As corporate teams face increasingly complex challenges, facilitators are rethinking how they support reflection, clarity, and creativity. A growing number are combining mindfulness practices with the LEGO® Serious Play® Method—a powerful tool that transforms team meetings, coaching, and strategy sessions into moments of alignment and discovery.
The role of mindfulness in hands-on workshops like LEGO® Serious Play® isn’t just conceptual—it’s deeply practical. Whether leading a team-building event, a customer support team, or an executive coaching process, this hybrid model taps into the potential within individuals while building bridges between ideas, emotions, and action.
What Is Mindfulness in Practice?
Mindfulness practices are about presence, attention, and non-judgmental awareness. From form of mindfulness techniques like deep breathing to mindset practices and contemplative pedagogies workshops, they are now used across industries to improve performance, empathy, and resilience skills.
Leaders in corporate sessions, healthcare settings (like HCAs in practice), and adult learners find these practices help navigate never-ending challenges and close knowledge gaps through reflection and creative thinking.
Understanding the LEGO® Serious Play® Method
The LEGO® Serious Play® Method, rooted in research from 2008–2025 ResearchGate and championed by experts like Karen Grayburn of MindfulPlayUK, is a tactile approach to facilitation. Through 3D models and metaphorical storytelling, participants explore innovative practices, share solutions to challenges, and build alignment—brick by brick.
When paired with mindfulness sessions, the method becomes a coaching approach that deepens meaning, builds essential skills, and creates fresh perspectives.
Why Combine Mindfulness with LEGO® Serious Play®?
The two work in perfect harmony. The practice of mindfulness manifest in play opens new doors in:
- Team collaboration and alignment
- Problem-solving approaches grounded in presence
- Strengthened decision-making skills
- Emotional depth in interactive sessions
- More productive and quality time during team engagement
It’s particularly impactful for leaders through mindfulness, learning teams, and organizations using a coaching method or business coaching perspective.
Where and When to Integrate Mindfulness
Before: Set the Scene
Start a one-day learning session or larger event with a form of mindfulness such as breathwork or intention setting.
Prompt: “Take a moment to pause. What intention are you bringing to this build?”
During: Deepen Reflection
Use mindfulness practices during silent build phases or after sharing. Encourage participants to observe without judging.
Prompt: “As you build, notice your reactions. Are you solving or exploring?”
After: Reflect and Anchor
Facilitate a mindful debrief. This strengthens learning and highlights the meaning in practice.
Prompt: “What did your model reveal that you didn’t know before?”
Real-World Integration Examples
- A coaching training workshop using LEGO duck challenge kits to open up creative thinking and introduce the 4-step process of emotional inquiry.
- A corporate session at the LEGOLAND Hotel and Conference Centre featuring interactive sessions using duck challenge packs for breaking through team silos.
- A dance session using LEGO® for body-mind integration and Gilbert’s Multi-Modal Compassionate Mind Training.
- A conference event (“22.04.2024 – Conference Title”) where LEGO® models sparked box thinking and conscious thinking among knowledge managers.
Practical Tips for Facilitators
- Use soft lighting, gentle music, and physical space to reinforce the space of time needed for deeper reflection.
- Blend mindfulness into the core process or experiential process of each session.
- Encourage practical workshop moments—pause, build, breathe, share.
- Include LEGO® duck challenge or brick challenge activities in your advanced trainings.
The Power of Mindfulness in Facilitation
By integrating mindfulness practices into the LEGO® Serious Play® Method, facilitators unlock a new level of engagement, insight, and transformation. This innovative method doesn’t just generate innovative learning approaches—it cultivates presence, purpose, and powerful human connection.
In a world where everyone’s rushing to finish the challenge, maybe the real innovation lies in slowing down.
FAQs
Who is Karen Grayburn?
A certified facilitator and founder of MindfulPlayUK, Karen Grayburn leads workshops blending LEGO® Serious Play® and mindfulness for adult learning and innovation.
Can this approach be used in healthcare?
Yes. Healthcare assistant practices and HCAs in practice benefit from this model by enhancing communication, compassion, and reflection.
What’s the ideal group size?
Sessions work best with 4–8 participants, especially when space for silent reflection is needed.
What if my team is skeptical of mindfulness?
Start small—1–2 minutes of breathwork or pause before building can yield noticeable benefits.
How does this improve business outcomes?
Mindfulness boosts emotional intelligence and helps teams surface insights they would otherwise miss—leading to better decisions, adaptive strategies, and more resilient teams.
