Champion Choices: Mindfulness
Date Published: 5/19/2017
Champion Choices: Mindfulness
“Mindfulness is a quality that's always there. It's an illusion that there's a meditation and post-meditation period, which I always find amusing, because you're either mindful or you're not. The meditation is just taking different forms.†~Richard Gere
What is Mindfulness? I agree with the Psychology Today definition: “Mindfulness is a state of active, open attention on the present. When you're mindful, you observe your thoughts and feelings from a distance, without judging them good or bad. Instead of letting your life pass you by, mindfulness means living in the moment and awakening to experience.â€
So, mindfulness is available to us in many ways. It’s a calming factor whether in formal meditation, in the form of a walk, or in guiding yourself back to perceiving instead of just reacting.
Since we are using Tom Ricketts, the owner of the Chicago Cubs, and champion choices as our foundation we’ll put in that context:
The day the Cubs won World Series was no happy accident. The team’s transformation from laughingstock to World Series champions started in July of 2009, when the Tribune Co. sold 95% of the Cubs to the Ricketts family.
Remember, becoming a champion takes time.
The team also set out to train their players' brain. The Cubs have a five-person mental skills team that offers mindfulness exercises, visualization drills, and meditation to all players throughout the organization. “The overriding philosophy is better humans make better players,†says Josh Lifrak, who runs the program. “Don’t let the moment get too large. Catch yourself thinking bad. That’s mindfulness. Not only knowledge, but action.â€
I wish you peace of mind.
Last week we touched on catching ourselves with negative thoughts (knowledge), or putting ourselves down (action).
How did you do? Did you feel better?
Voila, this week we’ll do two quick exercises to get in touch with mindfulness:
Mindful Hand Awareness Exercise
Clasp your hands really tight and hold for 10 seconds. Then let go. When you release pay attention to how your hands feel. Keep your attention focused on the feeling for a few minutes.
Social Media Exercise
When you’re on social media and see a comment or post that someone shared, and it really vexes you or makes your heart race for the wrong reasons, try this: close your eyes. Take a few deep breaths. Focus on your feelings. You will learn so much about why it truly bothers you. Try it and find out more about yourself.
[The photo here is from my trip to Cannes and Cote d’Azur, and it comes to mind since it’s the Cannes film festival this week. Yes, the area is draped in glamor, and sometimes that can be intimidating.
Focus on the simple aspects. Look at those shadows and shades of blues. Take a deep breath. You can almost picture yourself there with the smell of the roses and the light, soothing breeze blowing the French and American flags on board. That’s a quick exercise in being mindful. Bien fait! (Well done!) More mindful inspiration and adventure shall ensue as I wrap my travel thriller series in book and film form.]
Thanks for reading! We believe in you and welcome your comments below.
Cheers and fair winds,
Akasha Garnier
Author, Branding Expert, Producer
http://www.akashagarnier.com for The Wishwall Foundation
“Mindfulness is a quality that's always there. It's an illusion that there's a meditation and post-meditation period, which I always find amusing, because you're either mindful or you're not. The meditation is just taking different forms.†~Richard Gere
What is Mindfulness? I agree with the Psychology Today definition: “Mindfulness is a state of active, open attention on the present. When you're mindful, you observe your thoughts and feelings from a distance, without judging them good or bad. Instead of letting your life pass you by, mindfulness means living in the moment and awakening to experience.â€
So, mindfulness is available to us in many ways. It’s a calming factor whether in formal meditation, in the form of a walk, or in guiding yourself back to perceiving instead of just reacting.
Since we are using Tom Ricketts, the owner of the Chicago Cubs, and champion choices as our foundation we’ll put in that context:
The day the Cubs won World Series was no happy accident. The team’s transformation from laughingstock to World Series champions started in July of 2009, when the Tribune Co. sold 95% of the Cubs to the Ricketts family.
Remember, becoming a champion takes time.
The team also set out to train their players' brain. The Cubs have a five-person mental skills team that offers mindfulness exercises, visualization drills, and meditation to all players throughout the organization. “The overriding philosophy is better humans make better players,†says Josh Lifrak, who runs the program. “Don’t let the moment get too large. Catch yourself thinking bad. That’s mindfulness. Not only knowledge, but action.â€
I wish you peace of mind.
Last week we touched on catching ourselves with negative thoughts (knowledge), or putting ourselves down (action).
How did you do? Did you feel better?
Voila, this week we’ll do two quick exercises to get in touch with mindfulness:
Mindful Hand Awareness Exercise
Clasp your hands really tight and hold for 10 seconds. Then let go. When you release pay attention to how your hands feel. Keep your attention focused on the feeling for a few minutes.
Social Media Exercise
When you’re on social media and see a comment or post that someone shared, and it really vexes you or makes your heart race for the wrong reasons, try this: close your eyes. Take a few deep breaths. Focus on your feelings. You will learn so much about why it truly bothers you. Try it and find out more about yourself.
[The photo here is from my trip to Cannes and Cote d’Azur, and it comes to mind since it’s the Cannes film festival this week. Yes, the area is draped in glamor, and sometimes that can be intimidating.
Focus on the simple aspects. Look at those shadows and shades of blues. Take a deep breath. You can almost picture yourself there with the smell of the roses and the light, soothing breeze blowing the French and American flags on board. That’s a quick exercise in being mindful. Bien fait! (Well done!) More mindful inspiration and adventure shall ensue as I wrap my travel thriller series in book and film form.]
Thanks for reading! We believe in you and welcome your comments below.
Cheers and fair winds,
Akasha Garnier
Author, Branding Expert, Producer
http://www.akashagarnier.com for The Wishwall Foundation
