Page 5 - Mindfulness
P. 5
Chris Adams, former Facebook and Amazon digital strategist sees rest as his secret weapon. I often wonder if I’m a type 2 diabetic as a result of a fast business life I lived for many years where I didn’t give my brain time to have much rest. We now know through MRI and EEG that the 100 billion nerve cells we have available to us are constantly finding new connections with each other, sometimes awakened for the first time. The more you practice something, the better you get, assuming you have the physical capability. In other words, the more we practice being anxious and living in a future that doesn’t exist, the better we get at it. The more we practice being mindful, the better we get at mindfulness.
Dr. Merrill Mitler, sleep expert and neuroscientist at the National Institute of Health in the USA talks about rest servicing all aspects of our body: “molecular, energy balance, as well as intellectual function, alertness and mood.”
MINDFULNESS IN PRACTICE
Some argue you can be mindful all the time. In theory, I suppose this could be true, but my experience hasn’t born this out as yet. You can be mindful when you can be mindful. I am pretty good at being mindful when Ihaveahalfhourorsoonmykayak,atabeachor sitting in a beautiful Cathedral. As I write this, I reckon I’m pretty mindful, although I’ve just been distracted by remembering I’ve not paid two bills and my phone is running out of battery! A friend of mine realises she gets pretty distracted, so she goes to a New South Wales retreat for a week to be mindful. - lucky her.
Her Dad regularly books a ten-day retreat of silence. Me? - I’m happy with a 10 minute reflection! All these are wonderful ideas and if we have the time are great things to do but what about when we’ve only got a few moments?
Can we recalibrate ourselves in a few seconds? Can we remove an anxiety state and be back in tune, in focus, and at our best? The answer is yes. In fact, in my work with elite athletes, high performing clinical people and high level executives, this is just what we are doing.
