Category: Mindful Self-Leadership

Categories
Energy Meditation Life-fullness meditation and creativity Meditation and Psychology Meditation Recordings Mindful Self-Leadership Motivation and scope

Mindful of emotions: 2 short videos (& Summer solstice medi this weekend)

“Relax into your stress, rather than contracting away from it” 

Dear Integral Meditators,

Below are two short videos (1 minute each) on how to use mindfulness to increase your emotional intelligence, enjoy!

A final reminder of this  Saturday’s online Emotional Intelligence Masterclass  in the afternoon, 3-5pm.
On Sunday 21st, 6-7pm there will be the annual Summer solstice balancing and renewing meditation, & before that  Qi gong workout.

In the spirit of feeling well,

Toby

In case you missed it, here is this weeks article on emotional intelligence!

Video 1: On mindfulness and emotional intelligence – 4 steps

 

Video 2: Relaxing into emotional stress and tension

 


Saturday 20th June, 3-5pm – Mindfulness for emotional intelligence masterclass

This masterclass will lead you on an experiential journey to:

  • Understand what feelings, moods and emotions are and how to build an effective relationship to them
  • How to consolidate and expand your existing emotional strengths
  • How to deal with difficult and challenging emotions, and even turn them to your advantage
  • How to increase the diversity/range of emotions that are available to you for enjoyment, pleasure and life-effectiveness!

Read full details

Life-fullness – The Integral Life-Coaching Program with Toby

Are you looking a coach who can help you to:

  • Meet the challenges, stress and changes that you face in a more effective and mindful way
  • Become happier within yourself, in your relationships and at work
  • Be actively accountable for finding a sense of balance/well-being in your life and fulfilling your personal potential?
  • Guide you to find and operate from a deeper sense of meaning, motivation and connectivity in your life?

Read full details…


Saturday 20th June, 10.30am-12noon – ONLINE Get your meditation practice started now – The shortest & most time effective meditation course ever

This is a truly practical and super short (90min) workshop that teaches you:

  • What meditation is and how it works
  • How to start your own effective daily meditation practice with just a five minute a day commitment
  • Provides you not only with the workshop but also with support materials; MP3 meditation recordings (1×15 minute and 3x 5 minute), short articles and diagrams to help you keep meditating after the workshop.

Read full details


Sunday 21st June, 6-7pm – Summer solstice balancing & renewing meditation (Livestream)

The Summer Solstice (Called by the Celts ‘Alban Hefin’, or ‘the Light of Summer’) is the high point of summer in the northern hemisphere, the point of the Suns maximum power in the year, & the longest day. It is a good time to attune the life-force in the earth & creative energies within ourselves. We will be taking the time to get in touch with our own inner power, solar confidence & expressive self.

Full details of session


Saturday 27th June, 2.30-5.30pm – Breathing meditation livestream masterclass

Learn a multi-faceted breathing meditation practice that helps you grow and learn in the face of life’s challenges, and connect you to deep inner stability.

Many mindfulness and meditation techniques use the breathing. However, with only superficial understanding meditation on the breathing can easily become stagnant, mechanical and, after a while boring! This masterclass teaches six complementary breathing techniques that will help you to…
Full details of session


Sunday June 21st & 28th, 5-5.50pm – Online Qi gong workout class

This is a Qi gong session that begins with movement, breathing and energy work to thoroughly energize and refresh your body, nervous system and energy meridians  and regenerate your physical, energetic, mental and spiritual being…read full details

 

Online Integral Meditation & Mindfulness classes

Build focus, beat stress, cultivate wellbeing!

