After all of our mindfulness and ego work this month, you may have already been drawn to getting rid of some of your excess stuff, but if not, it might be time to consider letting some things go and simplifying your everyday life experience. The more stuff we have, the more our stuff takes over our lives, so it’s important to take some time to evaluate whether we are holding on to things because we use them and need them, or holding on to things just because we don’t want to let them go. In today’s article, we’ll discuss three ideas to help you let go of excess clutter without getting stressed out or anxious about it. Let’s explore.

Why do we hold on to so much stuff, and then keep buying more even though we may not need it… or even want it in some cases? Why do we spend so much time gathering “things” when really our experiences are the most important part of our lives? Why are there so many people in hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt for specific kinds of “stuff?”

We live in a world where the societally accepted “normal” attitude is the Work, Buy, Consume, Die mentality. And we buy certain things not to help ourselves in a constructive way, but to “impress” others and try to influence their opinions of us. Did you know that this is a subtle form of a need for control over others and what they think of you?

Taking some time to really reflect on why you have something, whether you want to hold on to it or not, and whether you will ever use it or not is a good way to begin lightening your load, so to speak.

Liberate Yourself From Excess Clutter in Three Steps

1. Focus on one small chunk of work at a time. You don’t have to sort through your entire household or office in a day, and for most of us, that would be physically impossible. However, getting started and setting small goals will help you to get everything done and know exactly what to get rid of and what you will still use.
2. Be “heartless.” Your clothes and belongings don’t have feelings, and someone who gave you something as a gift isn’t going to telepathically guilt trip you over donating or selling it. You create any resistant emotions you feel about getting rid of things, so ask yourself why you might be hesitant to let something go. Depending on your circumstances and your evaluation, make sure you keep your priorities straight and if in doubt, don’t make a decision yet.
3. Remember that it’s only stuff. No matter what you own, lose, buy, sell, or acquire in your life, nothing is permanent and it’s just physical stuff. You can get a new one of pretty much anything these days, so why worry about it? Should you need something, all you have to do is go get it, anyway, whatever that means for you.

Some Benefits of Decluttering:

• Increased focus.
• Fewer distractions.
• Reduced stress levels.
• Increased clarity.
• Increased inner peace.
• Easier decision-making.
• Less clutter in your mind.
• Increased productivity.

While everyone’s comfort levels are different as far as the amount of “stuff” we surround ourselves with, lightening your load can never hurt. Whether we’re fully aware of it or not, our clutter can weigh us down on several levels, and getting rid of some of it can help us to get focused, productive, and pick up momentum in a more refined direction.

Thank you so much for being here, learning, and growing with us!

For more information about the Mindfulness Movement or the International Mindfulness Federation, please visit:

http://executivecoachinguniversity.com/mindfulness-movement

Your ego can be described in a number of different ways and can include various concepts and ideas, so today we’ll learn more about the ego. What the ego actually is, how to recognize it working within your thoughts and emotions, how to work with it instead of fighting with it, and how this mindfulness practice can help you not only achieve a sense of inner peace but allow you to embody emotional maturity like you’ve never experienced before. This feels like a sense of confidence, courage, and peace regardless of outcome. You are not emotionally attached to any of it, so whatever happens, can happen and you adjust your course from there without going crazy while you’re doing so. That sense of desperation, emotional reactivity, and a need for control are all things that come from a place of ego, not a place of love and authenticity. Let’s dive in.

So, what is the ego, anyway? According to a quick online search, the ego is “the part of the mind that mediates between the conscious and the unconscious and is responsible for reality testing and a sense of personal identity.”

If the ego is the mediator between your unconscious and conscious mind, and is responsible for reality testing (gathering evidence about the beliefs trying to be “installed” into the unconscious), then it lines up perfectly with the ideas of unconscious programming and why emotional healing and overcoming said programming is such a heavy blow to the ego. The emotional purging people can experience during this process can be very intense, and this is because the ego is, in a sense, dying; losing its control because you are taking your power back from the standpoint of your authentic self.

How to Recognize Your Ego’s Input

The mind is a powerful processor, absolutely incredible in its capabilities. Just like a computer, there are hundreds, maybe even thousands, of little-programmed beliefs running in your unconscious mind, in the background where you aren’t fully aware of it because you haven’t trained yourself to see it in an obvious way.

However, there are ways you can recognize your ego’s input by observing your thoughts, emotions, and life experiences, and the majority of the time, the ego’s input will be negative or discouraging. So, for example, if you’re getting ready to go to a job interview for a job you really want and are excited about, your ego might chime in with, “Are you sure you’re qualified for this position? You know the competition will be fierce… are you sure you’re at that level?”

If you hold certain unconscious beliefs, you can also see them playing out in your life experiences. Do you have repeating stories in your life? Patterns of behavior and experiences? How have your decisions contributed to the way those experiences played out? Can you do things differently next time? Are these experiences being brought into your life to teach you something?

When you have an experience similar to a previous one, it is an indicator of a behavior pattern. The key is to make different decisions this time than you did the last time in order to learn more about making good decisions. If you make a mistake, you will likely be presented with a similar opportunity later on to make a different decision, so mistakes are just as important as good decisions. Making good decisions also involves reserving your judgments and reactions until later, until you have enough information to go on should you need to take any kind of action. Your life may also be trying to teach you a skill you will need in order to achieve your goals.

The ego instills doubt to keep you from leaving your comfort zone because it might disrupt the status quo, which means some beliefs may need to be revised or thrown out altogether, and the ego is deathly afraid of change. It resists, which is why this process can be an emotionally charged one. Remember, the ego thinks it’s dying, which is why we must also be gentle with it.

How to Work With Your Ego

Rather than arguing with your ego about existing beliefs, ask yourself gentle questions about them. This is especially effective if you are just starting out and affirmations make you feel like you’re lying to yourself.

