Author: Linda Ferguson

I had a conversation recently with a friend who was deeply hurt by some things going on in a community organization where he was a leader. He shared what was happening and that he was really struggling to find compassion and understanding in the midst of the conflicts. I’ve been there. We all have. Periodically we find ourselves in the middle of an uncomfortable situation where people are calling names, spreading rumors, attacking others, and simply not being the best they can be.

Thank goodness I’ve studied and practiced Non-Violent Communication (NVC- developed by Marshall Rosenberg) and Loving What Is (known as The Work developed by Byron Katie). To learn more about NVC and Loving What Is, go to their websites, look at their videos, and find a study/practice group near you. Both of these approaches have helped me enormously to deal with pain and find compassion in the midst of turmoil. These approaches have helped me work with others dealing with pain, anger, or loss in organizations. They have helped me listen to someone else’s pain with an open heart and supported my work facilitating healing and reconciliation.

As I listened to what my friend was sharing I heard his sadness, anger and grief. I allowed him to share those feelings and asked him what he needed to address his feelings. I didn’t try to change how he felt, or offer solutions to the situation at his organization. I simply listened and allowed space for him to get in touch with his feelings. This allowed him to acknowledge what he was feeling and find clarity on what he needed to get through the next few days (before a critical board meeting that was scheduled to address the conflicts).

I want to share just a few thoughts here on how NVC and Loving What Is can support you, a co-worker, or work group who may be going through pain from a situation in an organization.

1. Own your own feelings in the midst of the crisis or pain. Acknowledge honestly how you are feeling and what is coming up for you. Don’t worry that what is coming up looks or feels ugly. What’s essential for healing is that you are honest with how you are feeling. If you are speaking with a co-worker who is in pain, have him/her draw their attention to themselves and how they are feeling. Only through honest reflection and acknowledgment of how you are feeling can you move towards healing and find reconciliation.

2. It is not your job is to try to change the behavior of others who are acting in ways that trigger your feelings. Your job is to address your own pain, sadness, loss, fear, anger in the most tender, gentle loving ways you can. Offer yourself compassion for the feelings you are having. In this way you can move through your pain to find your own peace. The more you do this, the more you can Be Peace in a turbulent situation.

3. How you respond to this situation shifts the energy for others in the situation. The more grounded, honest, respectful and open you are to dealing with your own and others’ pain, the smoother you and they will move through the conflicts or turmoil. Your energy affects those around you. How do you want to move through your pain to find comfort, peace, acceptance, and patience for yourself or others?

4. Other people are not the enemy. Hanging on to judgments or demonizing others only adds fuel to the fire. The ‘others’ are simply using strategies to meet their needs in the best way they know how. And so are you. We all have learned strategies to meet our needs. Some of these strategies are effective, some are destructive to relationships. Stop and examine how you are acting to meet your needs- are you lashing out and hurting others as revenge, are you pouting and sulking like a victim, are you running away to protect yourself? As you work on meeting your needs and addressing your feelings, you’ll see what strategies you are using. Your strategies may be helpful or harmful to the relationships in the situation at hand. Focus on what you are doing to move through your own pain. What can you do to bring peace, comfort, healing to yourself?

5. Become aware of your judgments and the stories you are telling yourself about the other people and their actions. Next, find one belief you have about them. Ask yourself- Is that True? What would be the 180 degree opposite belief you could have about them or what is happening? How might that opposite belief statement be true? How do you feel when you read/think of that opposite belief statement?

6. Emotionally charged situations are the trials that test your spiritual stamina. They are the moments and playground for you to practice your spiritual muscles of compassion, forgiveness, respect, understanding, awareness.

Whenever two or more are gathered there will be conflicts and disagreements. Organizations are no different. When conflicts reach a boiling point, then healing and reconciliation are needed. Your ability to work through your own pain to find greater healing and reconciliation helps you and your organization. As we learn these lessons and practice honoring our feelings without demonizing others as the enemy, not only will our organizations be healthier, but we also progress along our spiritual journey.

