By Dr. Ron Passfield
Tara Brach provides an extended, profound and thought-provoking talk and meditation on the topic of vulnerability and intimacy. She highlights the fact that our innate tendency to protect ourselves from vulnerability is something that we share with nature. Tara discusses the elaborate defence mechanisms that humans develop to ward off vulnerability and argues that these … Continue reading “Overcoming Our Defences: Opening to Vulnerability”
In the previous post, I discussed three dimensions of awareness in meditation – the narrow, broad and “choiceless awareness”. In this post, I want to focus on the latter form of awareness that, to some degree, requires foundational skills in narrow awareness or focused awareness. Choiceless awareness is a recognised form of meditation that has … Continue reading “Developing Choiceless Awareness”
In one of her many meditation podcasts, Diana Winston discusses three different dimensions of awareness and leads a meditation that explores each dimension. Diana suggests that no one dimension is better than the others – each is appropriate for a particular time. It is also possible and desirable to be able to move from one … Continue reading “Three Dimensions of Awareness”
Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach, in their online Power of Awareness Mindfulness Training, stress the importance of mindful breathing as a universal practice that is foundational to developing mindfulness. Jack not only leads participants in a mindful breathing practice, but also explains the rich rewards of this practice. Why practice mindful breathing? Mindful breathing is, … Continue reading “The Power of Awareness: Mindful Breathing”
So far in this blog, I have explored how agency contributes to mental health and how both action learning and mindfulness build agency – managerial agency and employee agency. In this post, I want to explore one of the elements that action learning and mindfulness have in common – self-awareness. To the extent that action … Continue reading “Mindfulness and Action Learning: Building Self-Awareness”
Professor Amanda Sinclair, in her book Leading Mindfully, devotes a chapter to the theme, Opening to Creativity. She argues that one of the ways that mindfulness releases creativity is through “turning down” the self-judging function of our brain which invariable acts to thwart creative activity. This negative self-assessment is a major blockage to creativity. Amanda … Continue reading “Opening to Creativity through Mindfulness”
The early trait theories of leadership argued that to be an effective leader you needed to be male, charismatic and tall. Clearly, this delineation can lead to discriminatory behaviour towards those who are female and short. The earlier trait theories of leadership have been disproved and there is now a consensus that there is no … Continue reading “Leading with Body Awareness”
We all have fears and doubts when we are experiencing something new – whether it’s travel overseas, a new job, moving to a new home in a new location or country, meeting a new partner or participating in a training course. So, it is perfectly natural to have an approach/avoidance relationship with a course in … Continue reading “Fear of Awareness Training”
Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield, when talking about the power of awareness, identified happiness as a very significant outcome of awareness training. They explain this outcome in terms of three elements of awareness: being present overcoming negative bias appreciation and gratitude Being present If we live in the present, we are not encumbered by anxiety … Continue reading “Awareness and Happiness”
Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach, when discussing their Awareness Training Institute, spoke of the power of awareness to help us manage life’s difficult situations. They each discussed situations that they had experienced that challenged their personal resources and capacity to cope. A difficult situation may entail dealing with grief, feeling totally inadequate in the face … Continue reading “Awareness: Managing Difficult Situations”