When the ego jumps in and tries to instill doubt about something, don’t let the emotional resistance direct your thoughts and reactions. Instead, ask yourself some questions. You can base them on your specific situation, but ask things along these lines:

• “Why am I creating problems in my mind that don’t exist? Is that helpful to me?”
• “Am I considering this realistically or blowing things out of proportion and feeding my own fears?”
• “Are these words and ideas coming to mind serving me in any way, or are they harming me?”

Once your emotions have calmed down to somewhat neutral during your ego Q & A, you can gently begin opening up a world of possibilities and happiness in your imagination. Allow yourself to daydream a little bit, and imagine the possibilities rather than the potential problems.

• “What if things work out exactly as they are supposed to, and it happens to lead me to my desires?”
• “What if this one good thing leads to many more good things?”
• “How can I enjoy this process rather than fearing it?”

Personally, no matter what I’m doing, I see it as an adventure. Whether it’s something mundane or something different and exciting, looking at it as an adventure is a great way to help yourself embrace the unknown future and give it your all in the present, as you experience life.

When your courage begins to outweigh your fear, you will have enough evidence for your ego that you’re on the right track just based on little things you’re doing to practice courage and show your ego that things can be different. Remember, it needs to gather evidence, which is where practicing the same thing is so important. That practice helps your ego embrace the idea of doing things differently, which is one aspect of how you can cultivate change and growth for yourself, as well as simplify your life by removing internal conflict from your being.

Thank you so much for being here, learning, and growing with us!

For more information about the Mindfulness Movement or the International Mindfulness Federation, please visit:

http://executivecoachinguniversity.com/mindfulness-movement

Your environment and life experience is ultimately a product of your consciousness, but once you start working on your consciousness, you may find that you’re naturally drawn to exploring new interests or developing healthier habits. You may also just be drawn to trying new things or doing things differently, and building on this idea of simplicity can actually help you to create a more fulfilling experience every day. It’s all about figuring out how to make your day more efficient, and this process will often offer you the opportunity to grow in many ways. Keep reading to learn more.

One of the first things to keep in mind as you do this is that everything is a journey, a process. You can’t suddenly go from not having worked out for five years to working out for two hours a day. This could cause an injury before it helps you to get back in shape, so it’s much safer to ease your way into things.

The same principle applies here. No matter what you’re trying to shift around as far as your time and energy every day is concerned, don’t try to change everything at once and don’t try to change things to an extreme. Easing your way into it will have more lasting results, not to mention make it easier to choose to start again should you get lazy for a few days, which happens sometimes. It’s much easier not to look at exercise as punishment if it doesn’t feel like punishment when you start, right? Of course this is just one example, but you get the idea.

Simplify Your Life in Three Steps

Step 1: Consider what you do every day and what you spend the majority of your time and energy on. Are these habits constructive? Will they lead you toward your goals in some way? Toward the experiences you would like to have? Or do the habits you have waste your time or damage you in some way? Will they help you to solve problems and build a good life for yourself? Or are they holding you back and keeping you stuck? What about things you can delegate to someone else? Can this thing you’re doing that isn’t getting you far be done by someone else in your environment if it needs to be done? Does it even need to be done?

Step 2: Choose one of these habits to replace with something similar but better for you and your wellbeing. So, for example, if you’re trying to eat healthier, you might replace rice with quinoa. What is something that you can do instead of the thing you’re cutting out that is similar and satisfying to you in some way? Really try a few things and make it a point to experience these things fully and thoroughly. Take notice of all the little things involved. Try not to be distracted or multitasking while you’re doing this new thing so that you can truly get the full experience of it.

Step 3: Hone in and really focus on the aspects of these new things that you enjoy. You can really start enjoying many aspects of whatever it is you’re doing, but if you’re accustomed to complaining, this may be more challenging and counter-intuitive for you. However, focusing on the positive and feel-good aspects of what you’re doing will make it more and more fun for you, whereas focusing on the negative aspects of it will make you want to go back to the old way of doing things. If the intent is lasting change, this consciousness aspect must be included in your evolution process.

Some Healthy Habits to Consider Adopting

• Reorganize your life and get rid of things. Unburdening yourself from clutter is a great step up from being overloaded by it.
• Meditate daily for 5 minutes, then begin increasing the time as you feel you want to.
• Exercise to get your blood pumping and oxygenated. This also helps for releasing excess energy, keeping you healthier overall.
• Walk in nature and breathe fresh air. If you can, ground in the earth with bare feet and connect to the planet.
• Do something creative that you enjoy. Anything that involves having ideas is a great place to begin.
• Explore healthier food options and different ways of preparing them to find what works best for you.

Simplifying Your Leadership Life

Take Time for Yourself

Taking time to meditate, breathe, stretch, and regroup is important, especially for a mindful leader. Doing this daily can help reduce stress levels, anxiety, and pressure, as well as increase your clarity, productivity, and focus. Make sure you’re taking time to recharge.

Delegate, Delegate, Delegate

The less busywork is on your plate, the more you can focus on important tasks that can only be handled by you. Anything that your team could potentially take over should be considered so that you can free up some time and/or energy. Once this is done, you can re-prioritize your most important tasks without feeling overwhelmed.

Prioritize as Needed for Flexibility

Something may come up or happen that requires you to move things around and revise the original plan. Being able to do this without letting it throw you off too much is a valuable skill, and it can help you to get a handle on things more quickly and effortlessly.

If you’re ready to get started with daily mindfulness practice, we invite you to enroll in the My Mindful Moments 30-Day program, which is currently in clinical trials. The reviews so far are overwhelmingly positive, so if you’re interested in learning more about that, please click the following link:

https://www.executivecoachinguniversity.com/landing/my_mindful_moments/

Thank you so much for being here, learning, and growing with us!

