Welcome,
This is a brief,
Presence,
Noticing and perspective taking meditation for people who work with other people.
It will invite you to take a different perspective of some things that might not normally spark your interest or grab your attention,
But with this different perspective something very interesting and valuable might emerge.
This meditation is best done sitting on a chair in a room where you won't be disturbed for the next few minutes.
So feel yourself seated in your chair with your hands comfortably on your lap and when you're ready gently close your eyes.
It's time to slow down for a few moments.
Feel the areas of your body that are in contact with the chair.
Feel your feet on the floor and sense the quiet support they're providing to you here right now.
Feel your posture and your spine.
Adjust it so that your spine feels comfortably tall and extended.
Now notice your breath flowing in and out.
Feel the rhythm that is there,
A rhythm that is always there but something that each of us may not notice as we go about our busy days.
Now feeling your breathing pay particular attention to your out-breath and with each out-breath feel the muscles of your face release any tension that might have been there.
Let a softness and ease emerge across your face.
You are here in a place where you are in charge of where you place your attention.
You're in a position to notice things with more interest than you might normally do.
So I'd like you to imagine a typical day for you at your work and that you can see or sense all of the people that you rely on and who rely on you in your work.
You're on a balcony where you can choose where you place your attention.
You are taking time to notice with more purpose and with more interest.
You've paused from your own work and can now see everyone doing what it is that they do.
For those of you who work with people in the one physical space,
This might be easier to imagine.
If you and your people are more dispersed on the other hand,
Maybe in different offices or working from home,
Still imagine and appreciate all of you,
Networked as you are,
Working in the ways that you do from this elevated balcony position you've established in your mind.
But you are now looking at things a bit differently than you might normally do.
Today,
You are consciously deciding on where you place your attention.
It sounds easy,
Doesn't it?
But not so easy in the reality of our day-to-day busyness.
Too often,
When with other people,
In meetings or other interactions,
Our attention can be shallow.
It can be divided.
It can be distracted.
When we're with others,
We can be here,
But not really here.
We multitask,
We get distracted by incoming emails and messages,
And do all sorts of things that might seem efficient in the moment,
But serve to undervalue who and what's here,
Now and in front of us.
Think about where this is or has been apparent for you.
Which situations?
Which people?
What comes to mind?
What does this imply for how you are showing up?
And what will it mean if you keep showing up in this way?
How will others experience you?
What will accumulate?
What opportunities might you not notice again and again?
If,
Instead,
You opened up to intentional noticing,
What might open up for you?
The late leadership scholar Warren Bennis often said that the best leaders also tend to be first-class noticers.
Today,
You'll be thinking about what it would be like for you to more consciously be a better noticer.
You'll be lifting above what might normally have your attention to a place on this special,
Elevated,
And more attentive balcony.
You,
Here,
In this co-inhabited space,
But attentive to others,
Tending to what's in front of you in a very different way.
Some questions to ask yourself from this different perspective.
What am I assuming about what goes on around me?
About how things are?
About the people?
About what's important to them?
Who am I really close with?
Who do I warm to?
What is it about them?
What is this closeness based on?
And who presents a particular challenge to me?
What exactly is it about them?
What have I assumed about them?
Their strengths.
Their interests.
Or their values.
Where am I black and white in my views on how things just are?
And from this elevated view that you now have,
Across this broader co-inhabited space that you now see,
Ask yourself what stories lie within and across this broader context.
What might I have glossed over?
Or ignored?
Or not looked for?
That could be interesting.
That could be very interesting.
What important stories are here?
So,
In slowing down in this way,
With this elevated perspective,
What does it mean for you and the next interaction that matters?
How will you be?
How will you intentionally be?
Too often,
We ignore the richness of what's in front of us.
There is useful information that is just waiting to be seen.
Now,
At whatever pace you're comfortable with,
We'll begin to bring this meditation to a close.
Gently remind yourself what it was that you found particularly useful over the last few minutes,
And the quality of being that you'd like to cultivate from here.
Now,
Begin to open your eyes and move in.
Move your body.
Today,
Let yourself notice more deeply,
More intentionally,
And see what happens.
