Ian Crocker* defines his version of mindfulness and how it can best flourish with a good dose of fresh air.
There are many people talking about mindfulness these days and some confusion about what exactly it is.
The practice of mindfulness involves being aware moment-to-moment, of your experiences and surroundings.
It is about becoming aware of and listening to your ‘streams of consciousness’.
Mindfulness puts a focus on looking after yourself so that you can look after others.
Many of us provide products and services for other people in our businesses, so we focus on looking after our clients.
It is good to be customer focused, but too often we neglect to look after ourselves.
Remember what they say in the airline safety videos about putting on your own oxygen mask first before you look after anyone else?
It’s too easy to neglect the very important self-care when you spend time looking after other people.
Every now and then you need to make a concerted effort to invest time in yourself, so that you’re better placed to achieve your own goals and then look after the people around you.
Mindfulness is about being present and aware of what’s going on in your busy life.
It’s about taking time to step back and recharge your batteries so that you’re better placed to live a challenging life and support the people at home and at work who need your help.
Mindfulness is about being present and about being aware.
Being present is about getting in tune with what you’re doing; being aware is taking the time to stop and think when you’re busy.
Finding some time to stop and think, to stop and review what’s going on in your life can be a healthy process.
However, it is also a challenge that most of us face — how do you find the time to stop and review your life, when you’re busy?
Let me introduce you to Fresh Air Fridays.
This is a new venture for me, but which has been growing in popularity across the United Kingdom.
It’s not just a group of people going for a walk on a Friday morning.
It is a proven structure, based on research, which shows us how to use mindfulness tools to make sure that we recharge our batteries effectively.
Each session will encourage you to be aware of your breathing and the importance of your breath.
You will learn how to tune into your self-talk and the sorts of conversations you have with yourself.
You’ll discover what is helping or stopping you from being your very best.
What else can you expect?
A supportive non-judgemental atmosphere of people enjoying the fresh air while, considering a monthly theme.
This might be filling yourself up first, being present and aware of the nature around you, gratitude, letting go, self-belief, creating a plan.
Getting out of your comfort zone, looking at your habits or celebrating the year — something we might keep for our December event.
Here are my top tips to help you become more mindful.
Get in tune with your self-talk — how much of what you say to yourself is positive and helpful and how much is negative and unhelpful?
Listen to your inner voice and listen only to the positive talk.
Build a support team around you — find the people who can help you, whether in your business or your personal life.
Look for people who you can help.
Spend more time near trees.
* Ian Crocker runs Absolute Learning, a company of learning and development specialists which helps organisations, teams and individuals achieve more. He can be contacted at www.absolutelearning.co.uk.
This article first appeared on Ian’s blogsite.