For more information about the Mindfulness Movement or the International Mindfulness Federation, please visit:

http://executivecoachinguniversity.com/mindfulness-movement

Racing thoughts? Too much on your mind? Can’t get your mind to shut up so you can sleep? These are all symptoms of a lack of focus, and a lack of harmony within your being as well as your life. Simplifying the life around you requires first simplifying the life within you, and that means getting to a place of peaceful thinking rather than obsessive thinking. This can be easily achieved through a daily meditation practice, alongside a mindfulness practice throughout your day so that you can fully integrate your sense of peace into your conscious mind. Do you experience burnout? Stress? Fatigue? Insomnia? This could be caused by unchecked thoughts running in your mind without you being aware of what is running. Let’s take a look at some key elements of quieting your mind and allowing yourself to feel better.

What do I mean by “allowing yourself to feel better?” Oftentimes we hold ourselves back due to a subconscious or hidden sense of guilt for having a good time, enjoying our lives, healing ourselves, being happy, or being successful because maybe some people we care about are struggling or we can’t help everyone we want to.

Beating up on yourself over it is not the way to make the situation better for yourself, or anyone else, for that matter. That guilt? That’s your emotion. Wherever that guilt may come from, it’s within you like a puzzle only you can solve. Letting go of any resistance you have about moving forward is important for your long-term well-being, so take a moment now to reflect upon where any of these feelings might be coming from. Forgive, let go, and allow yourself to move forward for your own sake and the sake of your life, because other people’s lives are not your responsibility.

Letting this go will allow you to move forward in a more positive direction and gain control over your focus through release and surrender. As counter-intuitive as that sounds, only experience teaches, so you will not know whether it works unless and until you try it for a while. The longer you practice daily meditation, the more positive benefits you will experience.

Did you know that 80% of our thoughts are negative and 95% of our thoughts are repetitive?* That means we’re literally always thinking negative things, worrying about the future, ruminating over the past, wondering what everyone around us is thinking about us (even though the chances are slim that they are thinking about anyone but themselves, let’s be real here)… these are all neurotic thought patterns people can fall into by leaving their thoughts unchecked and running on autopilot.

Where do they come from? Our conditioning. What we tell ourselves regularly. How we feel about ourselves, what other people tell us about ourselves, and so on. This has been accumulating in your subconscious mind for your entire life and forms your belief systems, which contribute to the negative thought loops running on autopilot in the background. You may not even be “hearing” these thoughts on a conscious level. You may not be aware. Although some of them might jump out, which is where recognizing them in the moment comes into play.

Meditation can help you to be in the moment more, enjoy more aspects of your life on more levels, and generally have a more robust and joyful life experience overall. If you’re ready to get started with daily mindfulness practice, we invite you to enroll in the My Mindful Moments 30-Day program, which is currently in clinical testing. The reviews so far are overwhelmingly positive, so if you’re interested in learning more about that, please click the following link:

https://www.executivecoachinguniversity.com/landing/my_mindful_moments/

Aside from meditation, there are a few other ways to take control of your focus and experience less mental chatter. Let’s discuss how you can “do” this in the moment as you experience life.

Observation

Observing your thoughts, especially when you’re feeling bad, low, depressed, angry, or otherwise hurting, can really help you to identify where those emotions are coming from. If you’re feeling badly, especially if it seems to come from nowhere or you are easily triggered into a bad mood, then this will allow you to evaluate what your thoughts are saying and “shine a light” on them and really see if they’re true, if you want to believe them, or if you would like to have a different belief.

Evaluation

To evaluate your thoughts, ask yourself if this is something you actually believe or if this is something that other people have told you or given you the impression of throughout your life. If you come to the conclusion that you do actually believe it, then you have to decide whether you want to believe it. Is this belief helping you or hurting you? Is it holding you back or making you unhappy? It is your choice whether you want to continue holding onto it or whether you want to let it go… whether you want to continue harming yourself or would rather heal yourself.

Letting Go

To let go, you must deeply and honestly consider whether you want to continue to damage yourself by holding on to a toxic emotion. When we hold on to hatred, resentment, and bitterness, we are essentially poisoning ourselves from the inside. The best way for us to live our best lives is to stop worrying about other people and just live our lives. To stop focusing on everything that’s “wrong” and “terrible” and choose to shift our focus to the positive, creative, constructive, and beautiful.

Simplifying your thoughts is up to you, and letting go of some of the clutter by healing it and understanding where it came from can allow you to do just that. When you clear all of this negative energy out of your being, you can expect good things to begin showing up in your life simply because you are healthier and happier.

Mindfulness in each moment allows you to truly enjoy the moment and not think your way through everything so you’re only half paying attention and creating stories around things that aren’t accurate because you missed out on half of the conversation being lost in thought. The simple act of paying attention to your life playing out before you can create miracles in your life experiences.

We hope that you experience some interesting and incredible things in your life from here on out!

Thank you so much for being here, learning, and growing with us! For more information about the Mindfulness Movement or the International Mindfulness Federation, please visit:

http://executivecoachinguniversity.com/mindfulness-movement

* 80% of Thoughts Are Negative, 95% Are Repetitive

https://faithhopeandpsychology.wordpress.com/2012/03/02/80-of-thoughts-are-negative-95-are-repetitive/

It’s extremely challenging to stop and enjoy the things you truly appreciate when you’re busy doing things all day, every day. Part of the reason we forget how powerful we are is because we feel like our most valuable resource, the one that cannot be renewed – time – is controlled by things beyond our control. Although this is true to a certain degree, it is up to us as individuals to change what we can and accept what we can’t, thereby letting go of control. When our lives get too complicated in the “doing” sense, we tend to disconnect from appreciation and focus solely on “hanging in there” or just barely “making it” through the week. However, when life is simpler and priorities are clear, suddenly all of the old stress disappears because you know you’ll figure it out and there’s nothing to be worried about.

Surrendering – to Source, to the process, to life, or whatever wording you want to use – is choosing not to worry about anything and to understand that the solutions will come in perfect timing, every time. The more in tune and aware you are of your life playing out before you, the easier it will be to realize the right decisions and the right things to focus on.

So, by letting go of the need for control, you are actually gaining a deeper level of control.

