Mindful2Work the next steps: Effectiveness of a program combining physical exercise, yoga and mindfulness, adding a wait-list period, measurements up to one year later and qualitative interviews

Mindful2Work is a 6-week program combining physical activity, yoga and mindfulness meditations, targeting (work-related) stress complaints from a body-mind perspective. We combined a top-down approach (researcher-driven outcome measures) with a bottom-up approach (personal goals and interview data) to investigate the effects on 98 employees with at least moderate (work-related) stress. Effects on personal goals, well-being (stress, anxiety, depression, sleep, affect, happiness), functioning at work (dropout, mental and physical workability, work satisfaction), and training-specific aspects (mindful awareness, self-compassion, emotion regulation strategies) were assessed. Nearly all measures showed no change during the wait-list period, with only negative affect and physical workability showing small statistically significant improvements. Medium to large effect size improvements directly after training and at all follow-ups were found on primary outcomes stress (0.62–1.17), and risk for dropout from work (0.55–1.00), and largest effects occurred on personal goals (0.98–1.46). Improvements in well-being and functioning at work were medium directly after training, and at follow-up 1 (six weeks later) and 2 (six months later), and large at follow-up 3 (one year later). The training-specific measures showed small to medium effects after training and at follow-up 1. Further, from the interviews (n = 9), two main categories of effects emerged: well-being and acquired insights. Mindful2Work showed substantial and long-lasting improvements according to researcher-driven measures as well as participants’ own reports. •Mindful2Work had significant effects on both mental and physical aspects of (work-related) stress (medium - large effects).•Mindful2Work had significant effects on risk for dropout, mental and physical workability, and work satisfaction (medium – large effects).•Mindful2Work had significant effects on work-related goals, work-private life balance goals, and personal life goals (very large effects).•Generally, effects remained one year after participation in the 6-weeks Mindful2Work program (medium – very large effects).•Effects on well-being and acquired insights and skills emerged as the main themes from qualitative interviews about the effects of Mindful2Work.