Bright Blessings as you move through your pain and find healing, wholeness, and compassion in the midst of your struggles. Here is a Buddhist prayer you can use to support your journey of healing and reconciliation.

May all beings be well

May all beings be happy

Peace, Peace, Peace

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For more resources, see our Library topic Spirituality in the Workplace.

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Linda has done healing and reconciliation work with organizations to help them move from pain to compassion. If your organization- non-profit, house of worship, or business- has gone through a crisis or is in turmoil and seeks to move towards healing and reconciliation, contact Linda (ljfergusonphd@gmail.com) to find out how her work can support your organization’s healing. Using principles describe above, you’re organization can shift through pain to healing and reconciliation.

Over the weekend I was able to participate in a Shamanic attunement for the earth to help balance the rain, fire, and earth energy. We included this ceremony into a longer program of Freedom and Declarations. I will write more about this ceremony in a post later this month.

For this week, I want to share some thoughts on what we seek freedom from and what we declare for our world and life.

Some of you coming back from vacation or long weekend may want freedom from work. Summer is a good time to take vacations -to vacate from the stresses of work and rejuvenate your life. Time away and time out from work helps you re-charge your battery and so important for sustaining your energy. On the flip side, coming back from vacation can be challenging focusing on work. I know I was pretty tired this morning after a nice weekend of fun with friends and the ceremony we did on Sat.

Others of you may want freedom from a boss or co-worker. They may be getting on your nerves and you just need some time away or a break from their behaviors. Perhaps you want freedom from waking up at 6:00 a.m. most days and want to have extra sleep and silence. Or you want to have freedom from the deadlines that are facing you. You’d prefer to have work flow smoother or with less intensity.

I invite you to go a little deeper now. Do you desire freedom from your self-limiting beliefs, or certain perceptions and attitudes? What fears, grudges or guilt are you ready to give up and release? What no longer serves you? You need to release these to be free from them and only you can release them. If you desire inner peace, joy, or laughter, reflect on what still trips you up or jerks your chain. How can you let go of your attachments or judgments so that you can be free from their tug? Freedom is as much about what you are willing to give up and release as something to protect or obtain.

Once you release those things you desire to be free from, you need to get clear on what you want to fill their place. What declarations do you want to make for your life? Are you ready to declare that you are a balanced, peaceful person, ready to receive abundance, love, joy, and friendships? Can you receive these and more with grace, gratitude and openness?

Hold a vision of what you to declare and bring forth in your life, work or world…….

Declare that it is already being created, in the right perfect timing and in the right perfect way.

I declare now that I am open to receive all that is in my right highest good

I declare now that I am caring and giving to all who can benefit from my gifts and talents

I declare now that I am a living embodiment of compassion, beauty, and grace

I declare now that I will treat others with dignity, respect, and kindness

I declare now that I have all that I need to move forward with strength, optimism and hope

I declare now that I am whole, loving, and happy

Now add whatever freedoms you wish to release and declarations of what you desire to bring forward into the world and your work.

May your week of Freedom and Declarations bring greater joy and wholeness to your life, your work, and your world.

Aho!

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For more resources, see our Library topic Spirituality in the Workplace.

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Linda is an author, speaker, coach, and consultant. Go to her website www.lindajferguson.com to read more about her work, view video clips of her talks, and find out more about her book “Path for Greatness: Spirituality at Work” The paperback version is available on Amazon. NOW AVAILABLE!!! the pdf version of Path for Greatness is available for download from her website. ALSO, Linda’s new book, “Staying Grounded in Shifting Sand” is now available on her website.

A couple of weeks ago I saw Kung Fu Panda 2. Having enjoyed the first Kung Fu Panda movie as a light children’s movie, I was surprised by the depth of the messages in the sequel. Though still a nice children’s movie, I walked away with several key ideas that are worth remembering.

