Zen

Not for the first time I put pen to paper whilst on my recent, not-quite-annual detox yoga retreat.  The scribbles will become more structured thoughts on varying but related themes.  

This isn’t the first time I have written about the power of my retreats.

As I have said before, I see the holistic detox process as deeply developmental. In fact they have become a core part of my continuing professional development as a coach. I have learned more about myself during the fasting process than on any course, and I’ve been on some excellent courses in my time 

My mind was wandering on one particular day. There had been a storm, the air was now coming off the Sierra Nevada so was both particularly fresh and extremely cold, the sun was peeping out from the clearing clouds. And I had just pulled together a thought process on how to reach what can best be described as a state of zen. A state I was in. Deeply relaxed, in flow, an unforced level of concentration and awareness.

I was telling a client about this a few days later and they, very kindly, made a comment which really heartened me: “you know Tony this is what’s so interesting about working with you. You arrive with an initial impact of being really quite corporate and commercial. Then as the layers reveal themselves you see the spiritual side, the vulnerability, the diversity, the complexity.” Just as I often see this in my clients so a clear parallel there.

I shared the “zen” process (I must find a better way of describing it) in a thread of tweets on Twitter. They were lost amongst the awfulness of Brexit, coronavirus, fires, floods, war, xenophobia and the general social media angst. So I thought I’d turn them into this coaching blog. Who knows, maybe this will also be ignored? Has anyone got the time for this right now?

This worked for me and I hope it works for others out there. You might focus on one question each day, or each hour, or each minute. That’s your call. You know yourself: 

1: What will lead to you being able to discover your path to equilibrium?

2: Which choices might you make?

3: What will you stop doing?

4: The thing you want to stop doing: what/who might you prevent you from achieving that? 

5: Is it a person?

6: Is that person you?

7: What might you start doing?

8: What might interfere with that?

9: Where does the answer lie?

10: Who will help you reach it?

11: Which mindset will you need to change?

12: Which disbelief will you choose to suspend? 

13: Which attitude will need to be different?

14: Which investment may be needed? 

15: Finally, how will you know when you’ve reached your goal? Can you describe that destination?

 May this help you reach a more mindful state, one of greater inner peace. Good luck.