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Volume 4                                                                                                     July 2012

 Greetings!  

I hope you are enjoying the summer.  It is hard to believe it is already late July.

 

I am delighted to share this Newsletter with you as a great deal has happened since the last Newsletter.

 

Mindful Leadership: The 9 Ways to Self-Awareness, Transforming Yourself, and Inspiring Others was launched on March 29th inToronto.  It was a wonderful book launch with 170 people there to celebrate the event and the universal comment was that it was a tremendously joyful and peaceful evening.  I suppose that is to be expected when that many Mindful people are in one place!  The feedback on the book has been wonderful to date.  If you have had a chance to read it, I hope that you experienced the pleasure in reading it that I experienced in writing it.  If you would like to pick up a copy to share with a friend or colleague, below are some links where you can obtain it.

 

          amazon com2       Amazon Ca  

      Indigo 2      Books for Business

                  

In March, as well, I had the pleasure and privilege of being invited to participate in a ground breaking study at the Harvard Medical School in Boston where with the use of functional MRI the impact of tranquility practices on the brain are being studied.  We spent a week on retreat meditating and then being tested.  The researchers were comparing the brain function, while meditating, of highly experienced meditators (those with more than 10,000 hours of meditation experience) with novices and less experienced meditators.  I will be able to share more information with you in the coming months, including interesting video interviews. 

 

On another note, I am delighted to say that you can now access some of my guided meditations on iTunes by searching "Mindful Leadership."  They are complementary.

 

I am also excited to say that I have recently launched a YouTube Channel.  It is appropriately named Mindful Leadership's Channel. The link is:

http://www.youtube.com/user/mindfulleadership  

I hope you enjoy it.

 

I am working on some exciting projects that I will share with you in more detail later this summer.  They include the creation of some Apps on various themes such as relaxation, to mention just one. 

 

On September 27th and 28th I will also be offering a One and a Half Day Introductory Mindfulness Course for those whose schedule does not permit coming to 8 classes and / or for those who have not taken Mindfulness classes in a while and would like a refresher.  You will receive details of this in the next few weeks.

 

Then in late January I will be launching a Two Day Mindful Leadership Program for those who have already taken an Introductory Course or Coaching Program.

 

So as you can see, a great deal has been going on and much is being planned.  It is all very exciting and a continued move towards my personal aspiration to spread Mindfulness in the world.  I feel privileged to be able to do that and grateful for all the support from others to make it happen. 

 

One of these people is Peter Pacini who created the Mindful Leadership's YouTube Channel, as well making my guided meditations available on iTunes.  He also continues to make the Newsletter and Blog possible. And in addition to all that he is a great deal of fun to work with!  I am very grateful.

 

In this Newsletter the Mindful Missives and Mindfulness in Action Tips focus on three of the 9 Ways: Be Positive, Be Compassionate and Be Impeccable.

 

I am also delighted to say that I am in conversation with Janet Martin, a senior seasoned business executive who is a Mindful leader and shares with us what this means in her life and her work.

 

I hope you enjoy the Newsletter and find it useful.  Your feedback is always welcome and appreciated. So please send your thoughts, comments, questions and ideas.

 

Have a wonderful rest of the summer and may it be filled with Mindful moments.

 

Best,

Maria.

 

Upcoming Mindflness

Training Programs

 

NEW This Fall  One & a Half Day - Introduction to Mindfulness

 

Thursday, September 27, 2012      
1:00 - 4:00pm 

 

Friday, September 28, 2012

9:30am-4:00pm  

 

2 St. Clair Avenue East

Suite 800

Toronto, Ontario Canada  

Learn More

            Register Now

    

 

NEW This Winter  Two-Day Mindful Leadership Program


Dates and times  TBD

 

2 St. Clair Avenue East

Suite 800

Toronto, Ontario Canada



Custom Corporate Mindfulness Leadership Programs

On-going           

Learn More

Register Now

 

 

Further Explorations in Mindfulness Two Courses Offered Wednesdays and Thursdays 
 

WednesdaysSeptember 19 -

November 7, 2012
12:00 - 1:30 p.m.

 

ThursdaysSeptember 27 -

November 22, 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

 

   
Talk About Mindful Leadership

 

Globe & Mail 

The Joy of Micro-Meditations 

 

Global TV  

Global TV Morning 

 

  CFRA

We All Have The Opportunity To be Mindful Leaders 

 

Interview with Shelly McLean

 

 

 thecommentary.ca>>

Interview with Joseph Planta 

 

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Tips of The Week

Cultivate Self Compassion

Self compassion is often over looked.  Like the topic of compassion in general, self compassion is equally misunderstood.  It is often interpreted as selfishness.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  In order to be compassionate towards others you must first be able to be compassionate towards yourself. ...   

Read Full Article   

 

Sooner or later we all experience unpleasant or unproductive thoughts.  In some cases they may be obsessive thoughts.  These are thoughts you just can't seem to get out of your mind and they are unsettling. When this happens the customary reaction is to try to reason with the mind or to mount an argument as to why it isn't so.  If you are like most people ...  

