Mindfulness Reminders is a follow up resource for people who attended the FC CEO Collective. I have also included links below this article to a few short recorded exercises you can use to begin cultivating mindful awareness in your own time.
Mindfulness is a way of paying attention on a moment to moment basis to what is happening within us and around us – in a non judgmental way. So why should we do this?
Staying informed of the latest News and industry trends and is essential for developing your business. Checking conditions of the traffic and weather before traveling is natural. You pay attention to your credit card and bank statements. And you have spam filters on your email. A firewall and anti virus software. And you install regular up dates to keep the Apps current on all of your devices. So why wouldn’t you pay the same kind of attention to what’s going on in your mind and body?
Research shows that there is a very strong correlation between mental and physiological states. We feel what we think and we think what we feel. Experiment for yourself by imagining a situation and then tuning in to see what it feels like. Chances are if it’s a good imaginary scenario you will feel good. If it’s a negative scenario you feel bad. When we experience “Stress” we are actually experiencing our body’s natural defense mechanism the “Fight of Flight” response. Great if you are in real physical danger, you can respond with great energy and strength. Bad if you are not in danger, just over loaded with to do lists, deadlines, stuck in traffic, or creating worst case scenarios in your imagination. Our appraisal of what’s happening has real world consequences for our brain and body chemistry and our overall experience of any given situation. We use Mindfulness to be in tune with, and objectively aware of all the factors that contribute to our experience so we can discern what’s really happening.
Mindfulness is a skill which can be cultivated through regular use of simple mindfulness meditations and exercises. Mindfulness has been shown through extensive studies to help with emotional regulation and our capacity to be more non judgmentally aware. So we are more resilient, less easily thrown out of balance, and have the ability to bounce back more rapidly when we re-appraise our situation objectively. Mindfulness is a skill. It takes some time to develop. But the rewards in terms of focus, awareness, stress reduction, executive function and quality of life experience are well worth the investment. Try working regularly with the short exercises below and see what happens.
Good luck and if you need any help or have questions feel free to contact me – Hugh