Each session involves simple practices that you can apply to make a real difference to your wellbeing and effectiveness in life…full details of classes

 

All upcoming classes and workshops for at IMA:

Weekly Online class schedule

Ongoing on Wednesday’s, 7.30-8.30pm – Wednesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby (Bukit Timah)

Ongoing on Tuesday evenings, 7.30-8.30pm – Tuesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby  (East Coast)

Tuesday’s at 12.30-1.20 – Ongoing Tuesday Lunchtime meditation class @Space2B

Ongoing Sundays 6-6.50pm –  Qi gong energy body activation meditation (Livestream)

Saturday 20th June 10.30am-12noon – ONLINE Get your meditation practice started now – The shortest & most time effective meditation course ever

Saturday 20th June, 3-5pm – Mindfulness for emotional intelligence masterclass

Sunday 21st June, 6-7pm – Summer solstice balancing & renewing meditation (Livestream)

Saturday 27th June, 2.30-5.30pm – Breathing meditation livestream masterclass

Sunday June 21st, 28th – Qi gong workout class

Sunday 5th July, 6-7pm – Online Monthly Full Moon Meditation & Manifestation Session

Categories
Inner vision Integral Meditation Integrating Ego, Soul and Spirit Life-fullness Meditation and Art meditation and creativity Meditation and Psychology Meditation techniques mind body connection Mindful Resilience Mindful Self-Leadership Presence and being present

Appreciating Uncertainty & Change – Wabi-Sabi Mindfulness

“Work creatively, appreciatively  with impermanence, imperfection, uncertainty in a way that invites curiosity and excitement (rather than debilitating anxiety)”

Dear Integral Meditators,

At the moment, we are going through a time of unprecedented uncertainty and change. The article below explores practical ways of responding mindfully and creatively to the challenge. I’ve called it “Wabi-sabi mindfulness”, after one of my favorite artistic movements!

In the spirit of appreciation,

Toby

In case you missed it: Here is a 20 minute beginners mind meditation
…that I recently recorded. Actually it is more like a beginners body, mind and heart meditation. In it we use the image of a new moon, and a new-born baby as a way to re-invigorate ourselves with new life and new possibilities. Enjoy!

Appreciating uncertainty and change – Wabi-Sabi Mindfulness

Originally ‘Wabi-sabi’ is a type of Japanese aesthetic found in the arts and crafts, specifically in ceramic and home decoration. It works with an appreciation of the way in which impermanence, imperfection and decay affect everyday objects, and our life.
‘Wabi-sabi mindfulness’ is a particular approach to self-leadership that I have developed. It has has five main elements

  1.  You are are the artist and the creative force in your life
  1. Life is perpetually changing, unfinished (or uncertain) and imperfect – This needs to be accepted and flowed with, rather than resisted
  2. If they can be accepted, change, imperfection and uncertainty can be appreciated for their own particular aesthetic and beauty – This stage is the essence of Wabi-sabi
  3. You are the leader who is responsible for the next creative act – You are responsible for the ongoing creation of your imperfect, uncertain and beautiful life
  4. Working creatively, appreciatively and responsibly with impermanence, imperfection and uncertainty in a way that invites curiosity and excitement (rather than debilitating anxiety and fear) is the essence of Wabi-Sabi mindfulness and self leadership.

Pointers for practice:
Following on from the above, here are five Wabi-sabi mindfulness practices. Each practice has a link to a previous article of mine on the subject:

  • Awaken your inner artist – Practice seeing and experiencing yourself as the Artist and creative force in your life.
  • Acceptance – Observe and notice the impermanence, imperfection and uncertainty in your life, practice accepting and working with it, rather than resisting or denying it.
  • Appreciation – Notice the things about impermanence, imperfection and uncertainty can enhance your appreciation. “When you truly know what you have is transient, then you can short-circuit the natural tendency that we all have to take things for granted. This in turn gives us a powerful incentive to appreciate what we have, and make the most of it today.”
  • Self responsibility – Habitually choose to take responsibility for your life. based upon acceptance and appreciation, choose your direction forward! We can receive support and encouragement from others in our life, but finally we are the ones who are responsible for choosing what we want, and taking the direction that we want.
  • Moving from negative anxiety to curiosity and excitement – Whenever we have uncertainty in our life, or when things move from predictable and ‘under control’ to unpredictable it means that there is a creative window opening up in our life; a window that if we are open to we can find opportunities to grow, learn and enjoy. We can learn to respond to our anxiety with excitement rather than stress.

