Q. In the Appendix to the coursebook it states that meditation is not necessary to connect to your natural self — is mindfulness not important?
A. Mindfulness is exceptionally important, and fundamentally represents the ‘rest’ phase discussed in the manual. For that reason, mindfulness can take any form of ‘rest’ from ‘work’.
Meditation can be thought of as an extreme form of rest, sitting at the opposite end of the spectrum to extreme sports. There are then many other forms of mindfulness which exist between the two extremes, and as mentioned in the manual, regular walking is a good start.
One problem we currently face is that mindfulness ‘techniques’ are now entering the mainstream, and on the whole they are being misapplied because the mechanics of time are not yet fully understood. Because of this they can cause you more harm than good if not approached properly.
Crucially, any mindfulness technique should be undertaken with a full and unequivocal intent to first ‘slow down’, and to review and alter any current work actions that are causing you difficulties.
If you otherwise use the knowledge and energy you gain from mindfulness techniques to ‘speed up’ in a working sense then you are moving yourself into more difficulties, not less.
It is crucial that this dynamic is fully taken on board. Like Marty in Back To The Future, it is important to consciously decide to first go back to then go forwards, to commit to changing any aspects of your life that you are not currently comfortable with.
Depending on your current situation, this can be one of the greatest hurdles to overcome, as sometimes there can seem to be no way out from the way you work, especially when this is often tied in with money factors.