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Exercises / Practices
Vision: How to Exercise Your Mind’s Eye and Creative Genius
By John J. Murphy, Guest Contributor
“Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.” – Albert Einstein
Last month I shared an article on Reflection and I introduced a model called The Cycle for Ongoing Improvement Reflection: A Key Element of Mindful Leadership - Mindful Leader. This model highlights the value of taking time to examine our past experiences and it reminds us to look forward, exercising Vision as well. Otherwise, we can easily fall into The Experien…
Consciously Integrating Big Changes
By Joy Reichart, New Ventures West, Guest Contributor
Life has asked a lot of us over the last couple of years. Much has happened in our individual and collective worlds that in many cases defies imagining, and in many others is long overdue. We’d like to invite you into an exploration of all that has become integrated in you along the way.
One way integration happens
For an example of how integration happens, let’s look at the pandemic, since there is hardly anyone on the planet that it hasn…
Reflection: A Key Element of Mindful Leadership
By John J. Murphy, Guest Contributor
As I write this article, I am reflecting on a two-day executive workshop I recently delivered in Denver on mindful leadership and operational excellence. I do this every time I engage in any important activity. I take time to contemplate what I planned to do, what I did, what worked well, and what didn’t work so well. The military refers to these disciplined moments of reflection as AAR’s – After Action Reviews. The idea is to step back and mindfully evaluat…
When Forgiveness Becomes an Act of Self-Care
By Jim Blake, Guest Contributor
Sooner or later, despite our best efforts, every business leader will have feelings of self-doubt, inadequacy, insecurity, and fear. Too often we ignore these feelings by pressing them down or attempting to put a positivity bandage on them. But avoidance will only lead to a cycle of repetition. Instead, we must have the courage to look at our pain, our sorrow, our trauma—and the feelings that result—without letting them define us.
Depending on your life experien…
Finding the Balance Between Gratitude and Longing
By Joy Reichart, New Ventures West, Guest Contributor
The sun rose slowly above the redwoods surrounding the park as we ‘cooled down’ from that chilly morning’s tai chi practice. As we took our full minute to stand in stillness and center ourselves, I began to notice that the phrase “thank you” was riding on each exhale. Thank you for this exceptionally beautiful neighborhood. Thank you for the recent, much-needed rain that has popped everything into technicolor. Thank you for this circle of ki…
Paradox, Prediction & Perception: Why Context Matters in the Practice and Embodiment of Mindful Awareness
By Michelle L. Maldonado, Guest Contributor
What happens to one of us, happens to all of us. These words repeat themselves like a song’s refrain playing over and over again in my mind just as strongly today as when my family and I first began to speak this phrase some time ago.
For many in our families, communities, and places of work, the vision and wish for equality and equity, coupled with wise and compassionate action to transform societal conditions, have been a life-long endeavor. For o…
How to Make Your Commute Time Self Care Time
By Tia Philippart, Guest Contributor
There are plenty of workers who are guilty of taking work home with them. Not only are they finishing projects up at home, but they are ruminating about their work during their drives to and from the office when they are least capable of physically completing their work. The frustration of overthinking work tasks is detrimental to these commuters’ mental health. It might not be obvious at first, but ruminating upon work thoughts leads to an unsuccessful wor…
Self-unification in a divided world
By Joy Reichart, New Ventures West, Guest Contributor
“In order to truly change, we have to let go of who we think we are. Early in life we had to form the ego, or the ‘little self,’ in order to protect our true self. Later in life, the way we originally protected ourselves begins to endanger the presence of our Self. What protected us from harm at the beginning will cause us great harm later in life if we don’t learn how to let go of it.“
—Michael Meade, from “The Captive Heart” (Episode 2…
Integral Practices for Times of Transition
By Joy Reichart, New Ventures West, Guest Contributor
Gearing up as nature is winding down
How are you feeling this September? If you live or grew up in a place where the school year starts around now, you may have a mysterious, bone-deep response to this time of year. In the northern hemisphere, days start shortening, leaves start turning, and most beings prepare to hibernate and migrate. Meanwhile, human life picks up its pace, yanking us in the opposite direction of our animal instincts. Th…
Feel you have nothing left? 3 Practices to replenish
By Joy Reichart, guest contributor, New Ventures West
“I have nothing left.”
It’s a sentiment that’s been in our shared consciousness for a long time, and recently I’ve started to hear folks actually name it. Maybe you have too.
World events have taken their toll, and many of us find ourselves with very little energy, resources, spirit left in us. The pandemic fomented a sudden shift in pace and orientation that revealed much of what is outdated and imbalanced in our lives, and in the world.…