Article © Toby Ouvry 2020. You are welcome to share, but Please do not reproduce without permission.

Sundays 6-6.50pm – Qi gong energy body activation meditation (Livestream)

These are Qi gong meditation sessions to activate and enhance the flow of ‘qi’ or subtle energy in your body. We will then be using this flow for:

  • Enhancing physical health and healing
  • Increased emotional wellbeing and mental balance
  • Access to deeper, more dynamic meditation states to transform and regenerate your body, mind and soul…Full details of session

Read full details

Saturday 31st May, 2-5.30pm  – Wabi-Sabi mindfulness – The art of creative leadership and self-leadership, A Livestream workshop

In a sentence: Learn how to work creatively with uncertainty, imperfection and life’s inherent messiness to realize your leadership and self-leadership potential.  Manage stress and anxiety better using mindfulness in combination with the practical philosophy of Wabi-Sabi.
Full details of the workshop

Online Integral Meditation & Mindfulness classes

Build focus, beat stress, cultivate wellbeing!

Each session involves simple practices that you can apply to make a real difference to your wellbeing and effectiveness in life…full details of classes

All upcoming classes and workshops for at IMA:

Weekly Online class schedule

Ongoing on Wednesday’s, 7.30-8.30pm – Wednesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby (Bukit Timah)

Ongoing on Tuesday evenings, 7.30-8.30pm – Tuesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby  (East Coast)

Ongoing Sundays 6-6.50pm –  Qi gong energy body activation meditation (Livestream)

Tues 5th & Weds May 6th, 7.30-8.30pm – Online Full Moon Meditation & Manifestation Session

Sat 23rd 6-7pm, Tues 26th 7.30-8.30pm, Weds 27th 7.30-8.3pm May  – Monthly new moon, new beginnings visualization and envisioning sessions

Saturday 31st May, 2-5.30pm  – Wabi-Sabi mindfulness – The art of creative leadership and self-leadership, A Livestream workshop

Tues 2nd & Weds May 3rd, 7.30-8.30pm – Online Full Moon Meditation & Manifestation Session

Saturday 20th June 10.30am-12noon – ONLINE Get your meditation practice started now – The shortest & most time effective meditation course ever

Integral Meditation AsiaOnline Courses * 1:1 Coaching * Books * Live Workshops * Corporate Mindfulness Training *Life-Coaching *  Meditation Technology

Categories
A Mind of Ease Insight Meditation Integral Meditation Life-fullness Meditation and Psychology Meditation class and workshop updates Meditation Recordings Meditation techniques Mindful Self-Leadership Mindfulness

Meditation recording – Think well or don’t think (& new visualization & qi gong meditation)

Dear Integral Meditators,

Here’s this weeks guided meditation, you can read more about the practice in the article below, essentially its how to practice three mindful positions around your thinking:
8 minute power meditation on thinking well or not thinking

Lots of new online sessions coming up, including Sunday Qi gong light body meditation, a visualization masterclass, and next week’s Full Moon and Wesak meditations.  Scroll down below for the details!

In the spirit of mindful thinking,

Toby

Article: Think well or don’t think

Here’s a mindful game that you can play with yourself. Take a period of time, say between 3-15 minutes. In this time frame your principle object of mindfulness is going to be your thoughts. The rules are that whatever you are thinking about you should either think about it well or simply stop your thinking…  Read full article

Sundays 6-6.50pm – Qi gong energy body activation meditation (Livestream)

These are Qi gong meditation sessions to activate and enhance the flow of ‘qi’ or subtle energy in your body. We will then be using this flow for:

  • Enhancing physical health and healing
  • Increased emotional wellbeing and mental balance
  • Access to deeper, more dynamic meditation states to transform and regenerate your body, mind and soul…Full details of session

 