Just to give a short summary of the movie, the main character is a large Panda named Po, who was raised by a goose (only in movies can this happen!). The panda is devoted to his ‘father’, a goose that runs a Chinese noodle restaurant. In the first movie we see how the Panda becomes a Dragon Warrior and in the sequel he continues to use his Kung Fu prowess, with 5 other Kung Fu masters, all different animals. In Kung Fu 2 Po learns that the goose is not his real father (shock!) and sets out to find out who his real father is. Of course the journey takes him far from home and he has to risk everything to face the mean opponent who killed the Panda clan years earlier.

Many mythic hero stories have the hero venture far from home to face a life threatening ordeal and an evil opponent to battle in the classic good vs. evil story line. Most heros have been abandoned or lost their parents when they were young (think Harry Potter). And in all these classic tales the hero must face his/her own inner demons to find his/her real powers and inner strength to defeat the opponent.

Let’s see how this story can provide lessons for your work. A major lesson in these hero stories is that our victory isn’t over an outside other entity, not from a spiritual sense. The ‘enemy’ is merely a prop or actor for the story line. No, it is a victory over our own inner dragons that is the real story. It is an inner quest to discover your true destiny, your inner strength, and connect with the Source of your being.

Think of the last time you had a boss, co-worker, client, or stakeholder who you really disliked. This person was at least a thorn in your side, if not made your life miserable. Who (what) is the real enemy here? Is it the other person, or is it your own ego, pride, hatred, fear, doubt, insecurities? Once you master your own inner dragons- hate, pride, insecurity, then no one can be your nemesis. As Peter Calhoun says, “An enlightened being has no castle walls to defend.”

The Panda learns an important herioc lesson from his mentor, Master Shifu, (I’m not sure what type of animal he is but think Obi-Wan Kenobi or Dumbledore). This lesson is to still the mind (or in a similar vein, think of Luke Skywalker’s training to Let the Force Be With You). With a still mind, connecting to your Source, inner peace and clarity prevail. From here intuition, guidance, and your inner wisdom can emerge. This inner peace conquers doubts, worries, distractions, and obstacles by having them flow effortless around you. When the panda learns how to allow the rain drop to fall on him without breaking his concentration and inner peace, he uses the same practice to deflect the barbs and arrows (and cannon balls) that are shot at him.

Again, let’s look at your workplace. Do you let everyone’s petty comments, judgments, grudges, insults annoy you and distract you from your work? Can you learn to let these go, in one ear and out the other, without staying attached or connected to the power and negative energy of them? When you learn to let others have their opinions and judgments, saying what they will without it disturbing your inner peace and concentration, you’ll learn the way of the Tao.

The last lesson is a particularly good reminder even if you aren’t on a hero’s journey. Your history doesn’t determine your future. No matter what your background is, you now choose who you want to be and become. Even with the best schooling or family upbringing, success isn’t guaranteed. Nor is the worst family or school a set-up for failure. How you live your life, with what you have in front of you now, is what counts.

So at work, even if you don’t have all the resources at your fingertips, or the training you need, or the extra support you’d like to have, how can you navigate your way through to achieve your goals? What’s been put on your desk today is your challenge and your future. How will you respond to that challenge? Will you take on a ‘poor-pity me’ role or will you step into your power and do what is yours now to do? How are your unique talents and gifts being called upon today in the work you are doing?

Lessons from the Kung Fu Panda- Summary

1. Once you master your inner dragons, no one can threaten you

2. Once you find inner peace, nothing can distract you from the work you are called to do

3. When you understand your history doesn’t determine your future, you choose how you use your gifts and talents to fulfill your destiny (or at least complete what’s on your desk)

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For more resources, see our Library topic Spirituality in the Workplace.

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Linda is an author, speaker, coach, and consultant. Go to her website www.lindajferguson.com to read more about her work, view video clips of her talks, and find out more about her book “Path for Greatness: Spirituality at Work” The paperback version is available on Amazon. NOW NEW!!! the pdf version of Path for Greatness is available for download from her website. ALSO, Linda’s new book, “Staying Grounded in Shifting Sand” is now available on her website.