Read Full Article   

 

Start Each Day by Creating a Positive Intention
There are many opportunities each day to practice being positive. The first is to work with intention. You may wish to get into the habit of creating an intention for each day when you wake up. This is very simple and takes only a few moments. Imagine your day being ...

Read Full Article   

 

Life offers many opportunities to practice equanimity every day. For example, when colleagues or subordinates are not approaching a situation the way you would, you may find yourself getting impatient or annoyed. This is a great opportunity to allow yourself to experience that annoyance from a place of equanimity and to see if you can just let it go or if you need to intervene. In these situations ...  

Read Full Article  

 

If You Want the Benefit of a Mindful Life Make a Commitment to Develop a Daily Practice   

If you have decided that you aspire to live a Mindful life then commit to yourself to develop a daily practice and to be Mindful in your life.  This will include formally practicing a particular technique or set of techniques daily.  It will also include deciding each day to what aspect of your life you will apply Mindfulness. 

Read Full Article 

 

You will find plenty of opportunities to improve your clarity as you move through everyday life. For example, if you are in a meeting, you can choose to work with sight (what you see, such as the person who is speaking or other people in the room) and sound (the voice and tone of the person speaking). 

Develop Focus by Doing One Thing at a Time 

The ability to focus means you can be in a meeting from beginning to end without losing concentration. It means you are able to stay present when you are having a conversation or negotiating a deal. It means you can drive without your mind wandering. And it means that you can play a round of golf without thinking about the miserable shot on the last hole or the hole in one you made yesterday. It means that you can ...

Changing the "Failure" Mindset
In order to really learn from a situation it is helpful to change the "failure" mindset to a mindset of "changing course".  As a Mindful leader, how you handle a situation that has not met your expectations will seriously impact how those around you will approach opportunities.  If your team thinks that they always need to be successful at everything they attempt, they are likely to not be willing to...

Conversations with Mindful Leaders

 

 

 

Janet Martin, President Janet C. Martin Management 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.

 



Mindful Missives 

 

To Be Compassionate Is to Be a Strong and Courageous Leader    

Compassion is rarely truly understood. It's often seen as weakness, something like a bleeding heart. And because it may be seen as a weakness, it is considered by some to have no place in leadership. But, in fact, this could not be further from the truth.


Being Present Is Being Fully Engaged in Whatever You Are Doing

To be fully present means that you are completely focused, clear and equanimous.  You are completely engaged with the present moment. There is no wanting this moment to be any different than it is.  And when that happens, you experience and witness "magic". Your performance becomes brilliant! 

Read Full Article  

 

Being positive is an integral part of being a mindful leader. Positivity is multifaceted and includes having a can-do attitude, being of service, and being grateful. It involves being a positive force in your life, your family, your organization, your community, indeed, wherever you have the opportunity to make a difference.

Read Full Article

 

Equanimity develops as you train your mind, just as focus and clarity do. Equanimity is not something that you have full control over. Rather, you create the groundwork for equanimity to naturally arise in your life and in your experiences.

From an internal point of view, equanimity refers to accepting what is arising in your sensory experience without resisting or distorting it. For example...

Read Full Article 

 

Maintain a Daily Practice to Cultivate a Mindful Life

There is no substitute for a daily Mindfulness practice.  A daily practice enables you to become proficient at the techniques. And this proficiency enables you to more easily be Mindful in your daily life.  The other thing that happens is that it will create a momentum so that the benefits continue long after you have finished meditating.  By practicing regularly ...  

Read Full Article

As a leader, it is essential to be clear-clear about your personal purpose, your company's vision and strategic direction, your motives and intentions, your thoughts and emotions, and your expectations for yourself and others. Essentially, when I talk about clarity, it applies to everything, both internally and in the world at large. Being clear is closely linked to ...

Read Full Article 

   

Many people think that the ability to focus or concentrate should come naturally and that when we don't focus it's because we're not trying hard enough-if only we would try harder, it would happen. This is an erroneous view and an incorrect conclusion. The untrained mind has huge difficulty in concentrating on anything for more than a few seconds, let alone a couple of minutes at a time.
Read Full Article

There Is No Such Thing as Failure, Just the Need to Change Course
As a leader it is important not to get caught in the trap of viewing outcomes as failures.  When you perceive something as a failure your ego is inextricably linked.  This can cause you to enter the blame game (blaming yourself or others) which never results in a positive outcome.  It also does not allow you to make optimal decisions and to be open to new opportunities. 

 

In the Next Newsletter
Mary Vachon


In the next Mindful Leadership Newsletter I will be in conversation with Mary Vachon, a world renowned psychotherapist and clinical consultant who is a Mindful leader in her own right.  She discusses how Mindfulness impacts her life and her work.

 

 

 

"Between stimulus and response, there is space.
     In that space is our power to choose our response.
In our response lies our growth and freedom."   
 
- Viktor E. Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning