Being the Future: creativefacilitating.com Blog

Solutions in Stillness

December 11th, 2009

Great advice sometimes hides in common glib expressions. ‘Take a deep breath’ is one I remember from my childhood, and that was quite a long time ago. ‘Take a moment’ is another. There was even a soft drink slogan about a ‘pause that refreshes.’ Funny thing is, they are all great words of advice.

When I recommend deep breaths to my clients they usually attest that it is something that has worked for them and they needed the reminder to pay attention to breathing more often. In attending to breath we are truly present in the moment. In having a group of people all take a breath together we establish some synchrony in the group. And yet, breath is even more powerful than that. I learned a deep breathing technique in which I coordinate my heart beat to the count of my inhalations and exhalations from the Bairs of the Institute for Applied Meditation. I recently had occasion to use it for a specific purpose and surprised myself.

I had been looking for a while for an object of identification that I had lost, I thought inside my house. My search for it took on urgency this week and I tore my house apart looking in unlikely places after I searched the likely places, all the while convinced that I knew the last time I had carried it with me. Exhausted and agitated I decide to take my advice and calm myself. I used my heart rhythm meditation holding the image of my ID in my mind while I counted my breaths and gradually the circumstances came to me of the true last time I had carried it. I walked to one of my bags and unzipped the little outer pocket and there was my lost object.

Today I was pleased to see taking a pause recommended for organizations, as well. I was reading a white paper from the Center for Creative Leadership, Transforming Your Organization by John McGuire, Charles Palus, William Pasmore and Gary Rhodes. Among the many interesting observations and recommendations was one technique that organizations can use in encouraging a culture of agility and flexibility and that is taking a collective pause. They say “slowing down to power up” is essential in leading change because it allows the opportunity to discover and address the underlying beliefs and assumptions of the current situation, and address “challenges at a root level.”

The pause, the breath, is a wonderful back to basics technique for centering, refreshing, discovering and new purposeful action.

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