It’s not my job to fix someone else

It is my job to be the radiance and splendor of Who I Am

It’s not my job to judge others’ mistakes

It is my job to be a role model of someone doing their best

It’s not my job to tell others how to live or work

It is my job to walk the path of love, balance, and integrity

It’s not my job to show others when they’ve messed up

It is my job to remind others of their greatness and beauty

It’s not my job to point out when others are wrong

It is my job to speak my truth even when it is difficult to do so

It’s not my job to ask “What’s in it for me?”

It is my job to wake up every morning and ask, “How then shall I serve?”

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For a moving and inspiring video of someone who faced adversity and didn’t give up on himself-

Inspirational Story

Here are the lyrics to his song:

In my imagination I see a fair world,
Everyone lives in peace and in honesty there.
I dream of souls that are always free,
…Like the clouds that fly,
Full of humanity in the depths of the soul.
I dream of souls that are always free,
Like clouds that fly,
Full of humanity in the depths of the soul.

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For more resources, see our Library topic Spirituality in the Workplace.

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Linda is an author, speaker, coach, and consultant. Go to her website www.lindajferguson.com to read more about her work, view video clips of her talks, and find out more about her book “Path for Greatness: Spirituality at Work” The paperback version is available on Amazon. NOW NEW!!! the pdf version of Path for Greatness is available for download from her website. ALSO, Linda’s new book, “Staying Grounded in Shifting Sand” is now available on her website.

Caren Hamilton & John Watkins share the second part of their blog on Leadership Grace. See last week’s post for part 1

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The Power of Leadership Grace

There are different aspects of power that we have found help us to express and lead with grace. These surround our core and they are the energetic expression of grace. So grace empowers us to lead through clarity, focus, and ease, to achieve recovery, unity, and service. From that work we create the possibility to live a happy, free, and joyous life.

Clarity emerges out of chaos and reveals what needs to be destroyed or created. As we honestly inventory our lives, our recovery and healing begins, and we find ourselves returning to this wellspring over and over. This is the essence of the goddess Kali in yoga philosophy. It is our spiritual compost – the stuff out of which new things are created. Kali is the forth “R” in Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Rot. Here is the uncomfortable, yet fertile place, where necessity births invention – the muck out of which the lotus grows and blossoms.

Focus comes from the healthy application of the brilliant searchlight of our mind in service to the Heart. Here we access our knowledge and arts, and we set an intention to apply this wisdom in our lives. In yoga philosophy, the goddess Saraswati represents this power, calling forth discernment and the skillful use of all our resources to achieve unity.

Ease is the beautiful, radiant, and abundant aspect of Leadership Grace. This rich and cultured expression is known as the goddess Laksmi in yoga philosophy, representing the culminating expression of our artistry, beauty, and abundance. We aspire to use this power in service to the Divine in all situations.

The Inner and Outer Practices of Leadership Grace

Both yoga and 12-step traditions require our regular and consistent practice. A strong inner practice gives us a significant competitive advantage because it gives us access to unlimited resources from which to act. That inner practice involves opening to grace, engaging and hugging to our core sense of meaning and purpose, and learning how to express that outward clearly, skillfully, and directly. A strong inner practice is portable, allows us to be centered, courageous, and steadfast, yet adaptable, dynamic, and flexible in any situation.

Leadership Grace is our divine embodiment fully expressed in the grit of our daily experiences. Healthy and effective leadership is nothing if it is not full engagement. “As much, so much,” goes the yoga expression, reminding us to apply a hundred percent of our power for each place we choose to engage, and yet, never more than is needed. This balanced action keeps us from over-exerting ourselves.

This is not the same as “do-er-ship,” the need to do something to fix things. Instead we can be the calm center that steadfastly holds us and our anxieties about our lives, loves, and work in a place of loving and compassionate reflection. It may be a fiery reflection that allows us to see with discernment the contrasts between our stories of our experience and what is real. It allows us to disengage from what is no longer serving, in order to re-engage healthily in each new moment.

Leadership Grace allows all of us to feel safe enough to open our own hearts and let our innermost selves flow into expression. That leadership connects with our deepest, most heartfelt longings, creates a place that is safe and trusting, yet holds us to high standards of responsibility to self and others, and as a result, frees us to be more whole. Then we can more easily align our “views, means, and fruit.”

