Mindfulness and Learning in the Moment

Over the years I’ve learned that pat­terns can emerge from unex­pected events, chal­lenges, adven­tures, or con­ver­sa­tions with friends or clients. Pas­sages in books leap out at me. Dif­fuse sparks, obser­va­tions and read­ings even­tu­ally resolve into a pat­tern that hints at changes to come.

Lack­ing a crys­tal ball, it’s only in look­ing back that I see the mile­stones or trig­gers that fore­shad­owed those changes.

I sense that such a pat­tern is emerg­ing now.

Learning to Embrace Change

What I’ve learned is to be open to future pos­si­bil­i­ties, to embrace the dis­com­fort of change — the unset­tling feel­ings of not know­ing what the spe­cific changes might be. My non­ra­tional, intu­itive mind has become bet­ter at fore­see­ing when some­thing new may be just around the cor­ner. What those changes might entail is unclear; when is also unknown and unknow­able… It seems enough for the moment to be open to the pos­si­bil­ity of some­thing dif­fer­ent.

These days I find myself won­der­ing how my yoga prac­tice will seep into daily life “off the mat,” how the clar­ity and bal­ance found on the mat can infuse work life and nour­ish client inter­ac­tions. (The impact on friends and fam­ily is already clear.) Pro­fes­sion­ally speak­ing, the impli­ca­tions or con­se­quences are not yet clear, at least not to the ratio­nal mind. But intu­ition sug­gests that 5 years of yoga prac­tice will slowly but surely work through me in ways that enable clients find their own paths to greater clar­ity and bal­ance.

The sig­nals are start­ing to emerge…

Learning the Practice of Mindfulness

Last week I picked up a copy of Mind­ful­ness for Begin­ners while wan­der­ing aim­lessly but hap­pily around Pow­ell’s Book­store in Port­land. This book found me, rather than I it; I was cap­ti­vated by the back-cover blurb:

Any­thing and every­thing can become our teacher of the moment, remind­ing us of the pos­si­bil­ity of being fully present: the gen­tle caress of air on our skin, the play of light, the look on some­one’s face… a fleet­ing thought in the mind. Any­thing. Every­thing. If it is met in aware­ness.

— Jon Kabat-Zinn, in Mind­ful­ness for Begin­ners

I’ve begin to work through this book, savor­ing each page. It’s com­ing with me to this week­end’s yoga retreat at Sleep­ing Lady.

Signposts

Another sig­nal: this mon­th’s cover story of the Har­vard Busi­ness Review, urg­ing read­ers to “Change Faster.”

Yet another sig­nal, today’s blog post on HBR, “Mind­ful­ness Helps You Become a Bet­ter Leader.”

Sev­eral col­leagues have died unex­pect­edly this year. The one-year anniver­sary of my niece’s death from can­cer at age 21 is next week, another niece turned 13 today. Friends are talk­ing more openly about retir­ing in the next few years. These are all reminders that “life hap­pens,” whether you’re ready or not.

New clients are reach­ing out, seek­ing help with new direc­tions and oppor­tu­ni­ties they are pur­su­ing.

I’ve resigned my pro bono role as an entre­pre­neur­ial coach for Ser­aph, which will free up time for other oppor­tu­ni­ties (as of year end). It was a tough deci­sion but there are new­com­ers who deserve the fun and thrill of help­ing starry-eyed founders tell their sto­ries more effec­tively.

Change is in the air. I just need to apply my begin­ner’s mind to the prac­tice of mind­ful­ness, and be open to embrac­ing new pos­si­bil­i­ties that might emerge.