Tues 5th & Weds May 6th – Online Full Moon Meditation & Manifestation Session

This meditation, done on or around the full moon capitalises on the heightened lunar energies at this time of the month to:

  • Bring energy and health to our physical body
  • Increase benevolent, life affirming emotions such as appreciation, joy and gratitude
  • Release patterns of energy, thinking and feeling that are no longer serving us
  • Focus on clarifying our intentions and manifesting our current life-goals

Read full details 

Thursday 7th May, 6.30-7.30pm – Wesak Meditation on Compassion

Toby will be leading a meditation to help you to:

  • Find a place of coolness, peace and stability amidst the turbulence of your own life.
  • Connect to the energy of compassion.
  • Connect to your own deeper intention to work for the greater good.
  • Connect to the ‘Community of Bodhisattvas’, those indomitable beings who work continuously for the wellbeing of the world

Full details of Wesak class

Saturday 16th May, 4-6pm – Mindful Envisioning – A meditation, visualization & imagining masterclass

A picture speaks a thousand words! Learn how to build powerful meditation states through your imagination and visualization that can be put to many practical uses…
Read more about the workshop

Online Integral Meditation & Mindfulness classes

Build focus, beat stress, cultivate wellbeing!

Each session involves simple practices that you can apply to make a real difference to your wellbeing and effectiveness in life…full details of classes

 

 

All upcoming classes and workshops for at IMA:

Weekly Online class schedule

Ongoing on Wednesday’s, 7.30-8.30pm – Wednesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby (Bukit Timah)

Ongoing on Tuesday evenings, 7.30-8.30pm – Tuesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby  (East Coast)

Ongoing Sundays 6-6.50pm –  Qi gong energy body activation meditation (Livestream)

Tues 5th & Weds May 6th, 7.30-8.30pm – Online Full Moon Meditation & Manifestation Session

Thursday 7th May, 6.30-7.30pm – Online Wesak Meditation on Compassion

Saturday 16th May, 4-6pm – Mindful Envisioning – A meditation, visualization & imagining masterclass

Saturday 16th May 10.30am-12noon – ONLINE Get your meditation practice started now – The shortest & most time effective meditation course ever

Integral Meditation AsiaOnline Courses * 1:1 Coaching * Books * Live Workshops * Corporate Mindfulness Training *Life-Coaching *  Meditation Technology

Categories
A Mind of Ease Inner vision Life-fullness Meditation and Psychology Meditation techniques Mindful Self-Leadership Mindfulness Motivation and scope Presence and being present

Controlling the future

W

“On a practical level I find that if I am being effective in the moment, then what I do tends to set up ‘waves’ of energy where a good, successful and/or unexpectedly pleasurable future emerges alive and well from the here and now”

Dear Integral Meditators,

The unpredictability of the future is a big thing right now, in the article below I outline a few mindful positions will help you set up a way of working with the future that is both sustainable, enjoyable and effective!

The Men’s Group starts again on the 27th April, online of course, as is this Saturdays Livestream Beginners meditation workshop.

In the spirit if the present dancing into the future,

Toby

Controlling the future

Mindfulness is not just about being ‘in the present moment’, it’s also about developing a conscious relationship to how we approach and think about the past and future.
If you look at the source if much of your anxiety and fear, much will be about the future. Because the future is by definition uncertain, a certain degree of anxiety and concern is natural. However, if we respond to this anxiety by obsessively trying to control and predict the future, then that won’t help us too much. Reasons for this include:

  • We aren’t very good about trying to predict the future. What actually happens in the future often defies and contradicts our best predictions
  • Trying to hard to control the future leads to mental rigidity, where we close ourself off to options arising in the present moment that could give rise to a better future than the one we are trying so hard to create through control

Having said this, General Eisenhower also said:
“No battle was ever won according to plan, but no battle was ever won without one…plans are useless but planning is indispensable”

For me this captures very well the dilemma about how to approach the future. You have to think ahead and plan, but you also have to let go and meet the future as it arises in this moment, and be prepared to dance and improvise!
With this in mind, here is a simple mindful pattern or process that you can establish in order to work effectively with the future:

