Set Your Sails to Reach! (eBook)

CHAPTER 7

MINDFUL PROVISIONS YOU CAN PICK
AND CHOOSE!

Flexibility is the key to stability.

—John Wooden, American Basketball Coach and Player

There are many types of mindfulness practices that can help you envision your potential and launch your career in the world of work. The following practices are basic mindfulness provisions that you will want to include in your onboard toolkit for the journey ahead. They will help you to fend off pirates and navigate your course! Feel free to pull them out whenever you need them. Your checklist includes

• Mindful Breathing
• Body Scan—Full or Mini Meditation
• Appreciating the Ordinary Meditation
• S.T.O.P. Meditation
• Loving Kindness Meditation

Mindful breathing is the basis for all the practices you will be learning. In this chapter, we will take a deep dive into the “how to” of mindful breathing. So, get your scuba tanks out! Knowing how to regulate your breath creates an inner space for peace that is truly restorative. Mindful breathing is essential for all captains and their crews!

Here’s an overview of some of the other practices you will be learning. Body scanning is a meditation that teaches you how to identify where you are holding inner tensions and how to physically release them. “Appreciate the Ordinary” is a meditation that hones your aptitude for present moment awareness and gratitude. The S.T.O.P. meditation is a way to interrupt the negative thinking that is derailing you from becoming your best self. And finally, a loving kindness meditation promotes inner calm while encouraging objectivity, kindness and compassion for oneself and for others. Each of these practices is uniquely empowering.

Mindfulness practices can be learned by anyone, you included! They are effective ways to calm oneself, expand awareness and build concentration. These practices aim to restore a clear mind and an open heart, especially when you find yourself in challenging situations. They are also helpful when you want to go deep inside yourself to connect with your potential and where you want it to take you.

Use these simple practices anywhere, anytime, to rebalance your mind, body and spirit. When you are mindful, you can handle, with grace, whatever life gives you both personally and professionally. Using mindfulness, you will find yourself in a stronger frame of mind to envision your wonderful potential, fend off pirates and navigate your career!

Practice 1: Mindful Breathing

Overview

Our first technique is directed at using your breath to ground you in the moment so you can feel present, free of judgment and just be. Did you know that just 20 minutes of diaphragmatic breathing can reduce negative feelings, improve mood and increase one’s mindful attention and capacity for higher level processing? Diaphragmatic breathing is sometimes referred to as belly breathing or mindful breathing. It uses the diaphragm, a large dome shaped muscle under the lungs to get more air flow into the lungs and more oxygen into the body and brain. Mindful breathing can be practiced while stationary or while doing a moving meditation like Yoga or Tai Chi. It trains your attention, expands your awareness and calms you down, both mentally and physically, by bringing you back to the present moment.

Within the first 20–30 seconds of mindful breathing awareness, a person’s feelings of distress and blood pressure are lowered. Just imagine the impact of using mindful breathing at work when a difficult situation arises or when contemplating an important career choice or before a big meeting. In less than a minute of mindful breathing you can regain your self-control! This practice is especially helpful in times of distress, but mindful breathing can, also, calm you when you are feeling overly excited in a good way, like when you unexpectedly win the state lottery and, spontaneously, decide to quit your job!

How It Works

1. Start by finding a comfortable posture, standing or sitting. You may choose to close your eyes if you wish. Your breath will serve as your anchor no matter where you are right now, in this moment.
2. Take two to three deep cleansing breaths, inhaling and then exhaling, releasing any tension, then return your breathing to its normal, natural rhythm.
3. Feel the steady rhythm of your breathing as you follow the air coming in through your nose, filling your chest and abdomen, and noticing how these cavities rise and fall with each new breath.
4. When your mind begins to wander, gently invite your attention back to your breath as you inhale and exhale, noticing the space in between your breaths.
5. Use a helpful phrase like “in, out” or choose a word that nurtures you or represents a quality, like kindness or vision, that you need in your life right now, a word that easily rests on each in-out breath, that can anchor your focus as you breathe. One of my favorites is “Patience.”
6. There is no time limit but try doing this type of mindful breathing for 30 seconds to a minute for starters.

Benefits

Mindful breathing takes us on a journey to a place within where we can just be. It is in this safe space mindful breathing resets our default behaviors. We free ourselves from worry, judgment and self-disparaging thoughts because we learn how to acknowledge them and gently let them go. Using our breath, we can focus our attention inward with self-compassion.

Mindful breathing awareness can also help you refocus your mindset on becoming more growth oriented when you feel yourself slipping into a fixed mindset. Try using the word “Open” with each in-out breath and see what happens. And finally, it stands to reason that mindful breathing may even contribute to agile adaptability when making career decisions. If a person’s mind is open, calm and present to possibilities, anything is possible, including adaptability.

When was the last time you felt yourself just being? Give it a try. You have what it takes! Now take a deep breath, smell the flowers, blow out the birthday candles and ride the ocean waves with your breath. See how this makes you feel!

Practice 2: Body Scan—Full or Mini Meditation

Overview

Body scanning is another mindfulness technique that teaches you how to systematically move your attention through your body by intentionally focusing your awareness on one part of your body at a time. In her book The Mindful Day, Laurie Cameron, a senior mindfulness teacher with Google’s Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute, explains that body scanning is about bringing mindfulness to our bodies. When we reconnect with our bodies by focusing our attention on where we are holding our emotions, we strengthen our self-awareness.

Inside our bodies, the physiological reactions we have to various stimuli along with other factors like our temperament, mood, personality and motivation affect our emotional experiences. For example, you might be relaxing on your sailboat gazing dreamily into the night sky, when the constellation of Leo the Lion comes alive and ROARS a deafening ROAR into your ear! Leo might be reminding you that you forgot to do something important at work and because you are highly conscientious and a perfectionist, you tense up as you become anxious with worry. Or maybe, a prospective employer calls you with a coveted job offer and you are so overjoyed that your heart literally races with excitement. The point is, being able to recognize how your body reacts to various types of stimuli is important information that can inform your decision-making and how you, ultimately, respond.

If we can pinpoint in our body where we are carrying our emotions and what stimuli give rise to them, we can become more mindful in how we approach our careers, our relationships and ourselves. A body scan can take just a few short minutes (Mini) or can last as long as 30 minutes (Full) to be effective, depending on how detailed you want the scan of your body to be. Taking ten minutes is usually a good starting point for beginners, but it’s up to you how much time you want to spend. Oftentimes, a Mini scan of just a couple of minutes is all you need to do the trick!

How It Works

1. Find a comfortable position where you feel alert and relaxed to start. You can sit in a chair or on the floor or you can choose to lie down. If you wish, gently close your eyes, but stay awake!
2. Take a moment to feel your space—the full support of the back of your chair, the floor beneath you or the softness of your mattress.
3. Begin by bringing awareness to your body by breathing in and out. Follow the natural rhythm of your breath and feel how your body touches the surface underneath you. Take your time to get familiar with the space you are in and what your body is feeling.
4. When you are ready, take in a long breath, inhaling deeply, then slowly exhale. Bring your attention to your lungs filling with air and the movement inside your body.
5. Begin exploring your whole body, one part at a time, beginning with your toes. Notice any sensations that you may be feeling and gently let them go. Continue to the...