{"id":1148,"date":"2015-01-07T22:44:39","date_gmt":"2015-01-07T22:44:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/?p=1148"},"modified":"2015-01-07T22:44:39","modified_gmt":"2015-01-07T22:44:39","slug":"first-tune-your-instrument","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/2015\/01\/07\/first-tune-your-instrument\/","title":{"rendered":"First Tune Your Instrument"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/files\/2015\/01\/tuning-instruments.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-1149\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/files\/2015\/01\/tuning-instruments-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"tuning instruments\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a>In our world of challenge and change, we can get so busy rushing from one problem to another that we lose sight of possibilities. Mindful leadership often means stepping back, taking time to reflect instead of simply reacting.<\/p>\n<p>A few years ago, I heard Jon Kabat-Zinn give a talk on mindfulness to a group of therapists and graduate students in counseling psychology. At the end of his talk, one woman in the audience stood up and asked, \u201cWith all the problems in the world, isn\u2019t it self-indulgent to spend time meditating when we could be doing something about them?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jon paused, compassionately acknowledged her concern and said, \u201cWhen I go to the symphony, the orchestra members always tune their instruments before they play.\u201d I smiled, recalling how I love the powerful moment when all the musicians\u2014strings, woodwinds, brass\u2014play the same note together in a resounding monochord.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor me, daily meditation is a way to tune my instrument,\u201d Jon explained. \u201cThen I can face all the day\u2019s challenges more skillfully.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A beautiful reminder: if we take time to tune our instruments, then instead of mindlessly reacting, we can respond more creatively, discover new possibilities, create greater harmony within and around us.<\/p>\n<p>Do you have a daily mindfulness practice?<br \/>\nIf not, try beginning your day with ten minutes of meditation.<\/p>\n<p>First, set your intention. Why are you meditating? For stress relief? Better health? Greater clarity? Compassion? Something else?<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Then sit in a chair or on the floor with your spine straight and your eyes closed.<\/li>\n<li>Feel your body relax as you focus on your breathing.<\/li>\n<li>Feel your breath go in and out, following the rhythm of the breath\u2019s sensations.<\/li>\n<li>Notice any thoughts or body sensations that arise.<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t get caught up in them\u2014just note and name them: as \u201cworry, worry,\u201d or \u201crestless\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Then gently bring your attention back to your breathing again and again, with an attitude of kindness.<\/li>\n<li>As you conclude your meditation, resolve to take this sense of presence with you as you go about your daily activities.<\/li>\n<li>After a few days of practice, you may wish to gradually extend the time of your meditation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Tuning your instrument on a daily basis will open your awareness to the subtle harmonies in your life.<\/p>\n<p>Namaste,<br \/>\nDiane<\/p>\n<p>Reference<br \/>\nFor an introduction to the practice and benefits of mindfulness meditation, see\u00a0Kabat-Zinn, J. (2013). Full Catastrophe Living. New York: Bantam Books.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In our world of challenge and change, we can get so busy rushing from one problem to another that we lose sight of possibilities. Mindful leadership often means stepping back, taking time to reflect instead of simply reacting. A few &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/2015\/01\/07\/first-tune-your-instrument\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"qubely_global_settings":"","qubely_interactions":"","kk_blocks_editor_width":"","_kiokenblocks_attr":"","_kiokenblocks_dimensions":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,7,10,3],"tags":[24,23,14],"class_list":["post-1148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-contemplative-leader","category-insights-from-positive-psychology","category-mindful-leader","category-spiritual-practice","tag-challenge","tag-change","tag-mindfulness"],"gutentor_comment":0,"qubely_featured_image_url":null,"qubely_author":{"display_name":"writeherewritenow","author_link":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/author\/writeherewritenow\/"},"qubely_comment":0,"qubely_category":"<a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/category\/contemplative-leader\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Contemplative Leader<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/category\/insights-from-positive-psychology\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Insights from Positive Psychology<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/category\/mindful-leader\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Mindful Leader<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/category\/spiritual-practice\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Spiritual Practice<\/a>","qubely_excerpt":"In our world of challenge and change, we can get so busy rushing from one problem to another that we lose sight of possibilities. Mindful leadership often means stepping back, taking time to reflect instead of simply reacting. A few &hellip; Continue reading &rarr;","post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1148"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1148\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1151,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1148\/revisions\/1151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}