  1. For a short period of time in your day, bring your attention to your future. With all your mindful wisdom and intelligence, plan, strategize and set up tasks for the next 24 hours or so that you think gives you the best chance of getting you to your best future.
  2. Then, stop dwelling on the future! Focus on relaxing into the present moment, keeping your attention on what you are doing. Avoid rumination, unnecessary anxiety, and trying to predict or trying control the future.
  3. Set aside a ‘next time’ when you are going to think about the future. Before that time, if you notice yourself dwelling anxiously on uncertainty, or trying to predict or control, let go of it and come back to the present moment, Just stop! Focus on relaxing, and on the execution of your chosen tasks.

This practice enables you to set up a positive polarity between:

  • Effective, conscious thinking regarding the future, and
  • Enjoyment of the present moment, and the effective execution of your activities in that moment

The funny thing is, on a practical level I find that if I am being effective in the moment, then what I do tends to set up ‘waves’ of energy where a good, successful and/or unexpectedly pleasurable future emerges alive and well from the here and now.
Enjoy dancing from the present into the future!

Article content © Toby Ouvry & Integral Meditation Asia 2019.

Starts April 27th 7-8.15pm – The Men’s Group Online – The path of conscious manhood

How can you move from coping to thriving in your life as a man?

Much is asked of men in their traditional roles as fathers and sons, partners and husbands, students and teachers, employees and employers….read full details

Get Your Meditation Practice Started Now Online – The Shortest and Most Time Effective Meditation Workshop Ever

This practical and super short (90min) workshop teaches you:

  • What meditation is and how it works
  • How to start your own effective daily meditation practice with just a five minute a day commitment
  • Provides you not only with the workshop but also with support materials; MP3 meditation recordings (1×15 minute and 3x 5 minute), short articles and diagrams to help you keep meditating after the workshop.

Online Integral Meditation & Mindfulness classes

Build focus, beat stress, cultivate wellbeing!

Each session involves simple practices that you can apply to make a real difference to your wellbeing and effectiveness in life…full details of classes

Online Class schedule:

Sunday evening, 6-.45pm – Class link: https://zoom.us/j/675470535

Monday lunchtime, 12.30-1.15pm – Class link: https://zoom.us/j/590663680

Tuesday lunchtime, 12.30-1.15pm – Class link: https://zoom.us/j/321314189

Tuesday Evening: 7.30-8.30pm – Class link: https://zoom.us/j/555319558

Wednesday Evening: 7.30-8.30pm – Class link: https://zoom.us/j/609271461

Thursday evening, 18.30-19.15 – Class link: https://zoom.us/j/757015034

All classes in Singapore time. Not in Singapore? Check the time for your country HERE.

How to sign up: Simply message info@tobyouvry.com or +6596750279 with the time of the class that you wish to attend. The link to attend each class is next to the class. Then make payment using the methods detailed below.

Cost: SGD$30 per class, or set of 4 classes for $100

Payment can be made in Singapore using PayNow on +6596750279, Or you can use the PayPal Link HERE to pay from anywhere in the world.

To pay for a set of 4 classes on PayPal, click HERE.

All upcoming classes and workshops for at IMA:

Weekly Online class schedule

Ongoing on Wednesday’s, 7.30-8.30pm – Wednesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby (Bukit Timah)

Ongoing on Tuesday evenings, 7.30-8.30pm – Tuesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby  (East Coast)

Saturday 25th April 10.30am-12noon – ONLINE Get your meditation practice started now – The shortest & most time effective meditation course ever

Starts April 27th 7-8.15pm – The Men’s Group Online – The path of conscious manhood

Friday, Sat, Sunday 17,18,19th April Online – The Qi Gong Foundation Program & Program for coaches and trainers 

Tues 5th & Weds May 6th – Online Full Moon Meditation & Manifestation Session

Ongoing  – The Integral Mindfulness & Meditation Online Program, January-July 2020

