What if you could discover serenity amidst any turmoil?
In your daily life, you may encounter numerous triggers that activate your survival instincts, leading to a surge of emotions, thoughts, and bodily sensations that can appear disorderly or beyond your control.
How do you define chaos?
Is it the anxiety you feel when scrolling through social media filled with contentious current events? Or perhaps it's the constant interruptions from your children during a video call, all while sharing a workspace with your partner, who's also working from home?
It could even be the overwhelming decision-making in uncertain situations. Chaos often manifests internally. It might be a persistent, dull headache, a tense neck, or a tight back. Maybe it's your racing mind that never seems to quiet down, continuously analyzing past events or planning for the day ahead, right before bedtime. Taking extended breaks for a ten-day silent retreat or dedicating an hour, let alone fifteen minutes, for meditation might be impractical. Here are three brief and straightforward approaches to finding tranquility amidst chaos at any moment:
Engage in Moving Meditations
We frequently concentrate on working out our muscles, but what about our internal organs? Begin by standing with your feet shoulder-width apart and gently use your fists to tap about two inches below your belly button. Visualize the vibrations moving into your core or "gut," a significant energy center also known as the second chakra. Close your eyes and calm your thoughts. Focus your attention on the area where the vibrations are centered. Where your thoughts go, energy follows. This exercise employs vibrations to draw your awareness back to your body's core. After around a hundred taps, suck your belly button in towards your spine, much like doing a standing or sitting crunch. This is known as intestinal exercise. Through tapping, you've brought back your scattered mental energy from external sources into your body, concentrating it on your core. This intestinal exercise helps maintain your focus on your gut and intensifies core warmth. Typically, we have "hot heads" and "cold guts." By reversing this improper circulation using the "water up, fire down" principle, you can shift the "fire" from your head down to your core, while bringing the cold gut energy up to your head, resulting in a calm, cool mind. Exercising your intestines promotes increased oxygen intake, enhanced blood circulation, better nutrient absorption, and efficient processing of undigested waste, all to achieve the proper "water up, fire down" circulation. You'll recognize the correct energy circulation when you experience increased warmth, perspiration, or an increased production of saliva in your mouth.
Master Your Emotions
Other exercises can empower you to master your emotions by embracing undesirable feelings such as anger, sadness, or jealousy. This practice, lasting five minutes or less, encourages you to observe the emotion rather than become or identify with it. Several exercises are available, but here's a sample that has proven effective with my business leader clients. Close your eyes, scan your body from head to toe, and pinpoint areas of tension, discomfort, or unwanted emotions. Ask yourself, "What color does the pain or unwanted emotion have? What is its shape, texture, and movement?" Now, envision one of your happiest memories. Who's with you, and where are you? What sounds and scents surround you, and how does it make you feel? Immerse every cell in your body with the energy of that joyful memory. Return your focus to the pain and ask yourself, "What color is the pain now? What shape does it have, and how has its texture and movement changed?" Clients who engage in this practice often find that they can alter the shape, color, and movement of their unwanted emotions, sometimes causing the emotion to vanish altogether. The more you gain mastery over your emotions, the faster you'll develop emotional resilience as a leader.
Listen to Your Inner Self
The final exercise for accessing peace in chaos is to listen to your inner self. Simply close your eyes, take a few deep breaths, and ask your heart, "What message do you have for me today? Continue to ask and listen. Often, the response will be succinct and concise. You can converse not only with your heart but also with any organ or area of discomfort. By tapping into your inner wisdom and listening within, you'll receive well-aligned answers to your decision-making without second-guessing or regret. With practice, your body and heart will communicate clearer messages, empowering you to observe your thoughts, emotions, and bodily sensations passing through without becoming entangled in them. Achieving mastery requires practice. To attain peace, it is essential to redirect your focus from external matters to your internal self. By shifting your energy from your head to your core, you can align your body, heart, mind, and soul in a matter of minutes. As you turn inward, your inner guidance system will strengthen, helping you navigate uncertainty with ease. You will become calm amidst the chaos, capable of choosing the most suitable response in any given moment.
By committing to these practices of moving meditations, emotional mastery, and inner listening, you won't only find peace amid chaos; you will become a beacon of serenity in the turbulent world. By embodying tranquility in the face of chaos, you can tap into an abundant and boundless reservoir of energy to serve your team, customers, stakeholders, and, most importantly, yourself.