When a group of 40 Singapore based CEO’s came together for a 3 hr mindfulness session, the impact on many of these individuals was powerful beyond belief. During the 3 hours they were invited to participate in three experiences.
The first was a 10 minute mindful practise which used the framework developed by “The Potential Project” (www.potentialproject.com):
- A = Anatomy – checking in with your body
- B = Breathing – focusing on your breath
- C = Counting – to attune your focus by counting your breath
- D = Distractions – noticing things going on in your head, acknowledging them and then letting them go
After the practise, participants were invited to share their experience. Ten minutes of mindfulness resulted in the following comments…“I have never experienced this level of peace and silence”, “I walked into this room stressed and distracted – now I feel energised and focused”, “My stress has evaporated”, “I feel refocused and recalibrated”, “I realised with little time I can deal with daily stress”, “Profound level of silence in my head”…..
These experiences only deepened as they were then invited to do a 20 minute Walking Mindfulness exercise in the Singapore Botanical Gardens and then participate in a Mindful Dinner where dinner was eaten in silence and you focus on each mouthful of food – the taste, the textures, the smell. For this group of typical CEOs who are always rushing whilst in their meetings, rushing to their next meeting, rushing through meals, etc. there was a profound realisation of what they may potentially be missing in their everyday life as a result of their current mode of operandi.
So we are all on the same page – what is Mindfulness?
I like the definition by Jon Kabat-Zinn, founder of Mindfulness based Stress Reduction program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) who is regarded as the person who popularised Mindfulness and he says “Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way; on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally”
You may be asking, what does this really mean? So let’s break it down – what do we mean by paying attention on purpose? It may be best to describe this through an example of an everyday task: “eating” – eating versus mindful eating. When we are mindfully eating we are deliberately noticing the sensations of eating and our response to these sensations. We are noticing when our mind is wandering and when it does we purposefully bring our attention back. When we are eating unmindfully we may be aware we are in the process of eating but we have a hundred other things going on in at the same time…watching tv, talking, reading or even all three!
Paying attention in the present moment: It is well understood that left to itself the mind wanders. Mostly the thoughts are of the past or the future. The past no longer exists. The future is just a fantasy until it happens. The one moment we actually can experience — the present moment — is the one we seem most to avoid. So when we are practising mindfulness we are concerned with noticing what is going on right now. That doesn’t mean we can no longer think about the past or future, but when we do so we do so mindfully, so that we’re aware that right now we’re thinking about the past or future.
The final part is paying attention non-judgementally. Mindfulness is an emotionally non-reactive state. We don’t judge that this experience is good and that one is bad. Or if we do make those judgements we simply notice them and let go of them. We don’t get upset because we’re experiencing something we don’t want to be experiencing or because we’re not experiencing what we would rather be experiencing. We simply accept whatever arises. We observe it mindfully. We notice it arising, passing through us, and ceasing to exist.
I am sure as you read this definition, you are thinking this makes complete sense, but the struggle is how do I develop the capacity to be mindful as my normal state of being. We have all heard the quote by Aristotle “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit” and here lies your answer – practise, 10 minutes daily – focused practise or applied in your daily routines whilst walking/exercising and eating all can have a highly beneficial impact on person’s mind, body, energy and overall wellbeing.
In my work of developing leaders, the need for stress reduction, increased focus, increased energy, clarity of mind, greater resilience are always on their top “wish” list – we invite them to explore mindfulness and we now extend this invitation to you.