Integral Meditation Asia

Online Courses * 1:1 Coaching * Books * Live Workshops * Corporate Mindfulness Training *Life-Coaching *  Meditation Technology

Categories
A Mind of Ease Inner vision Integral Meditation Life-fullness meditation and creativity Meditation and Psychology Mindful Confidence Mindful Resilience Mindful Self-Leadership Mindfulness Motivation and scope Presence and being present Stress Transformation

Mindfully getting outside of your comfort zone

W
“Often, discovering the best that is possible for us in life involves deliberately, soulfully and mindfully getting out of our comfort zone! What can you start with today?”
 W
Dear Integral Meditators,

This weeks article explores the relationship between comfort and discomfort, and how to create a complementary relationship between the two. You can also watch my video on the subject: Getting mindfully comfortable in order to get out of your comfort zone.In the spirit of getting comfortable with the uncomfortable,

Toby

Mindfully getting outside of your comfort zone

The ‘improvements’ of contemporary life
If you look at the way in which our life has gotten better as a result of technology, a lot of it has to do with comfort. You can get your favourite restaurant food ordered to your door, you can find information about whatever you want on Google, you can communicate with everyone thru your phone without having to leave your chair. The thing to notice about this is that comfort is not the same thing as greater fulfillment, happiness or well-being. Indeed, many forms of fulfillment and reward in life require and initial risk, or getting out of our comfort zone in order to receive the genuine reward of improved quality of life.
If we don’t watch out, we can get trapped in a subtle addiction to pursuing comfort in the false expectation that it can give us fulfillment on a deeper level, which of course it can’t.

So then, one really useful mindful question to ask ourselves is: “What can I do today to get out of my comfort zone and move towards deeper fulfillment?”
The purpose of this question is to ensure that we don’t get trapped in our comfort zone in a way that denies us the possibility a truly fulfilling, exciting and dynamic life.

Getting physically out of your comfort zone
An obvious and basic place to start is the physical level. Getting out of your comfort zone physically enables us to get fit, build physical skills and abilities, and avoid the consequences of an overly sedentary life.

Getting out of your emotional, mental and relational comfort zone
For many people getting out of their psychological and social comfort zone represents a bigger risk than just getting out of their physical one. Expanding your emotional range, spending time with people that are outside of your normal social circle all requires effort and discomfort. However, the consequent reward, fulfilment, and expansion of possibilities for us often rewards the effort many times over.

Combining genuine comfort and ease with engaging discomfort
Of course this isn’t saying that we shouldn’t  Have good quality periods of ease and restorative comfort in our life. Indeed, I’m writing this on my way back from a deeply enjoyable and ease inducing holiday! The practice here is to dance each day between healthy comfort and healthy discomfort, the goal in mind being to act In a way that brings us as much genuine fulfillment as possible.
Often, discovering the best that is possible for us in life involves deliberately, soulfully and mindfully getting out of our comfort zone! What can you start with today?

Watch Toby’s video on getting mindfully out of your comfort zone here: 

Article content © Toby Ouvry & Integral Meditation Asia 2020.

The Life-fullness Life Coaching Program with Toby

Life-fullness coaching is a unique integration of mindfulness and life-coaching that is designed to help you lead a progressively more awakened life. The essence of the Life-fullness approach is to integrate the different parts of who we are into complementary strengths so that we can really experience ourselves living our life to its fullest…

Watch Toby talking about the  Life-fullness Program:

All upcoming classes and workshops for January 2020

Ongoing on Wednesday’s, 7.30-8.30pm – Wednesday Meditation Classes at Basic Essence with Toby

Ongoing on Tuesday evenings, 7.30-8.30pm – Tuesday Meditation Classes at One Heart with Toby (East coast)

Tuesday 12.30-1.30 – Integral Meditation classes at Space2B on Stanley Street

Starts Monday January 13th, 6.30-8pm – The Men’s group, the path of conscious manhood

