Question: What role can mindfulness play in creating higher quality futures?
By Karen Oikonen and Julie Sommerfreund
“Wow, these disruptions are dark.”
Recently, we were invited to host a strategic planning offsite with an executive team where democracy is at the core of what they do. Our process began with an activity to challenge the executive team's points of view about the future by considering both an external perspective from Policy Horizons Canada's Disruptions Report and signals of change identified by their internal teams.
When we first showed them these provocations, the initial reaction was a bit of humor—"I love a dystopian future” — followed by a general consensus that “Wow, these disruptions are dark.”
This response is decidedly not inconsequential, as it could colour their participation and inform their thinking patterns for the rest of the strategic planning process.
It’s not uncommon that when we facilitate groups through exercises that explore potential futures that people encounter scenarios that are unsettling and potentially feel like a threat to them, their families, and their organizations. In fact, as part of the process we often intentionally ask participants to deeply explore the most unsettling scenarios and identify both the risks and opportunities they present.
Concerning this particular project, the team grappled with complex themes that were fearsome for some and existential for others, as our participants were faced with threats and opportunities that impacted the core of their work given the potential overlapping crises of climate distress, political division and unrest, financial instability, rapid advancement of technology such as increasing prevalence of cyberattacks and artificial intelligence, and the breaking down of the democratic system. Taken together, our job was to create the conditions for the participants to look these realities in the face and productively engage with them.
Knowing what we know about the way people respond to unsettling futures, we had the team do a grounding activity prior to engaging with the disruptions. Inspired by the Pollack game, we invited the group to reflect on their own feelings and perspectives about the future. This activity gave them common language and an early connection to their feelings so that they could be more mindful as they move out of their initial reactions to the scenarios.
As practitioners, we often pair futures thinking activities with activities to support cognitive processing, grounding and reflection as well as bring a sense of spaciousness and lightness into the work. This approach not only helps support participants to maintain awareness and focus but also alleviates tension when working on tough topics.
The goal is to create a collaborative space where people can fully access their creativity and imagine many possible futures envisioning strategies, services, experiences, and products without getting stuck on the challenging information that futures scenarios often present.
WHAT IS MINDFULNESS?
As we began to explore the big question, “What role can mindfulness play in creating higher quality futures?” more questions emerged.
What is mindfulness in the context of futures thinking?
What role has mindfulness already played in our practice without explicitly naming it?
How does mindfulness help us explore hope when surrounded by versions of the future that might seem hopeless?
Neuroscience and psychotherapy have shown how mindfulness can short-circuit typical threat responses similar to those we see in response to unsettling future scenarios. As futurist Jane McGonigal explores in her book Imaginable, “When we’re exposed to information that challenges our beliefs, we shut it out... If we always shut out challenging information, we’ll never learn or grow. And we certainly won’t adapt quickly to disruptions and surprising events.” However, mindfulness provides us with a practice to redirect those responses.
With roots in Hinduism and Buddhism, mindfulness and mindful practice have gained popularity in the Western world, although they have been practiced by people in other parts of the world for thousands of years. There are many different definitions of mindfulness; one of the simplest is, “Mindfulness means living in the present moment” (youmatter.world). In practice, this means becoming aware of our thoughts, emotions, feelings, environment, and surroundings with acceptance and without judgment (youmatter.world). Another definition states that mindfulness is a state of 'non-judgmental, moment-to-moment awareness' (Kabat-Zinn, 1990, p.2).
In the context of futures thinking, mindfulness might seem counterintuitive. How can we be fully present, and also fully immersed in future scenarios? J. R. Martin (1997) suggests that mindfulness can offer “a state of psychological freedom that occurs when attention remains quiet and limber, without attachment to any particular point of view,” which is particularly compelling in a futures context. We need mindfulness to recognize the present self’s reactions to the scenarios and disconnect ourselves from those reactions.
This enables us to unleash the creativity needed to see possibilities in the futures we create, explore, and engage with. Given the challenging nature of this work, mindfulness cannot just support awareness of our reactions to content but also in moving beyond reactions, fear and “that will never happen” responses to access creativity as well as optimism as we seek to find pathways to thriving in future scenarios.
When inviting people to explore futures, part of our job is to create experiences that enable participants to unlock their creativity while also working within a group context where there are a variety of emotions, reactions, and feelings. The future one person might be very excited about could be terrifying for someone else. It’s not uncommon for one person's utopia to be another's dystopia. Integrating mindfulness helps relax the body and mind, reducing stress (Mayo Clinic 2024) and enables an open and creative environment for collaboration.
Looking broadly at our practice through the lens of mindfulness, it's clear we use these techniques to enable us, our clients, and participants to pay close attention to what is going on in the future and be present in unsettling scenarios; just as they are, without judgment.