What does control have to do with simplifying your life? Quite a lot, actually.

When your mind is full and your thoughts are racing, this mental state of being is created in your life experience and manifests itself as busywork, fires to put out, clutter, drama, stress, and general chaos. If you feel like your life would be easier if you were to just scrap everything and start over, it might be time to start simplifying.

Because your life is a reflection of your inner state of being, it makes sense to change your inner state of being in order to change the reflection rather than the other way around.

Here are a few ideas to help you trim your mental clutter and become mindful rather than having a full mind.

1. Meditate for 5 Minutes or Longer Every Day

Now, don’t be fooled – meditation doesn’t have to fall into any kind of stereotype. There are other ways to meditate like walking meditation, consistent mindfulness practice, inner work practices in every moment, and so on. Many people find it helpful to sit in meditation for 5 minutes a day and focus on the breath, then begin increasing the amount of time. Once you get the hang of it, you can meditate anywhere and you will naturally begin to notice more, be more aware, and understand more from more perspectives. It is a way to train your mind to work with you rather than fighting against you. This practice will quiet your thoughts and allow your mind to become still.

2. Practice Letting Things Go

Letting go of things that don’t serve us is a practice; you have to start to get better at it, and those first few times can seem daunting, especially before you begin. What do you hold on to that you maybe don’t realize you’re holding on to? Are you holding on to an addiction? An abusive relationship? A feeling of loneliness? A disease, or fear of disease? Depression? Anxiety? The more you embrace the idea as well as the process of letting things go, the easier it will be to actually let things go permanently.

3. Seek Out Healing as Needed

Oftentimes we go through traumatic things and don’t know how to let them go or learn to accept them as part of our life experience. We don’t forgive the thing or person that “caused” the trauma and we don’t forgive ourselves for “letting” it happen. This can create issues in the subconscious mind, among other things, so seeking out a healing modality that works for you is key. It doesn’t matter if the modality is psychiatry, coaching, Reiki, or QHHT; the point is that it has to be the right one for you. What has occurred in your life experience that might be negatively affecting you from a deep level? The answers lie within, and anything you are drawn to that can help you heal is worth looking into and exploring.

4. Get Rid of Excess Physical Clutter

Remember how much abundance and excess we live in: we buy and consume, then work to buy and consume more, all the while complaining that there isn’t enough of something or another, and what purpose does the majority of this “stuff” actually serve? Does it serve any? When is the last time you used or wore something? Or even looked at it? Do you need all this stuff? Or is it time to lighten your load a little bit?

5. Get Rid of Excess Relationship Clutter

Are there some people you love spending time with and others whom you feel obligated to spend time with? Some people who make you feel amazing and light, while some drag you into a pit of misery? It’s up to you to decide which people in your life are the most important to you, whether they treat you in ways that damage you or not, and which relationships you want to nurture with your time, energy, and love. Sometimes this requires you to set a boundary with someone, and sometimes the boundaries you have to set will upset people around you who wish to control you and your life. Stay strong. You know what’s best for you and your life.

6. Simplify Your Daily Routine

From the food you eat to the exercise and self-care routines you incorporate into your daily life, it’s these habits and daily rituals that will accumulate to help you achieve larger goals. Simplifying your daily routine might just mean creating one in the first place; you might want to do a workout in the morning or you might prefer working out in the evening. Whatever your needs are, changing one thing at a time is the best way I’ve found to break old habits and create new ones.

Simplifying your life is truly up to you and what you want your life to look like. What is it that you desire? Do you wish for a simple daily experience, creating art, writing, making music, or do you prefer to travel, experience different cultures, and interact with high-end clients or eager audiences full of your fans? Whatever it is that you desire, there are steps to take in order to get to where you want to be, and along the way, your goals might shift and evolve, and they may even change completely. Be open to whatever happens, the opportunities life likes to show you, and take charge of your time and energy.

No matter what your life may look like, you have the power to make the changes you wish to see in your experience. It all begins from within, but you can definitely help yourself along by taking inspired action on your journey and seeking out the opportunities that call to you. When you stop worrying, the answers show up. It’s up to us to pay attention to them and take advantage of the opportunities presented to us. What are you waiting for? If not you then who… and if not now then when?

Thank you so much for joining us here on the Mindful Leader Blog! We hope that you find this information useful, and even more so we hope that you take the initiative to apply the knowledge you gain here in order to fully step into your power.

For more information about the Mindfulness Movement or the International Mindfulness Federation, please visit:

http://executivecoachinguniversity.com/mindfulness-movement

When we really stop to think about it, all we have is the present moment. The past only exists in our memory, and the future only exists in our projection, whether that projection be “good” or “bad.” While it does help to be realistically prepared, living your life around disaster preparation may attract more chaos than it keeps at bay, depending on your energy and intent behind it. When you begin to practice mindfulness, you might find that your thoughts become quieter and that you are less likely to fall into a thought pattern of worry or regret. When the past no longer holds you and the unknown of the future no longer makes you anxious, you can rest assured that you are on the right track, even though it feels completely different from how most of us have been programmed to live our lives. Let’s explore some practical ways you can begin to live in the NOW and leave the rest to play out without feeling a need for control.

Sounds impossible, right? Is it really achievable to stop worrying and let go of the past? And why does it sound so simple but feel so weird and counter-intuitive to implement?

It feels counter-intuitive because we have all been conditioned by society, family environments, work, culture, religious programming, and so many more types of indoctrination or brainwashing that it often feels like these roles we play in the world are who we really are.

I’m here to inform you that you are more than your job, your family, and the amount of money you earn. You are way beyond your car, your house, your clothes, and your accomplishments. You are a divine being having a human experience, and getting caught up in the human rat race of it all may not be the best expression of your inner divinity. If you are feeling disconnected, lost, trapped, empty, like you’re spinning your wheels, tired to the core, soul exhausted… well, these are all indicators (your emotions are meant to guide you) that you are out of alignment in your thoughts, deeds, words, and emotions.

