breathe, you are in business

photo PDuncanson

Breathe,you are in business

The Art of Mindful Management

28-31 May, 2015

Seminar at EIAB, Waldbröl, Germany

It won’t take you more than 16 minutes to read it all.

Promise.

Drought hits here because a dam is there?

Is this the reason why they call them “thermic” tires?

Does building unmindfully have dreadful consequences?

Roughly one third of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year - approximately 1.3 billion tons - gets lost or wasted. Food and Agriculture Organization

Why?

Rare or well done?

Is this any of our business?

Be still and know

Be still and breathe

Ok…collectively we suffer and make others suffer a lot too.

Let see if individually we do any better.

When at work…

Or at home, with your family…

...if stakes are high, do you let fear, pride, jealousy, regrets set up the agenda?

Are you hostage of your emotions?

Do you feel understood?

Ludwig van Beethoven: Life mask made in 1812. How did he listen?

Can you listen?

Do you know what you really want?

If not...

Is it because of stress?

Is it for fear?

Is it because of hatred?

Is it craving for sex&power?

Do you do it for money?

Who is in charge?

Enough is enough.

What shall we do about all this?

Too many questions, I know, the answers will follow soon… Please, be patient.

Stop worrying too much, stop searching and thinking too much: take refuge in your own intimate Wisdom and get your strength from inside.

Your soul needs some rest.

Breathe in…

Pause and relax your body.

Breathe out…

Pause and calm your mind.

Look deeply…

See things as they really are.

Since 2500 years, we know that there is a practice that can lead us out of our difficulties:

Mindfulness

How do we practice Mindfulness?

We gently, peacefully, sink in the present moment, we follow our breathing, we relax our body and calm our mind, we feel happiness pervading our body/mind, we look and listen deeply, we practice equanimity, we embrace the interconnectedness of all things, we touch impermanence, we realize the reality of things, we are free.

We can test different solutions. We dwell in the Middle Way.

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Practicing mindfulness is very easy and simple: like singing, playing football, driving a car. It requires only some commitment, some diligence and some concentration. If you practice more, you enjoy more.

Mindfulness is a continuos, ongoing practice.

Like breathing.

We practice Mindfulness individually, while walking, sitting. We can practice mindfulness in our families, with kids, in our Communities, at work, in all aspects of our life.

The more we practice the more we enjoy Mindfulness. Like when training a skill, playing guitar, learning a language. Practice makes us skillful.

Practicing Mindfulness is easy as smiling.

When we practice mindfulness, we are fully present. We are available to life. We are aware of the reality of things as they are. We let our Wisdom manifest. We acknowledge what is. We are fresh, solid, equanimous, compassionate and wise. We know how to take decisions. We know how to inspire other people. We do the right, good things, we avoid the wrong, bad ones. We are happy and free.

We spend most of our time at work. Mindfully working together and mindfully doing business has become paramount.

Actually, sometimes, mindfulness is viewed, especially in the business community, only as a pragmatic tool to solve some problem, as a technique to achieve the company’s goals.

In my view, this is not fully correct.

I believe that the practice of mindfulness is an individual commitment that requires a certain dose of personal diligence. Mindful parents and children make a mindful family. Mindful members make a mindful team. Mindful people a mindful company. Mindful citizens a mindful Nation.

I believe that is is our individual responsibility to support the practice of mindfulness in our society, in particular in schools, in the working place, in the government and administration of our communities and institutions.

3 unique opportunities for doing something, together, now:

1. We are not alone. Millions of people, in the whole world, are now aware of the problem: we need to connect, for common results. Now is the right time to look for solutions.

2. Big players are joining us. Multinational Companies, such as Patagonia, Zappos, Medium, Google, Agile and many others are running, right now in the US, experimental transformation projects in the light of awareness.Still few in EU: many more will follow.

3. In the process of finding our own way, we can have the practical support of the EIAB (European Institute for Applied Buddhism), established in Waldbröl since 2008, where we can share our practice during specific retreats about mindful work and mindful business.

The proposal:

Let's build Mindful Companies.

We must collectively share our insights and wisdom at work. We must create conditions, in our firms, to practice mindfulness. We must support the practice, find time and spaces for it, train the basic skills of CMO (Chief Mindfulness Officer) in our Organizations, make an habit of mindfulness practice.

Mindful workers, entrepreneurs, employees, managers, for mindful business.

Let's built Business Practice Centers! Right in our working place. Easy!

We only need cushions.

Are you with us?

How can we describe a mindful Organization?

What does it really mean to set up a human, eco-friendly, resilient, sustainable, respectful, joyful, business? We want to find out. For our children’s sake!

With our mindfulness practice, we want to contribute to the design of new products, new marketing strategies, new production processes, new disposal, recycling opportunities, new finance, better human relationships.

And, to make the best of our meetings and discussions, we need the sound of the bell to keep us calm and focused and to remind us to enjoy the present moment. Simple!

A Bell of Mindfulness in any meeting, please.

My proposal is to aggregate, encourage, train, support people to form the Core Team of a new Business Community that shares the following values:

Collective responsibility Awareness Organismic form Systemic approach

Mindful Caos

Through Mindful Caos we want to:

• Create Practice Centers dedicated to business.

• Offer permanent practice, formation and training.

• Test mindful tools and techniques in real Companies.

• Support mindful transformation processes in real Companies.

• Connect different groups regarding mindful business.

• Organize worldwide meetings to share results.

5 Mindful Caos projects ready to go:

• To build a meditation room inside the premises, where anybody, anytime, could take refuge, listen and speak without negative consequences.

• To invite the bell and enjoy 5 minutes of silence before any meeting, so to recollect the thoughts and let them go: start any meting fresh, solid, calm, listening.

• To set in the working place/school hourly body and mind integration exercises and appropriate physical activity.

• To set in place in companies and organizations a new organismic structure based on functions rather than on power and hierarchy.

• To use Flow team/Open space/World cafe brainstorming and structure.

These are all just a seeds…

We know that a tree will grow…

More dreams, by the way:

We dream of happy people free of unnecessary conditioning, aware of all the wanders of our Planet. We dream of a World where food, housing, heating, work, education, health care, fun, communications, playtime, music... are shared and available to everybody. Where life is fine as it can be.

We dream of a World that is respectful of our Nature.

We dream of a World where un-useful or non healthy crops will be converted in alternative food productions and millions of people will be saved from starvation. Where non useful or non efficient factories will be transformed in more compatible activities. Where all processes, all plans, all resources will be revised in the light of right mindfulness, right view, right livelihood. We have faith that we can enjoy life at its best.

We dream of a World where we produce only useful products, for the common wellbeing, or for fun. We dream of production processes that are mindful.

We want to work in a World where finance will become more and more a commodity and a mindful tool for financing mindful projects, in the collective interest.

We dream of World were animals live happily, too.

We dream of a Meditation Room in every house, every firm, every office.

We dream of a bell of mindfulness invited in every classroom, tribunal, meeting room, laboratory, university, farm or factory.

Thank you.

Now, please, if you like, follow me in concentration for three, easy, wonderful breaths.

Because there is no way to mindfulness;

mindfulness is the way.

www.federicopagni.com