A Moment to Pause
In the States, it's been one of those weeks.Â
We love our three-day holidays but often find ourselves trying to stuff five days of work into four days. It's funny how we recognize Labor Day by doing more labor. Hmm 🤔
To make matters more stressful, kids are back at school, a second summer arrived, and we have election and climate anxiety.Â
So, let's take a moment to breathe in...and breathe out...Let the week go and relax the body.Â
---------
My executive coaching clients have noticed that our threads have frayed. We gritted our way through the pandemic and got shot into 2023, which has been full of change, worry about returning to the office, worker strikes, and a layer of funk in the air.Â
We are hurting and haven't fully processed what we experienced over the last three years, and as we head into the rest of 2023 and the new year, here's the reality: the waves will keep coming. Sorry, it's true.Â
It will get more challenging, but the cool thing is that we can learn how to surf. And when we get more people surfing, it changes how we talk to ourselves and each other. We begin to realize that we've got this! We can handle whatever waves come our way.Â
There's a place called Nazare, Portugal, with the most insane waves (check out the video). Many who first saw them thought they were impossible until Garrett McNamara surfed them. Once he demonstrated what was possible, others followed - talk about a ripple effect.Â
Here's where we come in. When we openly talk about how mindfulness helps us surf our waves of uncertainty and insecurity, it helps others see that they can do so.Â
This coming week is Mindfulness Week. It's a beautiful opportunity to ripple the value of mindfulness, mindful eating, micro-meditations, and community practice.Â
To celebrate, I'm hosting a rare weekend Open Awareness practice tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. Eastern and giving away a limited number of free memberships to our app so others can surf the waves of the next four months with grace.Â
The free membership website is www.mindfulnessweek.org. Please share it with your friends, family, and work colleagues. Today, we need to help more people learn how to surf. Our future depends on it.Â