When you bring yourself into alignment by consciously paying attention to how you feel, your thoughts, words, and deeds will evolve to match effortlessly. It isn’t a conscious process on every level, but the key thing is to pay attention to your emotional states, especially if you are in an uncomfortable situation and find yourself triggered for whatever reason.

A Practical Approach to Mindfulness in Every Moment

No matter what you’re doing, keep your attention on it. Be with it, enjoy the experience for what it is, and stay alert and aware. Fully take in the sights, sounds, smells, sensations, and emotions of what you are experiencing. This doesn’t require any other focus from you than to stay aware of what is without judgment or emotionally-driven reaction.

If you’re interacting with others, practice active listening and comprehension of what they are saying. The easiest way I’ve found to do this is by listening to them and repeating what they say within my own mind to fully focus on them rather than thinking about what I’ll say next. If you need to, ask for a momentary pause to reflect before you respond. This is when you can focus on your response and really give it your best.

Each moment offers you an opportunity to experience life in full focus and clarity. It also offers an opportunity to choose who you want to be and behave accordingly, no matter what your circumstances or situation may be.

Make it a point to notice “little” things (the little things aren’t that little) and point them out to yourself, and others if you feel comfortable and like they might appreciate it. If they don’t at first, it doesn’t matter… affirming synchronicities and things you notice to yourself can help you to continue developing yourself on multiple levels, including the ability to validate yourself, your emotions, and your own experiences.

Yes, mindfulness can accomplish a great deal of inner healing! It strikes me sometimes just how powerful these seemingly simple tools truly are, but the results certainly speak for themselves!

When you face situations or circumstances that make you uncomfortable in some way, ask yourself why you might be feeling uncomfortable. Is it something about the situation or conversation that reminds you of a previous experience that is maybe setting off alarm bells in your mind? Or is there real danger in the situation? Discerning between an emotional trigger and an intuitive gut feeling is another aspect to be aware of that you will gain clarity on as you practice. This practicing typically happens when you are living your life, amidst all the busy-ness and action of modern life.

No matter the case, you have the opportunity to stay calm and choose your response using all of the information you have about it, which will be more than you are (or could ever be) consciously aware of. Your intuition plays a large part in how you choose to address a situation, and the more you practice mindfulness, the more you will know to trust yourself and your inner knowing without fear.

Much of this consideration happens instantaneously, like when a thought occurs to you but it takes way longer to explain than it took to give you all of the information in an instant. The human mind is an amazing system, and you can consciously choose to access some of this power in each and every moment you are alive, simply by slowing down and paying attention.

Last but not least, practice appreciation. Say thank you for everything people do for you, big or small. Smile at people and show them your inner light so that it may ripple outward. The most important habit, though, is remembering to say thank you when someone does something for you, expected or unexpected, voluntary or requested. Do you hope that they will do similar things for you in the future? If so, showing appreciation is extremely important, especially toward those who especially seem to trigger you due to a clash in personalities or opposing perspectives.

Showing appreciation for yourself is important, too, so do little things for yourself to show yourself that you care, whatever that means to you. Take the time to do something for yourself that brings you joy every day, even if it’s only for a few minutes. This will help you to recharge and inspire you to incorporate other positive habits into your day and enjoy them as self-care or an opportunity to recharge your batteries.

This will look different for everyone, but some things that work for me are yoga, meditation, hiking, singing, listening to live music, writing, creating, learning, and spending time with people I care about and have a connection with.

What are some things that bring you joy and put you in a state of peace and contentment? These are things you should make time for so that you can maintain a consistent level of joy in your life.

Each moment has so much to offer us if we simply pay attention. It’s up to you to begin this practice, and with each moment that you choose to participate, it becomes more and more effortless as you integrate that mental habit.

Thank you so much for being here, learning, and growing with us!

For more information about the Mindfulness Movement or the International Mindfulness Federation, please visit:

http://executivecoachinguniversity.com/mindfulness-movement

Acceptance of what is and recognition of how you got there is one of the first and most profound aspects of beginning a mindfulness practice. There are a few different ways you might introduce mindfulness practices into the workplace, and your workplace culture will often help to determine whether an offering such as mindfulness will take hold effortlessly or not. This leads us to conclude that workplace culture is a core element of where change might originate from, as it is the “collective” consciousness of the workplace. Our focus in this week’s article is first on evaluating your workplace’s culture and then determining how best to begin introducing mindfulness practices into said culture. Let’s dive in.

What is the culture of your workplace like? Have you fostered an environment full of competition? Striving? Being better than others? Perfectionism? Earning approval and accolades? Or have you fostered a work culture of collaboration? Cooperation? Creative input and valued ideas from all team members?

Of course, these are two pretty extreme ends of the spectrum, but you understand the idea. As a mindful leader, it’s up to you to take some time to reflect upon your contribution to this workplace culture or attitude, and whether it is a culture or attitude that serves you well or that you feel might be detrimental. If it’s neither here nor there, then it isn’t a cause for concern, but think about some ways in which your own attitudes and behaviors might be reflected back to you by those whom you are leading.

The idea that, “(sh)it rolls downhill,” isn’t only applicable to “negative” or “bad” consequences or people getting yelled at or into trouble. This stereotype comes from “leaders” not being fully capable of taking responsibility and then taking it out on their subordinates, whether consciously or unconsciously. This saying is very prevalent in the military but is a great illustration of some of the ways we behave that society tells us are “normal” and “acceptable” but that we don’t even agree with when we truly think about it.

So why do we behave in those ways anyway?

What that saying truly conveys, in my opinion, is that everything that happens on your watch is a reflection of your leadership style, attitudes, and behaviors. You lead by example whether you know you’re doing it or not, and your team will follow you, whether they realize they’re doing it or not.

Easy Ways to Encourage Mindfulness

Be aware of the example you are setting. If you would like to see your team doing certain things or behaving in certain ways, then it is best to lead by doing those things and behaving in those ways yourself. This is one way you can align your thoughts, words, and deeds and step into your true authenticity. This alignment will make every decision effortless (not to be confused with “easy”).