Leadership Grace asks first, often, and always, “How might I be of service in this situation?” “How might I act from a place of clarity, focus, ease, and grace?” “How might my service aid recovery (healing) and build unity, such that we may all become more happy, joyous, and free?” “How might I use the power of grace to illuminate the dark places of fear, dissolving away that which is no longer serving, opening to the growth of what is emerging, naming things with clear and articulate words, and supporting the fullest expression of beauty, abundance, and art?” And at each point, Leadership Grace starts with ourselves first, yet also we realize, there is no end, no goal, no final solution. Leadership Grace is a continual process of disciplined practice to allow us ever-deeper access to our divine nature and its ever-fuller expression in this amazing world we inhabit.

Finally, regardless of whether the dis-ease we encounter is within ourselves, at work, at home or next door, it is all a symptom of disconnection and imbalance, a sort of soul sickness. Awareness is the first step, then regular and consistent practice is the pathway that returns us to Grace. We invite you to join us in this practice!

johnw536@mac.com http://johnmw.com

Leadership Grace^©,2011

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For more resources, see our Library topic Spirituality in the Workplace.

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This week’s post is by guest writers John Watkins and his partner Caren Hamilton. They will share their diagram of Leadership Grace in next week’s post as Part 2.

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Integration

These days we need all our resources working together to thrive. Our approach to thriving comes from being dazzled by the grace of discovering that our discipline and devotion to yoga combines with the gentleness and rigor of 12-step work to support our deepest desire to be of service.

Yoga means to weave or yoke. It’s about connection and unity, within our self, with the god of our understanding, and with our communities. More than just poses, yoga includes the philosophy that all things are an expression of the divine, and that it is our divine nature fully to express ourselves knowledgably, skillfully, beautifully, and joyfully in the world.

12-step traditions help us recognize that we want to change, and teach us to live a spiritual way of life. 12-step work offers tools for reflection on our participation in life, and healing, so we can practice unity, service, and recovery. 12-step work helps people bring greater balance to their inner and outer worlds. Both traditions recognize the value of the support of others who share the same passion for living where our whole being is balanced and healthy. We interweave these traditions to create a powerful foundation for our work, Leadership Grace.

An Unhealthy Unbalanced Life

Our social, institutional, and even family lives are seriously out of balance and unhealthy. We can feel it even if we cannot name the conditions and reasons. Some habits we fall into to address this dis-ease are personal, including addictions and obsessions; others are institutional. A few symptoms of this dis-ease are dysfunction, dissatisfaction, fragmentation, isolation, alienation, victimization, disconnection, destructive actions to self and others, apathy, willfulness, stress and hopelessness. Many of us are conditioned to try to figure it out, fix it, force it, fight it, or f*#k it, throw up our hands, walk away.

When we are too self-centered, taking too much responsibility for circumstances that are beyond our control, we end up living a grey life. But in our hearts we know that we are meant to be fully alive, bright, and free. We’ve simply lost our way.

Pausing to Reflect; Finding the “No!” and the “Yes!”

When we find ourselves stuck, though everything in our ego and agitation urges us willfully to act, this is the time to pause. We ask the god of our understanding to “grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” This awareness is the first act of healthy autonomy, inviting a gap for grace to enter.

Getting clear about the “No” is the threshold for identifying the “Yes!” accepting that I didn’t cause it, I can’t cure it, and I can’t control it, but I can contribute to making it worse! The “No” sets a clear boundary, allowing us to “let go and let god.” In yoga, we use the term, Swaha, an equanimical, easeful response to the Universe. When we are able to let go, to surrender, to open to grace, we end up more powerful, more free. Then the challenge is to cultivate the “Yes.”

