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Mindfulness can be mastered
and used in one’s life
Leadership begins with self and is the function of right perception and
intelligence. Though researchers have identified a plethora of attributes of
great leaders, the two abilities that greatly matter are ability to see the
things as they are and ability to deal with new occurrences in the
environment. Moreover, excellence on both is the result of a sound and fully
aware mind. And, one of the processes to attain such state of mind is
practicing mindfulness.
We can consider our brain as the hardware and our mind as the software where
mind remains in motion always producing more than 70,000 thoughts a day even
though it looks static in nature. Mindfulness is the practice to keep it in
rest or bring it to a ‘motionless’ status. I remember spiritual master Swami
Anand Arun explaining the crux of mindfulness practice at a talk organised by
BBC Faith Forum, London. He stated, “When you are aware in your act, when you
are fully conscious — you are mindful.” He further elucidated, “Otherwise,
the tendency of the mind is that it either thinks about the past or plans
about the future and is never silent at here and now. In the present moment,
the mind dies, the mind doesn’t exist.”
In the corporate universe there is growing interest in how skills like
mindfulness can be mastered and used in one’s life as well as in creating
productive workplaces. Research has demonstrated that it improves attention
and ability to decide, advances the quality of relationships, develops
self-awareness and self-confidence, enhances personal effectiveness and
capacity for relaxation, and increases ability to handle stressful situations
and solve problems.
We can practice being aware here and now in our everyday life. It is about
practising awareness and paying attention to whatever is happening without
judgement. We need to witness our own breathing, thoughts, feelings and
emotions and sensations.
Though there are numerous ways to practice mindfulness, let me present the
simple sutra that I have developed. It is JOYFUL: J – just, O – observe, Y –
yourself (your breath in-out, thoughts, emotions, bodily sensations and your
environment), F – find gaps between stimulus and response, U – understand the
whole phenomenon and L – look, listen, learn and lead. Given sutra is easy to
understand and applicable, however, it demands patience, diligence and
consistency. Here, the sutra uses ‘breathing’ as the basis.
The famous author of ‘The Power of Now’ and ‘A New Earth’, Eckhart Tolle has
expressed exquisitely. He said, “The foundation of greatness is honouring the
small things of the present moment, instead of pursuing the idea of
greatness.” His words are more than enough to inspire us to lead life with
mindfulness and celebrate the joy, love, laughter, tears, and silence of it.
The author is President and Life-coach at Life Awakening Foundation; He is Researcher, Trainer and Management Consultant and also Faculty (HRM/OB) at Shanker Dev Campus, TU and St. Xavier’s College, Maitighar. He can be connected through bhuwanrchataut@gmail.com and www.bhuwanchataut.blogspot.com
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