I purposefully seek moments of Zen in my life. Sometimes these are serendipitous, other times I find ways to create these in my life.
So, what exactly is Zen? Well, depending on who you ask there are many interpretations of the term Zen including “enlightenment by direct intuition through meditation”, “finding a state of calm attentiveness”, “relaxed and not worrying about things that you cannot change”, or “meditation, mindfulness, intuition, non-resistance and non-judgement”. In many respects it’s a combination of all of these things and more.
Personally, I like to think of finding Zen when I take a moment to breathe, wash away any thoughts from my mind and bask in the moment, even if it’s just for an instant. Have you ever stood outside on a cold winter’s day in the bright sunshine and take some deep breaths? Basked in the delight of taking those deep and soulful breaths to feel the electricity of the moment wash over you?
To me this is a Zen moment…
For many years now, as I’ve become aware of the importance of using my breathing to help regulate my stress, which often goes hand-in-hand with me seeking these moments of solitude from the day. More often than not they also become the anchor to clear my mind and self-reflect on how lucky I am to have the life I have.
I think understanding the importance of being the moment and experiencing gratefulness for all that you have is vital to understanding what is most important to you.
For many of us the hours and days blur into one big and never-ending grind. I believe finding moments of Zen are critical to your personal wellbeing. These moments do not have to be long or exhaustive, but even if you’re able to garner two or three of these each day is really beneficial.
Being in the moment, and taking some restorative breaths is so good for your mental wellbeing and can be a great refresh for you and your day. I personally find it helpful as these Zen moments can act as a catalyst for a mindset change and restore my positivity, particularly if I’ve been having a tough day up to that point.
A Zen moment can also help my creativity as often a short mental break can redefine your way of looking at a problem that you may be facing with a different point-of-view.
In one of my prior roles as a senior leader we were encouraged to take these moments, in fact we all were given a yoga mat for our office and expected to take time each day, block off some time in our calendars from meetings and interruptions and relax and reflect. This form of Zen practice is an excellent way of rejuvenating your mind and body and spirit.
Given our often-hectic schedules of family, work and relationships finding moments of Zen can often be shuffled to the backburner, hence the importance of sometimes having to actively schedule 5 – 10 minutes of your day and dedicate it to this restorative practice.
I know easier said than done, but when weighed up against the ever-increasing pressure of life it has enormous benefits. I began by scheduling these Zen moments directly into my calendar, and although this intuitively seems intrusive, I needed a way to get started. It took me almost two months to see these as important mental resets in my day and not a hinderance to my full schedule.
The other thing I started doing during this time was walking meetings. I began scheduling 15 minutes time slots for my meetings each afternoon. This was exactly the amount of time it took to walk one lap of the building and campus at the company I worked at. Every 15 or 30 minutes, depending on the topic my EA would bring the person for my next meeting to the front entrance, and I’d swap with the new person and begin my next meeting as I walked by. Clearly, only available on sunny or partly cloudy days. This coupled with my moments of Zen enabled me to be very productive, plus I got to walk outside in the fresh air.
There is no question that it requires dedication and determination to both get started. If these moments of Zen are valuable to you and you can see the direct benefits of them, then I’m hoping that you’ll take a moment and give them a try.
Remember that you’re the only one that can look out for your personal wellbeing. No one else is going to do it for you. The act of self-care starts and ends with you!
I realize that not everyone is ready to understand or accept this concept, and some may be sceptical of the value or the overall importance of self-care, mindfulness or self-reflection. That’s okay cos’ it’s not for everyone.
But I know from personal experience that it works well for me, and others who also use these moments of Zen to help them get through their days.
Life is always about making the choices best for you and not just accepting others points-of-view. But while I say that it’s also important to keep an open mind and try new things that may help you live a life peace and less stress.
What is the worst thing that can happen? You try to find some moments of Zen in your day over the course of a week or so and either you’re able to find a moment of peace, unwind, and breathe or you abandon it and think it’s a waste of time.
Definitely food for thought!
Until next week.
Ciao
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