The breath is life. Simple deep breathing exercises are an excellent tool not only for encouraging mindfulness, but also for calming anyone who may be feeling anxious. We all know that work can be a stressful place for many, so being able to provide your team with a quick and easy tool to get them relaxed and back on track can only help your organization and its productivity.

Deep Breathing Exercise: Take a calm, deep breath in through your nose for the count of 6, then hold for the count of 6, then exhale slowly from your mouth for the count of 6. If you have a larger lung capacity, you can also do the count of 7 or 8, or vice versa if you have a smaller lung capacity you can do the count of 4 or 5. The key is to slow everything down and relax.*

Teach your team about mindfulness. As you progress on your own journey into mindfulness practice, you will likely be presented with numerous opportunities to share how it is helping you with your team. You will likely begin noticing the benefits within your own life experience after a few days to a week of daily practice, so it really doesn’t take much. Taking the time to notice positive things, appreciate them, and point them out to others rather than focusing on the negative and complaining about it is one shift in your own behavior that will have a massive positive ripple effect within your organization as a whole.

Emotional connection is important. Your team will feel much more confident and solid if they know that you’re backing them up and supporting their work, and mindfulness practice can help make this effortless. The happier your team is at work, the more likely they are to give you their best input.

Nobody likes being micromanaged. As a mindful leader, it is your mission to let go of the need for control because it will drive you crazy sooner or later. Allowing your team to brainstorm, make decisions, get creative, and tap into their own innovative mind so that they can put in their best work for you is the goal, right? That can’t happen if the team is constantly worried about what the boss might think or say, so take a few steps back and see what happens. The more opportunities your team is given to fail, the faster they will fail forward into being a killer independent team in need of minimal – if any – direction from you.

Incorporate mindfulness into meetings and conversations. Opening a meeting with a quick deep breathing exercise or 5-minute guided meditation is a great way to begin. You may also have an end of meeting discussion focused specifically on mindfulness and gaining clarity around that topic for those who are still skeptical, frightened by the idea, or otherwise resistant or lacking understanding.

Mindfulness is such an all-encompassing idea that it’s no wonder some people have a tough time understanding it at first. It seems so simple to those who practice it because everything leads back to and connects with the same underlying calm, loving energy within. If mindfulness is a foreign concept to you or anyone on your team, you may find the following helpful.

Mindfulness, in its simplest form, comes down to paying attention or being aware and judging nothing reactively. This includes everything within you as well as around you. Observe and don’t judge. This leads to acceptance and will soon lead you to every other aspect, but these are some of the most important attitudes to start with. The next one is learning to develop trust in the process of life and everything else, but this becomes much easier to do after you have begun to tap into your Zen state on purpose for a little while.

No matter where you might be on your journey, mindfulness can help you gain traction and pick up momentum in the direction you wish to go. With a team, you can pick up momentum that much faster while also helping them to live a better, healthier life on every level. Mindfulness is a powerful and empowering win-win for everyone.

Thanks for joining us this week! We hope that this information resonates with you and helps you to continue improving yourself, your team, and your organization.

Thank you so much for being here, learning, and growing with us!

For more information about the Mindfulness Movement or the International Mindfulness Federation, please visit:

http://executivecoachinguniversity.com/mindfulness-movement

* The Science of Slow Deep Breathing

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/neuraptitude/201602/the-science-slow-deep-breathing

If you have ever made the decision to change your life, you may have initially tried to change too many things at once and wound up quitting everything and falling back into old habits. This is why we recommend only choosing one thing to change at a time, focusing on staying with it for a month, and then adding the next new habit to your daily routine. This method will allow you to more solidly integrate each practice as you go, and you will be much more likely to stick with it. In today’s article, we will be introducing you to various different types of mindfulness practices and how to integrate them into your daily routine easily and with minimal time investment.

“There is more than one way to practice mindfulness, but the goal of any mindfulness technique is to achieve a state of alert, focused relaxation by deliberately paying attention to thoughts and sensations without judgment. ... All mindfulness techniques are a form of meditation.”*

Mindfulness practice can actually be integrated into your everyday life from one moment to the next simply by beginning to pay attention and developing your awareness. This is often referred to as an informal mindfulness practice, but it is relatively easy to incorporate into your daily habits because it is an almost constant habit.

How to begin: Be aware of yourself and how your thoughts, words, and deeds are aligning. Are they in alignment, or do you find yourself experiencing emotions that feel unpleasant or uncomfortable? Be present with your emotions and sensations in the moment and practice non-reactivity as well as non-judgment. This will allow you to experience what you’re experiencing and then let it flow through you, let it go. Breathe deeply as you do this to promote a feeling of calm. If you have a challenging time doing this consistently at first, begin doing it at any time you are reminded. The most important thing in order to maintain trust in yourself is to actually do it every time it comes up in your mind.

Breathing mindfulness meditation is another easy way to begin integrating mindfulness practice into your everyday life. In this practice, you only have to focus on doing this once or twice a day for five minutes at a time, and the only thing you are actually focusing on is either your breath or a mantra you repeat either in your mind or out loud.

How to begin: Set aside five minutes before you begin your day and five minutes before you end your day to simply sit, exist, and focus on your breathing or a mantra. If you are a beginner, we recommend focusing on your breathing to start because you may still be suffering from racing thoughts. For a mantra to be more powerful, it’s important to quiet the background noise, so each time your thoughts begin to wander, simply bring your attention back to your breathing.

Another type of mindfulness meditation is the body scan meditation, which is where you focus your attention deliberately on one area of your body at a time, experience and identify any sensations you may be experiencing, allow it to pass by knowing it is temporary, and move on to the next area. Some benefits of this are that it allow you to tune in to your body, which allows you to get better and better at meeting your own needs, whatever those may be.