MINDFULNESS IN PRACTICE
You don’t need to center on meditation or yoga to incorporate mindfulness into your futures practice. We have been inspired by, and experimented with, a myriad of knowledge sets and facilitation techniques such as Art of Hosting, Liberating Structures, creative brainstorming, human-centred design, and meditation.
Taking a step back, we now recognize how aspects of each were serving as mindfulness techniques. You and your participants will be going on a journey to build your mindfulness muscles. The muscle will get stronger and easier to access each time you use mindful activities. To support you on your journey, we would like to share a few activities we developed that are particularly supportive.
Image Cards
Using imagery to ground reflections can support a group in revealing deeper perspectives, thoughts, and feelings. A prompt such as, “Choose an image that represents how you are feeling about this scenario,” or “Choose an image that represents what you see as positive about this future scenario, and choose another image that represents what worries you,” can be effective. Imagery can act as a catalyst for richer dialogue, especially when some may not easily find the words to describe their reactions.
Walk and Talk
Planned breaks that include mindful movement offer people time to reflect on how they are engaging with futures content. During the strategy offsite, we planned 40-minute breaks for participants to leave the room for a walk outside in nature. We invited them to pair up to discuss what was coming to mind for them related to the disruptions they were grappling with and share what was concerning but also what was exciting for the organization’s future.
Breathing or Grounding Moments
Starting with a couple of minutes of structured breathing can help people be fully present in the workshop or activity that follows. This can be as simple as a series of guided box breathing exercises (breathe in slowly for a count of four, hold for four, then slowly exhale for four). Encourage participants to sit comfortably in a chair with their feet on the ground to feel connected to the environment, and to close their eyes if they are comfortable.
Check-ins
Starting a session with a personal check-in establishes mindful engagement from the start. This check-in gives people the opportunity to share how they are arriving, such as their energy level or distractions, and how they are feeling about the work we are about to do together (hopes, worries, perspectives, etc.). Taking a few minutes at the start to be present together supports working through potentially challenging conversations more productively and mindfully.
MINDFULNESS FOR THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE
Much of our thinking on the role of mindfulness in creating higher quality futures has been inspired by a recent project engaging university students on mental health and wellness. We were inspired to see the students using mindful activities to support their daily lives while also navigating the uncertainty and ambiguity of their individual and community futures in a rapidly changing reality. Being a student is an act of agency and optimism to create one's future. They showed us the importance of mindfulness in supporting their mental health and resilience so that they can create higher quality futures they envision for themselves. Their example highlights how cultivating mindfulness can support us as futures thinkers and practitioners to shape higher quality futures within our work with greater clarity, focus and well-being.
REFERENCES:
Kabat-Zinn J. Delacorte; Nova York: 1990. Full catastrophe living: A practical guide to mindfulness, meditation, and healing.
Martin, J. R. (1997). Mindfulness: A proposed common factor. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, 7(4), 291–312.
Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. (n.d.). Mindfulness exercises. Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/consumer-health/in-depth/mindfulness-exercises/art-20046356
McGonigal, J. (2023). Imaginable: How to create a hopeful future―in your own life, your community, the world. Penguin Random House.
Sedlmeier P., Eberth J., Schwarz M., Zimmermann D., Haarig F., Jaeger S. The psychological effects of meditation: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin. 2012;138(6):1139.
YouMatter. (n.d.). What is mindfulness? Definition. https://youmatter.world/en/definitions/what-is-mindfulness-definition/
Karen Oikonen is a leading practitioner in participatory and co-creative practices, service design, design research and futures thinking with expertise engaging diverse populations in vulnerable topics. Karen is most interested in understanding the complexities of the human experience, within organizations, systems, networks, and communities, as a catalyst for positive change. She has led projects within a variety of sectors including government, financial, healthcare and student mental health and has collaborated on multiple participatory installations that foster public engagement in discussions about death and dying through the lens of design. Karen is a Principal, Innovation Design at Toronto consultancy The Moment and holds a Master of Design, Strategic Foresight and Innovation from OCAD University. Julie and Karen are co-leading The Moment's Student Mental Health & Wellness practice collaborating with clients and partners to create positive change.
Julie Sommerfreund is a highly accomplished innovation design practitioner, harnessing her expertise in foresight, systems thinking, service design methodologies, and strategy to tackle complex challenges. Throughout her impressive decade-long career, she has not only led numerous projects, driving impactful results but has also played a pivotal role in transforming teams — whether new to design work or seasoned professionals. Julie is dedicated to cultivating the capabilities of practitioners, guiding them to learn new tools and methodologies while actively engaging in collaborative work. Julie and Karen are co-leading The Moment's Student Mental Health & Wellness practice collaborating with clients and partners to create positive change.
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