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Greetings!
|  My best wishes to you and yours for a healthy and fulfilling 2012. As each year begins, I am always inspired by the newness of the year and the aspiration for positive transformation. Our intentions and aspirations are powerful things. Intentions and aspirations are thoughts and thoughts followed by action can change the world. And this is one of the key reasons I hope that as a society we can embrace the notion of Mindful leadership.
My definition of a leader is anyone who is in a position to influence another person at any given moment. As you can see, this is in no way related to age, gender, experience, education, social standing or formal role. Leadership is an activity. An activity that ANYONE can choose moment by moment in their day, every day. And when someone, anyone, chooses to be a Mindful leader, we are all the better for it. It means that we have touched someone's life positively. And in so doing we experience equal benefit. In essence, there is an unmistakenly positive ripple effect when we relate to one another in a Mindful way.
I write at great length on this topic in Mindful Leadership: The 9 Ways to Self-Awareness, Transforming Yourself, and Inspiring Others, which I am delighted to say will be launched on March 29th. You will be receiving an invitation to the book launch in the weeks to come.
I have started writing about the 9 Ways in this Newsletter and will continue to do so in future Newsletters and blogs. I have never actually listed the nine ways previously, so here they are:
- Be Present
- Be Aware
- Be Calm
- Be Focused
- Be Clear
- Be Equanimous
- Be Positive
- Be Compassionate
- Be Impeccable
It is important to remember that this is not a game of perfect. Some days, indeed some moments, you will be more Mindful than others. That is completely normal. What matters is your aspiration and the effort you make. By being aware that you can be a Mindful leader you set in motion the possibility that you will be. And by realizing that others in your organization, your family, your community also have the same potential, you empower them. In fact, by acknowledging that your organization is comprised of leaders you unleash their potential and leverage the human capability in your organization. And when you do that, be prepared to be amazed.
In this Newsletter there are 7 Mindful Missives and 7 Mindfulness in Action Tips of the Week. They touch upon four of the 9 Ways: Be Present, Be Aware, Be Calm, Be Equanimous.
I am also delighted to say that I am in conversation with Shinzen Young, a Mindfulness teacher and research consultant. Our conversation includes the themes of inspiration and Enlightment, as well as, his musing about a world that would be populated with significant numbers of enlightened people.
I have greatly appreciated your feedback and comments on the blog posts. If you don't already automatically receive the Mindful Leadership Blog and would like to, you can subscribe in this Newsletter in the right hand column.
I hope you enjoy the Newsletter and find it useful. As always, if there are topics you would like to see covered or questions you would like answered, I look forward to hearing from you.
Wishing you many Mindful moments.
All the best,
Maria.
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Upcoming Mindfulness
Training Programs |
Introduction to Mindfulness Meditation Wednesdays, January 11 -
February 29, 2012
9:00 - 10:30 a.m. 2 St. Clair Avenue East Suite 800 Toronto, Ontario Canada Learn More Register Now Further Explorations in Mindfulness Two Courses Offered Wednesdays and Thursdays Wednesdays, January 11 -
February 29, 2012
12:00 - 1:30 p.m. 2 St. Clair Avenue East Suite 800 Toronto, Ontario Canada Thursdays, January 12 - March 1, 2012
9:30 - 11:00 a.m.
2 St. Clair Avenue East Suite 800 Toronto, Ontario Canada Learn More Register Now One-on-One Coaching Program On-going 2 St. Clair Avenue East Suite 800 Toronto, Ontario Canada Learn More Register Now Discovering Your Life Purpose
Two-Day Workshop / Retreat Thursday, January 19th 12:30 - 3:30pm and Friday, January 20th 9:00am -3:00pm
Verity Queen - Richmond Centre 111 Queen Street East Toronto, Ontario Learn More Register Now |
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Tips of The Week
| In that Place of Stillness Is Your Greatest Power
The reality is that calmness and relaxation generate mental and physical power. They enable you to make better decisions because you are more able to be present and aware. Consequently, you are less likely to be impulsive and more likely to be able to widen the gap between stimulus and response. In that gap is your power ...
Read Full Article
The body and the mind are constantly communicating. Sometimes you will be conscious of what they are saying and sometimes you will be unaware. Your mind looks to your body to see if there is a reason to be concerned. If your body is tight, your mind will interpret that there is need to be on alert. In turn, your body looks to your mind for clues. If your mind is agitated, ...