How to begin: If you need to use a guided meditation for this, we offer one in our My Mindful Moments 30-Day Program through the IMF. You can check that out here: http://www.mindfulnessfederation.org/my-mindful-moments-program/. This program includes a VR body scan guided meditation to make this process easier for you to integrate into your inner work habits. If you want to try this on your own, you can imagine a white ball of light traveling through and around your entire body, beginning at your head and enveloping you from top to bottom, one area at a time.

Loving-kindness meditation (also called Metta bhavana) consists of fostering and cultivating a sense of unconditional love for yourself and others. By focusing on the feeling of unconditional love within yourself, you can begin practicing a feeling like this toward everything and everyone around you. This allows you to easily forgive anything that may come up as well as helping you to be patient and compassionate toward yourself and others in each moment.

How to begin: Sit very comfortably and be still. Once you are calm and quiet, focus your thoughts on feeling loving toward yourself. To make this easier to integrate, you may choose to say or think a few mantras.** Once you have achieved this feeling of unconditional love within yourself, begin shifting your focus to someone whom you have great respect and reverence for, and allow those same unconditional love feelings to flow toward them. Next, focus on someone whom you feel neutral about and flow those same feelings to them. Then think of someone whom you don’t necessarily like and flow those feelings toward them. If this becomes challenging, focus your attention on the person you have great love and respect for, then back on the person you don’t necessarily like. You may then move on to animals and other beings if you’d like.

Observing-thought meditation is another way of practicing mindfulness and developing unconditional love for yourself by redirecting your focus intentionally. You can accomplish this by noticing what thoughts arise, labeling them as positive or negative without getting involved in them or allowing your emotions to become entrenched, and then let these things go without judgment. As you may recall from last week’s article, non-judgment is one of the seven attitudinal factors of mindfulness practice, and the more you can tap into a sense of non-judgment, the less you will be controlled by anything other than your true self.

How to begin: Either during meditation or during your everyday, moment-to-moment experience, pay attention to your thoughts. If you feel angry, irritable, or have some kind of emotional outburst bubbling under the surface, there’s a good chance that your thoughts were kind of going on in the background without you paying attention to or noticing them, and the majority of our thoughts are negative and repetitive, which is how we condition ourselves into pessimistic attitudes and cynical outlooks. If you find yourself feeling badly, stop and pay attention for a moment. Ask yourself why you might be feeling this way. Did something just happen? Was there an experience in the past that you might have been thinking about without realizing it? By asking yourself these questions, you give your subconscious mind the opportunity to present you with the answers in the form of flashes of insight or memories, intuitive nudges, or other subtle indicators.

Though the mindfulness practices you choose to participate in are important, they won’t do much good without the attitudinal practices or realizations as well. Your perception makes a big difference in the way you experience life, and if something feels like a chore, it might not be the right practice for you. This is why simply making it a point to pay attention more closely in your everyday life can make a big difference. If it becomes a chore or seems tedious, it may not be the right practice. However, in order to truly make that call, it has to be given a real chance so that you may rule out that your decision is being influenced by a limiting belief and manifesting as an excuse. This could be the beginning of your adventure into getting to know yourself better so that you may heal your false, limiting beliefs and nurture your constructive, loving beliefs because you are worthy of more than you can imagine.

Thank you so much for joining us here on the Mindful Leader Blog! We hope that you find this information useful as well as enlightening, and of course that you’ll join us again next week for more insight into mindfulness practices and how they serve you as a mindful leader.

Thank you so much for being here, learning, and growing with us!

For more information about the Mindfulness Movement or the International Mindfulness Federation, please visit:

http://executivecoachinguniversity.com/mindfulness-movement

* Benefits of Mindfulness:

https://www.helpguide.org/harvard/benefits-of-mindfulness.htm

** Loving-Kindness Meditation:

http://www.contemplativemind.org/practices/tree/loving-kindness

In honor of the beginning of the new fiscal year next month, we thought it might be a great time to go back to the basics for a few weeks and talk about your leadership skills and habits and how mindfulness can serve you in every area of your ongoing development as a leader. This effect, of course, trickles down to your team, and if they are encouraged to follow your example and practice mindfulness for themselves as well, you may see shifts and growth in your work environment unlike any you’ve ever seen before. Mindfulness practice can have this effect on every area of your life as well, and practicing it gets more and more effortless, so let’s take a look at some of the scientifically proven benefits of mindfulness and meditation and how these practices might change your leadership experience.

Mindfulness is an incredibly effective method for cultivating inner wisdom and peace. Some of the core concepts of mindfulness are being present in the moment (because now is all that truly ever exists) and observing life around you as well as your emotional state so that you can make decisions from a place of peace, love, and wisdom rather than making decisions based in fear conditioning.

According to Jon Kabat-Zinn, there are seven attitudinal factors for fully integrating mindfulness practice*:

1. Non-Judging
2. Patience
3. Beginner’s Mind
4. Trust
5. Non-Striving
6. Acceptance
7. Letting Go

Each of these is a way of perceiving or seeing life that you choose by directing your focus and practicing mindfulness and meditation. We have discussed some of these ideas on the Mindful Leader Blog before, and each of these ways of perceiving can be practiced by observing and paying attention to what is going on within you.

“Now, when we think of mindfulness, it’s about being aware and in the moment. Bring those two concepts together. Mindful leadership is about being aware of your motivation and the reasons you choose to lead. It’s about asking yourself: Why am I choosing to be a leader? Am I serving my needs or the needs of others? How am I treating others as I go about meeting the goals of the organization?”

– Pandit Dasa**

When you practice mindfulness as a leader, you receive a multitude of benefits on a number of levels. Mindfulness allows you to consciously hone in on what’s going on and gain insight from it by keeping reactionary emotions from dictating your responses in the “heat of the moment,” so to speak. This is a powerful tool to master, and the more you practice using it, the more refined your discernment will become in each moment, and the more layers of detail you will begin to notice.

