Designfulness

Excited to be part of the Women’s Day Event organized by Tech Connect Alberta this coming Saturday, March 14th Platform Calgary!

I’ll be at the booth sharing how Designfulness guides individuals and teams to move from autopilot to intentional action by cultivating a culture of trust, presence, creativity, and meaningful collaboration through the practices of mindfulness, design, and play.

I’ll also be introducing our upcoming Designfulness event happening in April, along with a few surprises. You’ll be among the first to hear about it. 🙂

If you’re attending, stop by and experience the power of hand knowledge, how thinking through our hands can unlock new ideas and perspectives.

Come say hello and connect. I’d love to meet you!
Looking forward to meeting many inspiring people from the community!

Event details:
Location: Platform Calgary
Date: Saturday, March 14
Time: 12:00 PM – 4:00 PM MDT
Showpass Registration: https://lnkd.in/gQFmqNiN

Most teams jump straight into solutions.

But when people are stressed, distracted, or in autopilot, collaboration and creativity struggle.

Last week at UX Camp Calgary, I facilitated an experimental workshop called Presence & Play: A UX Toolkit for Creative Thinking, during UX Camp Calgary by Calgary UX.

Before thinking together, we practiced arriving together.
We started with grounded presence.
Then moved into play.

Using LEGO® Serious Play, participants explored ideas through metaphor and shared meaning, letting intuition and new perspectives emerge beyond what words alone can express.

Participants shared they felt:
• more connected
• more open and creative
• more grounded
• able to see situations differently

One reflection stayed with me:
“No one ever told me how to stop.”

And that’s often the real challenge at work today.

When we pause and regulate first, collaboration changes.

When people feel safe, creativity expands.

Mindfulness, design, and play are the practices we use to create space for human connection, collaboration, and better thinking together.

This is Designfulness, where inner awareness creates outer impact.

When I first moved to live alone in my own apartment in Toronto 11 years ago, I didn’t know how to be in silence.

I would turn on the TV the moment I got home, just to fill the emptiness with sound.

Quiet felt uncomfortable, almost lonely.

I didn’t know how to hold silence within my body.

This was at a crucial point in my life when I was deeply committed to my personal growth.

I realized that filling emptiness with noise was not allowing me to hear myself properly.

One day, I canceled my TV cable.

That decision changed everything.

Over time, I started enjoying empty spaces.

Through yoga, meditation, and years of practice, I discovered that silence isn’t empty—it’s full of creativity, clarity, and connection.

In silence, I recalibrate.

Silence has become a crucial aspect of how I start my day and work.

Working in corporate for many years as a UX Designer, the invitation to allow silence and pause before the start of the day, a meeting, or between tasks has been a game changer.

I have also been introducing mindfulness-based practices and somatic movement into the workshops I facilitate, and they open the door to inspiration and meaningful collaboration.

When you pause and sit in silence, your nervous system settles.

When your nervous system settles, clarity returns.

And from clarity, creativity and meaningful conversation naturally arise.

Pause is not an interruption or wasted time, it’s actually where creativity and connection begin.

In Designfulness, we see silence as a creative ally: we use it a practice to bring clarity, creativity,and connection into everything we do.

ELLA Ascend program cohort 2021 was finalized last week and we wanted to congratulate all the founders who have been part of it!

It's been such an honour to be part of the program and where Elisabet Camprubi has guided so many women entrepreneurs about how to bring Design Thinking to their organization through a series of workshops conducted throughout the program, plus one-and-one mentoring sessions.

It has been fascinating to see their progress, final presentations and all the amazing accomplishments!

Big applause to all the founders and a big thank you to ELLA Women YU for bringing us on board!

pc. from final day presentations :)

Advancement is the backbone of any effective organization today. For some organizations, the quest for inventive thoughts is feeling the loss of a key component: imagination. It's a typical misinterpretation that creativity exists just in individuals with explicitly "creative" jobs. Any can learn innovatively.

In order to enhance the creative side of the person, he/she must take mental breaks. It's difficult to support innovativeness in a drained, wore out brain. Empowering mental breaks is the way to building up representatives' inventive side and boost productivity through it.

Sustaining your imaginative self is the best way to really open your essential mind and carry your business abilities to bear in new, significant ways that can profit the whole team and the business as well.

It can be very easy to get lost in your work, especially if you are in back to back meetings, are getting close to a deadline, or are starting a new project you are unsure how to take on. This can quickly lead to working longer hours, being more stressed, and not taking the time to break, relax and stretch during the work day. In the long run, this can negatively impact focus, energy, motivation and most importantly your health. Not sure what to do?

💡 Swipe left to learn about 3 tips to help you be more mindful at work!

CREATING A GROUP MEDITATION ROUTINE AT WORK
It takes an average of 66 days to form a habit. So, when starting something new, especially in a group, takes commitment, and mental resilience. Creating a group meditation routine at work from scratch is no easy task, but it is a wonderful practice to embrace. Offering many benefits such as increased trust, lower stress, better mental health, and transparency, group meditation is something we encourage all teams to adopt. So how can this habit start?

First is to normalize meditation. Practice it yourself and set an example for your team. Encourage them to practice it on their own, and set aside time in their day to practice. This will start individual habit formation. Once that is set in motion, organize a time to meditate as a group. Set this in the team calendar so no one is pulled out of the session. Organize a space dedicated to this practice that is calm and not interrupted by others. Facilitating this space, protecting this time, and promoting this practice will go a long way to normalizing this behaviour, and forming of a habit.

We encourage you to bring up this idea within your team, and set an example for others in your organization. Be sure to reflect on the process to establishing this habit, as well as the progress you have made as a team since. Grow this practice to other teams. The benefits to your co-workers, the work you do, and the organization as a whole will be undeniable, so be sure to start this practice sooner than later!

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CREAR UNA RUTINA DE MEDITACIÓN EN UN GRUPO EN EL TRABAJO
Se necesita una media de 66 días para crear un hábito. Por lo tanto, cuando se empieza algo nuevo, especialmente en un grupo, se necesita compromiso y resistencia mental. Crear una rutina de meditación en grupo en el trabajo desde cero no es una tarea fácil, pero es una práctica maravillosa que hay que adoptar. Al ofrecer muchos beneficios, como el aumento de la confianza, la disminución del estrés, la mejora de la salud mental y la transparencia, la meditación en grupo es algo que anima a todos los equipos a adoptar. Entonces, ¿cómo puede empezar este hábito?

Lo primero es normalizar la meditación. Practícala tú mismo y dé ejemplo a tu equipo. Anímalos a que la practiquen por su cuenta y reserve un tiempo en su día para hacerlo. Esto iniciará la formación del hábito individual. Una vez que se haya puesto en marcha, organice un momento para meditar en grupo. Fija el día en el calendario del equipo para que nadie se quede fuera de la sesión. Organice un espacio dedicado a esta práctica que sea tranquilo y no sea interrumpido por otros. Facilitar este espacio, proteger este tiempo y promover esta práctica contribuirá en gran medida a normalizar este comportamiento y a crear un hábito.

Te animamos a plantear esta idea en tu equipo y a dar ejemplo a los demás en tu organización. Asegúrese de reflexionar sobre el proceso de establecimiento de este hábito, así como sobre los progresos que ha realizado el equipo desde entonces. Haz que esta práctica se extienda a otros equipos. Los beneficios para tus compañeros, el trabajo que realizas y la organización en su conjunto serán innegables, así que asegúrate de empezar esta práctica cuanto antes.