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Awareness Enables You to Make Better Decisions
Awareness will enable you to maintain sound judgment and make better decisions because moment by moment you'll see what is arising within you. You won't be blindsided or hijacked by emotions that are out of control. When you are aware of "feel," i.e. the physical sensations associated with the emotions that you experience, and you remain aware of these sensations, you remain in control. The reason for this is ...
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As you move through your day whether in a meeting, hearing the news, having a conversation at home or at work, notice when a thought enters your mind that says, "I don't want to be here"; "I am wasting my time"; "I can't stand this"; "It's their fault", etc. I think you get the idea. These are times when you stop being present and go into your head, into memory, fantasy or planning. What you will notice is ...
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Train Your Mind to Be Present with Every Interaction
When you are present, you are able to have mindful interactions throughout your day, which are critical to your success as a leader. People look to see if their leaders are truly there or just faking it. When you are "not there," people will interpret according to their own biases. They may think you don't agree with them, or ...
Discovering your life purpose is a process. It is a process of self discovery. You need to get to know yourself intimately. In so doing you will discover your unique gifts and how to best share them in the world. And this does not only refer to your work. It refers to your life in general, your relationships, your leisure time, your hobbies, your volunteer work, etc. The first step is to ...
If You Wish to Be Equanimous, Practice Being Equanimous There are three ways that you can practice being equanimous. The first is to intentionally create equanimity in the body. When you notice that you are off balance, look to the body and intentionally relax any part that is tense. The second thing you can do is to intentionally create equanimity in the mind. Here you would look to see if you are being judgmental and if you are ...
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Conversations with Mindful Leaders
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 Shinzen Young, is a Mindfulness teacher and research consultant. He is also my main Teacher. Shinzen has a gift for making the incomprehensible, practical and accessible. His innovative Mindfulness techniques have made the 2,500 -year- old science of the mind accessible to our contemporary culture. Our conversation includes the themes of inspiration and Enlightenment, as well as, his musing about a world that would be populated with significant numbers of enlightened people.
You can view the entire conversation or view it in five parts.
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Mindful Missives
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Reduce Stress to Experience Greater Fulfillment
One thing that stress does is rob you of pleasure and fulfillment, at work and at home. If you are stressed at work and are unable to decrease and manage the stress, it will also impact your personal life. You will be less likely to be present with your spouse, engaged with your children, or attuned to your pets. And as I have mentioned previously, life only happens in the present. Miss this present moment and you ...
A Calm Mind Brings Inner Peace As the holidays quickly approach calmness and inner peace take on greater importance. We sometimes mistakenly think that some people are calm naturally and others are not, as if the ability to be calm is something that you are either born with or not. This could not be further from the truth. Certainly some people may appear to have a greater predisposition toward calmness. But calmness, or relaxation, is completely trainable and available to ... Read Full Article
Being aware has many layers, but it begins with being self aware. This implies that you are aware of your thoughts and feelings moment by moment. You are aware of how different people and situations affect you. You are aware of how the hindrances manifest in your life, personally and professionally. It also means that you are aware of how you impact others; how your words, your actions, and your demeanor or energy impact those around you. Additionally ...
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Being present has many layers. In last week's blog I mentioned that as a Mindful leader it means being present regardless of circumstances - being right here, right now. And with more concentration, clarity and equanimity, you can go a step further. Not only can you be present, but ... Read Full Article
Being present is the starting point of being a Mindful leader. Essentially this means being in the present moment regardless of circumstances. Most people are locked in their minds and unable to give full attention to what's happening right now. They are either reliving the past, wishing it had been different, or experiencing anxiety about the future, worrying about what might be. But both of these ... Read Full ArticleAs human beings we are constantly asking questions. One of the deepest questions we ask is, "What is my life purpose?" At the root of it, we want to know why we are here. We want to know that all of our efforts in this life are not in vain-that our lives have meaning and purpose. However, most people we meet have no idea ...
Read Full Article Equanimity is often misunderstood even by experienced meditators. It is often believed to mean indifference or detachment from anything unpleasant. It is at times used as a way of escaping pain and suffering in the world. And it is often completely overlooked when experiencing something pleasant. To be equanimous is to allow yourself to "feel" fully. When equanimous, we are ... Read Full Article |
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In the Next Newsletter
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In the next Mindful Leadership Newsletter I will be in conversation with Janet Martin, President Janet C. Martin Management. She is a seasoned senior business executive with deep and varied experience. She clearly articulates in our conversation what it means to be a Mindful leader and how she integrates Mindfulness into every aspect of her personal and professional life.
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We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets
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