The first mindfulness practice is See Hear Feel. This practice, created by my teacher Shinzen Young, is an ideal place to start to build up your concentration, sensory clarity, and equanimity.
Why are these three skills important for leaders?
Concentration is the skill of being able to focus on what you want to focus on when you want to focus on it. A powerful leader is constantly getting asked to switch their attention from one thing to another, or many things at once. Without concentration, your ability to be present and impactful falters. You’re also going to need this skill as you start the integration process.
Sensory clarity is the ability to know what is happening to you in real time. Instead, of being surprised by a fast-heart rate, or racing thoughts, you can detect what is, notice its features, and be more present. A leader without sensory clarity may be a great leader during steady time, but as things change, you’ll see they get overwhelmed and surprised by emotions and physical sensations. This can cause unartful or habitual reactions that don’t serve anyone.
Equanimity is the power of being in the present, no rumination about the past or future, but being here in the here, without needing it to look different or super attachment.
These three mindfulness skills will continue to be developed over this year. Think of them as your leadership muscles. This month, you learn what the muscles are and how to work them out. We’ll start with See, Hear, Feel for the first week so you get a taste of all three practices, and then you’ll spend one week on each subset.
You can share your accountability reports here: https://t.me/c/3041211297/1
In addition to sitting meditation, work on incorporating either of the movement practices daily. This month you’re working on foundational tools you can use to up-level — a huge part of leadership presence is tapping into spontaneity daily. These two prime you to do that.
Now that you have a foundational knowledge of See, Hear, and Feel, we're going to take a deep dive into See.
Seeing as a leader has many layers, we begin with noticing what you can see externally, what you can see internally (what movie is playing in your head), and how that is affecting your leadership.