Recent research highlights the many benefits of mindfulness meditation:

Repaired immune systems,

Heightened emotional intelligence,

Reduced anxiety and depression,

Sustained levels of joy and satisfaction,

Greater career resilience,

Improved cardiovascular health, and

Fewer days lost to illness and stress.***

The incredible benefits that mindfulness practice has to offer speak for themselves, especially now that scientific evidence has been gathered to support these findings. As you begin to learn about mindfulness practices, you will begin to see the benefits and gain insight after a fairly short amount of time. As you lead by example and share your experiences, you may inspire others to begin a mindfulness practice of their own, and this has a ripple effect on your entire organization.

Pretty soon you might see employees enjoying their workdays, fewer stressful situations cropping up, a more focused and productive work environment, and many more smiles even as the day progresses to afternoon and evening. You will see people collaborating joyfully and solving problems much more quickly because everyone will be living from a more open and peaceful perspective led by the practice of mindfulness. This tends to happen naturally as you progress in your meditation practice, and you will notice yourself noticing more and more about everything in your life… being “tuned in” and clear about what’s going on and how to move forward.

So, how do you and your team begin practicing mindfulness on a daily basis? There are many different types of mindfulness practices, some of which we will discuss in next week’s article. We hope to see you then!

In the meantime, thank you so much for being here, learning, and growing with us!

For more information about the Mindfulness Movement or the International Mindfulness Federation, please visit:

http://executivecoachinguniversity.com/mindfulness-movement

* 7 Attitudinal Factors of Mindfulness Practice:

http://mindfullife.net.au/further-resources/seven-attitudinal-factors

** The Business Benefits of Mindful Leadership:

https://www.hrbartender.com/2017/leadership-and-management/business-benefits-mindful-leadership/

*** The Benefits of Mindful Leadership:

https://unbridlingyourbrilliance.com/mindful-leader-benefits-mindful-leadership/

Once you have begun working on loving yourself unconditionally, evidence of unconditional love will begin to appear in your life from various different sources. Unless you’re in an extreme situation such as abuse and need to get out of the circumstance, this will likely be an illuminating experience for you with minimal emotional trauma to purge. However, if you’re waking up from abuse of any kind, it is that much more important for you to love yourself so that you don’t backslide and stay in or go back to the very circumstance that has created your low self-worth. This will also assist you in not repeating the cycle and attracting a similar situation into your life experience, which is what we hope to prevent through these inner work and mindfulness practices. The better we know our own emotional triggers, the more successful we can be at defusing them in the moment and moving on. Today, however, we’ll focus on paying attention to the feedback you can receive from your life experiences based on the energetic vibration you are sending out.

When you begin to really practice unconditional love for yourself, your experiences will reflect that energy back to you. You might suddenly find yourself in a completely new environment with numerous like-minded individuals, for example, and be accepted into the fold relatively quickly. You may begin to experience more and more kindness from others, everything from strangers holding the door for you and people randomly giving you something you need to shopping carts appearing right when and where you need them.

Unconditional love is the same energy as the energy that is connected to everything in existence throughout eternity. Quantum physicists call this the infinite field of possibilities. The more aligned you are with this state of being, the more enhanced your life will become. This doesn’t mean that you’ll always feel this way on a constant basis; there will likely be emotional triggers to work through, but once you know how to let those emotions out, identify the reasons behind them, and let the whole mess go through forgiveness and compassion, you can easily align yourself again with unconditional love afterwards.

When you experience more love and appreciation for yourself, you will see that love and appreciation reflected back to you in all kinds of ways. This can happen through people, coincidences that seem like luck, things you desire finding their way to you in interesting, roundabout ways, and many other ways. This is the universe reflecting your own energy back to you in ways that your human body can interpret through sensory perception.

I feel compelled to stress here how important appreciation is. Appreciation of yourself, appreciation of others, and appreciation of anything that the universe might bestow you with. Appreciation for the smaller things leads to more appreciation of the bigger things, and that appreciation attracts more things for you to feel appreciation for.

Recognizing Your Power

The most interesting aspect of this to me is how we are actually creating what we experience based on our energy. However, the majority of us believe that we only attract the negative things (“bad karma”) and the positive things are luck, miracles, or coincidences.

Begin recognizing those positive manifestations as your own doing, and focus more on those than on anything that might be “wrong” in your life. If you’re going to take responsibility for everything, then it had better be everything, right? The good, the bad, and everything in between. It sounds a little counter-intuitive, but this will also help you to solve the problems you’re not focusing on by keeping you open to opportunities that present themselves as they come up so you can act immediately, while you’re inspired to. This makes decision-making much easier and the emotional aspects of it more comfortable to work through.

To help you attract more positive experiences and begin stepping into your own empowerment, you can create affirmations to help yourself such as:

“I am the creator of my own experience.”

“Everything is always working out for me.”

“I am unconditional love.”

“I am open to receiving.”

“I exist in the flow of life.”

Experiential Evidence

Sometimes we have experiences when we truly feel like everything is going our way. That free parking space right in front of the door is a great example. Elements of a project coming together in an effortless and inspired way is another wonderful one, albeit “bigger.” Turning around with your hands full to find an empty shopping cart abandoned in the aisle is another good one.

Those little things that we don’t take the time to ponder and appreciate could be trying to lead us to something that we desire in our lives. Do we really want to ignore that communication from the universe? When things like this happen, take a moment to point them out to yourself or someone who is of like mind, and celebrate briefly by feeling appreciation for it. Just a few moments of staying in that feeling of appreciation will help you to attract so much more, and with a foundation of unconditional love, this will become effortless for you.

Thank you so much for joining us again this week! We hope that our content has been resonating with you and that you’ll join us next month for more on the Mindful Leader Blog. Remember that your mindset is everything, so taking the time to cultivate a mindset that serves you rather than hindering you is so important. We hope that you see all of the success you set out to!

For more information about the Mindfulness Movement or the International Mindfulness Federation, please visit:

http://executivecoachinguniversity.com/mindfulness-movement