Summary

The article emphasizes the importance of self-awareness and mindfulness by asking oneself two introspective questions: "What are you experiencing right now?" and "What's important to you right now?"

Abstract

The Power of Personal Pauses discusses the significance of present-time self-awareness and mindful living as taught by Dr. Jeremy Hunter. In his lecture, Dr. Hunter, an expert in mindful leadership, encourages individuals to pause and reflect on their current experiences and priorities. This practice is crucial for personal growth and ethical decision-making, as it allows individuals to address their emotional states and align their actions with their values. The article suggests that by sincerely engaging with these questions at moments of solitude, such as at a café or kitchen table, people can connect with their deeper feelings and needs, leading to a more purposeful and peaceful life. The author, Marlane, shares personal insights into the process, illustrating the benefits of mindfulness and the power of living in the present moment.

Opinions

Dr. Jeremy Hunter believes that being aware of one's current emotional state is essential for ethical leadership and organizational change.
The article posits that without self-awareness and emotional clarity, one's actions may be negatively influenced by unaddressed feelings like anger or frustration.
It is suggested that taking time for personal reflection can lead to a purity of purpose and more meaningful contributions to the world.
The author, Marlane, personally experiences the value of these reflective questions, finding that they help in identifying and addressing immediate concerns and feelings.
The article conveys that the process of sitting with one's questions and answers is a crucial step towards understanding oneself and finding a way forward, even when facing pain and darkness.
It is implied that lasting solutions and directions in life come from within, through mindful listening to one's own thoughts and feelings.

The Power of Personal Pauses

What are you experiencing right now?

Photo by Bewakoof.com Official on Unsplash

We’re social creatures. We gather in twos or threes or hundreds, in real places or online, and ask each other endless questions:

· How are you?

· What have you been doing?

· What are your plans?

· Why do you feel that way?

But we seldom ask ourselves the same questions.

In the online Mindful Living Summit, Dr. Jeremy Hunter gave a talk titled Mindful Leadership: Live and Work with Purpose. Dr. Hunter is the founding director of Executive Mind Leadership Institute and associate professor of practice at the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management. In other words, he knows what he’s talking about.

A question he asks his students is:

What are you experiencing right now?

The people in his lecture room want to transform the way businesses operate. They want to create ethical organisations. They want to change the world.

But he asks them: What are you experiencing right now?

The point of this question is to bring them to a state of present-time self-awareness. If someone’s current state of mind includes emotions like anger, frustration or regret, then they’re not able to do grand things for other people. What they do will be tainted. It will lack purity of purpose. I suppose the point behind the question is: Fix yourself, then fix the world.

Another question he asks is:

What’s important to you right now?

Maybe it’s time you took yourself to a café, or sat yourself down at the kitchen table, and asked yourself these two very good questions.

When you ask someone a question, there’s usually a pause before they answer, especially if you’ve asked it with sincerity.

So when you ask yourself a question, ask it sincerely, and settle into that pause.

The pause allows you to tune in to your deeper well, where meaningful, honest answers dwell.

I sit at the kitchen table and ask myself the two question.

What am I experiencing right now?

Pain. Pain in my lower back. It’ll be gone in a few days if I stretch correctly, take short walks, use a T.E.N.S. machine and rest. (It’s temporary — it clicked out when I turned incorrectly while carrying a big bucket of water.)

What’s important to me right now?

Ahh. A long pause. What surfaces? Being peaceful.

These are my answers. What are yours?

Your answers may express more pain and darkness than mine. For example, you may be experiencing intense loneliness, and what is important to you (perhaps contact with other people) may seem unattainable.

But sitting quietly with your questions and answers is the important first step.

And you’ll be shown the way forward because you’ve taken the time to listen to yourself.

Lasting answers come from within.

Living with mindfulness

What makes these questions so powerful is their emphasis on right now.

These questions aren’t about yesterday or next year. They’re about now.

And that’s all we’ve got to work with.

With love, Marlane