Meet Lisa Pender: A digital wellness expert who embraced mindfulness in her career and personal life

Lisa is a digital wellness expert, educator and the founder of Digitally Well. She provides corporate training for companies looking to improve both their digital wellness and workplace performance. Lisa is also a sociology professor for over 15 years, as well as a Skate Canada professional figure skating coach for over 25 years. She recently returned to McMaster, where she previously received her Honours Degree in Sociology, to earn a certificate in Mindfulness in Modern Society offered by McMaster Continuing Education.

In teaching digital wellness to companies, she sees how the way we work with technology is not always productive or efficient, but believes mindfulness can be the key to making it work.

“We’re spending between 6 and 8 hours a day on devices. We unlock our phones about 150 times a day. Not all this time is useful, or even intentional. How often do we find ourselves in online meetings, yet also keeping an eye on our emails and smartphones?”

“We’re actually using technology in a way that is mindless, not mindful. By engaging in mindfulness, we become more present and better able to enhance our focus and our attention span.”

Lisa explains how practicing mindfulness teaches us to create pauses. This helps us become more self-aware and better able to self-regulate to use technology in a sustainable way that is actually healthy and good for us.

“For instance, if you receive an email or a text that emotionally triggers you, instead of responding back quickly, mindfulness helps to create that space that allows us to self-regulate and take a deep breath. So you can either wait to respond or choose to respond in a way that’s not going to escalate the situation.”

As a sociology professor, she’s excited to help students, not only with their academics and future careers, but also with mindfulness training as a key foundation of digital wellness. She then helps them engage in activities where they can put mindfulness into practice.

“Mindfulness can help them improve their focus, reduce their stress, improve their communication with others, including teachers and peers, and hopefully give them coping mechanisms that they need to deal with the stress and anxiety that comes with post-secondary education.”

Lisa also practices what she preaches. She continues to use what she learned in the McMaster Continuing Education Mindfulness in Modern Society program. She does deep box breathing. She journals and meditates. She conducts meditative body scans throughout the day in order to listen to her body’s needs for digital breaks because, most importantly, she is very mindful when it comes to the use of technology.

“I took the Mindfulness in Modern Society program because I knew mindfulness is such an important part of digital wellness. What I didn’t know is how it would affect every aspect of my professional and personal life.”

“With every course that I teach, with every talk that I do, mindfulness comes up. As a Skate Canada figure skating coach, I’ve incorporated mindfulness into athletic training as well. I teach deep breathing. I teach visualization exercises, where, before they compete, I will have them sit in a quiet place in the dressing room. They’ll put on their music, close their eyes and visualize doing their program. They will simulate off ice what they want to do when they’re on the ice. I teach them not to anticipate what is going to happen. But, instead, to be here right now before you get on the ice. All of that is based on the concept of mindfulness and being present. In my experience, everyone can benefit from a better understanding of mindfulness.”

Learn more about the Mindfulness in Modern Society program, now offered as a microcredential by McMaster Continuing Education.

To learn more about Lisa Pender, her workshops, training and speaking engagements, please visit Digitally Well.