The Pathway to Grace

At first, opening to grace invites a softening and a listening to what is present. Grace is like coming home, being at ease in oneself and in the world, remembering our innate goodness, our divine nature, our ultimate intimate connection to ourselves, to each other, and to god. Grace asks for acceptance and gratitude, willingness, devotion, dedication, courage, discipline, persistent practice, and self-love. It takes the development and use of all our skills and tools. It is a high calling, but requires complete humility. Opening to grace asks us to become honest, open-minded, and willing. We acknowledge that we are beginners, and our self-love is the commitment to develop the skill and discipline to engage, to create the space for the “yes” to enter our hearts and drive our actions. A person is motivated to change and open to grace when they don’t want to hurt anymore, when they want to be happy, joyous, and free. Living with grace invites us to live in the world fully, with authenticity, integrity, beauty, and creativity. When we open to grace, we integrate the head, heart, and hands, without dogma or script, and we become united within ourselves and our communities.

Leadership Grace

The most powerful leaders are attractive agents for change, more like magnets than cannons, because they start with themselves, saying, “let it begin with me.” They show us how to “live and let live” and encourage us to align with grace. They hold high standards yet let us be human as we learn and grow. They constantly seek to affirm the positive, while holding us gently in the fire of transformation.

Leadership Grace balances clarity of vision, with focus on knowing what we value and is deeply meaningful, and easeful alignment of action. It comes from a deep connection to our core/divine Self, to provide strength, courage, and steadfastness, yet is dynamic, soft, and easeful on the outside. It is neither willful nor controlling.

(c) 2011 – John Watkins and Caren Hamilton

(Part 2 next week: The Power of Leadership Grace, and The Inner and Outer Practices of Leadership Grace)

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For more resources, see our Library topic Spirituality in the Workplace.

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John Watkins has for the past 25 years consulted and coached in organizational change and leadership development. 24 years ago he began his recovery from a family deeply scarred by alcohol and abuse. He has continued his healing as an avid Anusara yoga practitioner for the past six years. He lives in the SF Bay Area.

Caren Hamilton has worked with a variety of business and organizations for the last 17 years to align their business practices with nature. 12 years ago she began her healing process and has just celebrated 7 years of recovery in a 12-step program. She is a beginning Anusara yoga student and lives in the Sierra Nevada foothills.

John and Caren are currently building a new life and business together as beloveds and business partners. Their business is Leadership Grace. They coach, consult, and do workshops for people who want to remember their divine nature and lead a life of service from that place of grace.

John Watkins & Caren Hamilton- Johnw536@mac.com http://johnmw.com

I’ve been thinking this week about the idea of integrity and values. I had dinner recently with a man who is starting a new business. The man had successfully owned a previous company. He worked long hours to grow and then sell that company for a large profit. He’s basing the new company on a different set of values than before. This time around he wants the company’s central mission to be about helping his employees succeed so they can profit from their labor. He deliberately wants to start the new company as an employee stock-owned company.

There are numerous non-market values that you can run your businesses by and still be successful as a business. Values such as harmony, balance, integrity, consideration for others, and honesty can all be brought into a successful business.

What values do you bring to your business and work with others?

Wikipedia offers this definition of Mensch:

(Yiddish: מענטש mentsh; from German: Mensch, for “human being”) means “a person of integrity and honor”.^[1] … mensch is “someone to admire and emulate, someone of noble character. The key to being ‘a real mensch’ is nothing less than character, rectitude, dignity, a sense of what is right, responsible, decorous.”^[2]

How are you showing up at work? What is the best you strive to be at work?

In his poem “If”, Rudyard Kipling wrote that :

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don’t give way to hating,

….. you can be a man – or in a more inclusive language – a Mensch- someone with heart and integrity.

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For more resources, see our Library topic Spirituality in the Workplace.

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Linda is an author, speaker, coach, and consultant. Go to her website www.lindajferguson.com to read more about her work, view video clips of her talks, and find out more about her book “Path for Greatness: Spirituality at Work” The paperback version is available on Amazon. Note: the pdf version of Path for Greatness is available for download from her website. ALSO, Linda’s new book, “Staying Grounded in Shifting Sand” is now available on her website.

Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge Psalm 16:1

Some of you may be going through a period where your worries are large, such as a job loss or company restructuring. Simple breathing meditations don’t cut it as worry turns into fear of what lays ahead. It’s hard to calm the monkey mind chatter, the ‘what if’s’, the ‘awfulizing’ that keep you up at night. I’ve gone through times like that and it’s not fun.

