,there'salwaystwoofthem.Onesuppliesthescientificresearch,andtheothergivespracticalinstructions.Thescience-orientedinstructor focusesonwhat'shappeninginyourbrainwhenyousitonameditationcushionorwalkthroughyourlife,explaininghowswirlingthoughtsconnectwiththefight-or-flighthormonalimpulseshandeddownfromevolution.Thepracticaltraininginmindfulnessteachesthebasicsofmeditation. Theword"Buddhism"isneverused.Duringthecourse,aninstructormightaskyouandanotherGooglertopairoffandsitacrossfromoneanother.She'llthentellyouthatthepersonsittingacrossfromyouisaperson,hasamotherandfather,fearsandhopes,andhasexperiencedpain.It'saworkoutincompassion—recognizingthatyourcolleaguesarehumanbeingsasopposedtocogsinacolorfulcorporatemachine.Theresultsarepowerful.JustlookatafewofthetestimonialsoftheGooglerswhohavedecidedtoSearchInsideThemselves,viaMindful.org:Oneparticipantsaid,"IhavecompletelychangedinthewayIreacttostressors.Itakethetimetothinkthroughthingsandempathizewithotherpeople’ssituationsbeforejumpingtoconclusions.Ilovethenewme!" Somehavefoundthequalityoftheirmarriagesimproved. OthersreportedovercomingpersonalcriseswiththehelpofSearchInsideYourself.Forexample,onepersontoldus,"Iexperiencedpersonaltragedy—mybrother’sdeath—duringthecourseof SearchInsideYourself,and[theclass]enabledmetomanagemygriefinapositiveway."Onepersonsimplysaid,"Inowseemyselfandtheworldthroughakinder,moreunderstandingsetofeyes." SignupfornotificationsfromInsider!Stayuptodatewithwhatyouwanttoknow. Subscribetopushnotifications Dealicon Aniconintheshapeofalightningbolt. Keepreading Newsletter Getadailyselectionofourtopstoriesbasedonyourreadingpreferences. Loading Somethingisloading. Emailaddress Byclicking‘Signup’,youagreetoreceivemarketingemailsfromInsider aswellasotherpartneroffersandacceptour TermsofServiceand PrivacyPolicy. SEEALSO: 12WaysToBeHappierAtWorkInLessThan10Minutes More: Google Meditation EmotionalIntelligence Mindfulness Search Chevronicon Itindicatesanexpandablesectionormenu,orsometimesprevious/nextnavigationoptions. Closeicon Twocrossedlinesthatforman'X'.Itindicatesawaytocloseaninteraction,ordismissanotification. RecommendedVideo