As I’ve grown in my faith, I’ve come to trust there’s a bigger picture unfolding than I can see. In allowing my Higher Power to be in charge of my life, rather than my mind and will, I trust God (Spirit, the Holy Presence, Mystical Force) to resolve or clarify what’s happening. I find comfort in Letting Go and Letting God. During several job transitions, lost in confusion and doubt, I’ve wanted clarity and direction, yet nothing seemed to be forth coming. I’d get to a point where I knew that there was nothing left for me to do but turn over what’s going on to a Higher Power and trust that things will work out somehow. It can feel grueling getting to that place of emptying ego, having to completely surrender. Yet I’ve found from that pace of surrender and emptiness, new opportunities emerged.

As I step forward in faith, I know I may not be able to control what’s happening around me, but I can always shift how I show up in the world. I’ve learned that my outer world changes as I respond differently to it. Sometimes just letting go of the struggle and resentment of what is happening helps shift my energy and I feel lighter. I work to release or shift my thoughts, projections, judgments, and move into acceptance of what is. I acknowledge how I want to shift, affirming that as I let go I allow new energy and form to appear.

In those few really challenging times when I just don’t have the energy to keep moving forward, I’ve used a God Box to contain those thoughts and worries that I know I need to release and transform. I’ll write out things that I’m tired of worrying about and absolutely don’t want to hold on to any longer. I put the thoughts in a box for my angel guides to handle. I mentally detach any chords of attachments to these thoughts, or energy that I’m still hanging on to, and need to release. Inevitably something shifts and I see progress on the issue.

I’m reminded of this quote by Rumi:

Something opens our wings. Something makes boredom and hurt disappear. Someone fills the cup in front of us: We taste only sacredness.

May you find the guidance and transformation you need during your times of worry. Ask for assistance and stay open to what messages, support or direction you receive over the next few weeks.

Let Go and Let God move through you.

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For more resources, see our Library topic Spirituality in the Workplace.

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Linda is an author, speaker, coach, and consultant. Go to her website www.lindajferguson.com to read more about her work, view video clips of her talks, and find out more about her book “Path for Greatness: Spirituality at Work” The paperback version is available on Amazon. NOW NEW!!! the pdf version of Path for Greatness is available for download from her website. ALSO, Linda’s new book, “Staying Grounded in Shifting Sand” is now available on her website.

“Tend to your vital heart, and all that you worry about will be solved” Rumi

A friend of mine told me this story many years ago and I’ve thought about it various times since then.

My friend N. got tickets to see a play with her 6 year old niece. When N picked up her niece to go to the play, her niece was very excited. She was all dressed up in a fluffy dress and had her hair done in tight braids. On the drive down to the theatre, her niece kept tugging at her braid and then yelped “Ouch!” After 3-4 times this happened my friend asked her what she was doing. Her niece said, “I love my braids and want to touch them. But when I do, it tugs on my head and hurts”. To which N replied, “Then why don’t you stop touching it?” “I just can’t stop,” her niece responded. N chalked it up to 6 year old silliness.

I laughed when I heard that story, yet have thought about it occasionally when I tug at things that worry me. I replay an event in my mind or rehearse a scenario in my head way longer than I need to. Hanging on to worry of what did happen or what could happen prevents me from finding peace.

How many times have you tugged on your head over something that you need to let go? You are the only one who can release the worry, yet you still keep tugging at your head. Here’s a funny Bob Newhart skit that shows that it could be as easy as just telling yourself to stop it.

If you find yourself worrying about something that happened at work, remember- Your thoughts are under your control. [I’m not talking about OCB – that’s beyond the scope of this blog.]

Ways to Stop Tugging on your Head – Redirecting your Awareness

Mindfulness meditations focus your thoughts on what is happening in the moment. Bringing awareness to the moment allows you to be present in the now rather than replaying tapes of what happened yesterday. You can’t change decisions that have been made or actions that have already been taken. The event or decision is gone. Worry keeps you stuck in the past.

To move forward with a clearer mind and greater peace, move from the past to the present. Focusing on your breath helps to shift out of your head and into your body. Breathing into your body and releasing tension benefits your body and your mind. You change where your attention goes when you breathe steadily and deeply.

Here’s a simple breathing exercise:

Breathe in for two counts and out for two counts

Breathe in for four counts, hold for two counts, breathe out for four counts

Breathe in for six counts, hold for two counts, breathe out for six counts.

Continue adding two counts to your in-breath and out-breath until you can’t go any higher. Then reverse and breathe in and out for eight counts, next cycle six counts, next time four counts, then finish again with two counts. Your mind will be clear and your body will be relaxed.

Some people recommend making your out-breath longer than your in-breath so you could breathe in for six counts, hold two counts, and breathe out for eight counts.

Stay in that peaceful state knowing that you have only the breath and mindfulness in any given moment.

If you feel you must take some action, then from this more peaceful state and clearer mind, focus on what you want to see shift or unfold. Keep coming back to your breath and the present moment to find the clarity, confidence and peaceful balance to move forward.

Let us know what helps you let go of worry.

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For more resources, see our Library topic Spirituality in the Workplace.

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Linda is an author, speaker, coach, and consultant. Go to her website www.lindajferguson.com to read more about her work, view video clips of her talks, and find out more about her book “Path for Greatness: Spirituality at Work” available in paperback on Amazon. Her new book, “Staying Grounded in Shifting Sand” is available at her website as a pdf download.

I’d like to draw upon the teachings of H.H. the Dalai Lama from his book, “The Compassionate Life” for ideas that we can use at work and in our daily life. The Dalai Lama defines compassion as the wish for another human being to be free from suffering. Love is a desire for others to have happiness. According to the Dalai Lama, compassion and love give rise to hope, courage, determination, and inner strength.

Who can argue with wanting compassion and love in one’s life and in one’s work? Yet think about the last time you got angry when a stupid decision was made at work. Ever felt frustrated when people seem more concerned about their personal agendas or pet projects than doing the right thing? Do you get annoyed at incompetent people who don’t seem to care about doing a good job? According to the Dalai Lama, the greatest hindrances to compassion and love are anger and hatred.

Here’s a guided imagery to connect with compassion and love and shift from anger and frustration with someone at work or in a business encounter.

Bring to mind a person or situation where you got angry, impatient, frustrated or seriously annoyed. Get a clear picture of the people in this situation and what they were doing that really bothered you…..

Now think of each person when they aren’t at work. Connect with them as another human being.

Picture them as a fellow human being with a family, pets, children, brothers and sisters… just like you

Think of them working to support their family and wanting to live happily…. just like you

Imagine them working as best they know how to work ….. just like you

Think of them having life challenges, fears, worries, insecurities….. just like you

Picture them trying to do their best with what they know to do…. just like you

Know they desire happiness and want to be free from suffering… just like you

Breathe deeply as you picture them with their family or neighbors enjoying life and being happy. Feel the wave of compassion in your body as you connect with your desire for their happiness.

When you find yourself getting angry, impatient or frustrated with someone’s behavior, thank them for helping you develop more compassion and loving kindness. Remember- Compassion is the wish for another human being to be free from suffering. Love is a desire for others to have happiness.

Next time you feel anger, frustration, or condemnation, see with eyes of compassion and love.

Next time you wish someone harm or lose your control, open your heart to compassion and love.

Next time someone disappoints you or lets you down, feel with the heart of compassion and love.

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For more resources, see our Library topic Spirituality in the Workplace.

——————

Linda is an author, speaker, coach, and consultant. Go to her website www.lindajferguson.com to read more about her work, view video clips of her talks, and find out more about her book “Path for Greatness: Spirituality at Work” The paperback version is available on Amazon. NOW NEW!!! the pdf version of “Path for Greatness” is available for download from her website. ALSO, Linda’s new book, “Staying Grounded in Shifting Sand” is now available on her website.