The Integral Mindfulness & Meditation Online Program, January-July 2020

Integral Meditation Asia

Online Courses * 1:1 Coaching * Books * Live Workshops * Corporate Mindfulness Training *Life-Coaching *  Meditation Technology

Categories
Awareness and insight creative imagery Inner vision Integral Awareness Integral Meditation Life-fullness Meditating on the Self Meditation and Art meditation and creativity Meditation techniques Mindful Resilience Mindful Self-Leadership Presence and being present

Mindful of your inner artist (Being solar not lunar) article & video

“The ‘mindful artist’ first of all notices that their thoughts, actions and interactions are creative, fundamentally. The next position they take is to choose to direct that creativity in a deliberate way so that s/he ‘creating’ the best things that they can in your life”

Dear Integral Meditators,

What does it mean to become the ‘artist of your life?’ In the article below I offer a few thoughts on this!New year is also a good time to think about new personal directions and growth, I’ve created a new video for my Life-fullness Life coaching program, that you can view below the article.

In the spirit of mindful creativity,

Toby

Mindful of your inner artist (Being solar not lunar)

‘Everyone is an artist’
Yesterday I watched the new Joseph Beuys documentary “Beuys on Beuys”. Beuys was one of the biggest influences on me when I was at art school. His idea that ‘Everyone is an artist’ was one that decisively transitioned me from being an outer artist, or object maker to being an ‘inner artist’ or a meditator. By a meditator here I mean working primarily with mind, thoughts, attention and states of being as a way of influencing, contributing to and changing the world.
Beuys’s essential point was that since we all think, act and interact in the world, we are all creative beings, beings who affect change. By becoming conscious, deliberate and mindful about this, we can direct our creative energy deliberately toward our life and society in order to effect positive, creative change.

Mindful of your inner artist
So the object of mindfulness here is to first of all notice that your thoughts, actions and interactions are creative, fundamentally. The next position to take is to choose to direct your creativity in a deliberate way so that you are ‘creating’ the best things that you can in your life. For example:

  • If you come back tired from work in the evening, rather than just being passive and reactive with your family/friends you are thinking ‘How can I create an enjoyable atmosphere here?’ This is even (and especially) if you are a bit tense or moody
  • As you are hanging out the laundry you are aware of what you are thinking, and gently directing your attention and awareness toward beautiful and constructive patterns of thinking and feeling. You are looking to use your imagination and attention in active generative ways.
  • When you are having a meeting, you are actively looking to create connection, empathy and meaning with the people that you are with. You are looking to inspire good energy in a way that will help the group become a force of the good in some way.

Becoming Solar, rather than Lunar
One way in which I often explain becoming a mindful artist is that you are becoming solar rather than lunar in nature. The moon relies upon the reflected light of the sun for its light, it has no light of its own. This is like many people, they are reactive, they rely on the power of others for their own power. For example, they have power because of the position they hold in a company, but if you separate them from that position or label, they have very little sense of their own power. Their power is reflected, lunar. A mindful artist however is a source of power and energy. S/he is a generative person. You can rely on such a person to create goodwill, inspiration, direction. If there is a situation where there is a challenge, they can be relied upon to be actively working something out.
If you meet a person who is solar in nature, who is a mindful artist, this tends to be felt and experienced by their presence. It is something that they embody, it is in their physical and somatic being, not just their mind and intellect.
What can you start with today in order to become the mindful artist that you are, and express your solar nature?

Watch Toby on Becoming the artist of your life:

Integral Meditation Asia

Online Courses * 1:1 Coaching * Books * Live Workshops * Corporate Mindfulness Training *Life-Coaching *  Meditation Technology

Categories
Awareness and insight Inner vision Integral Awareness Life-fullness Meditating on the Self meditation and creativity Meditation and Psychology Meditation techniques Mindful Resilience Mindful Self-Leadership Motivation and scope Presence and being present

Combining your Beginners Mind & your Wise Mind

W

“There is an art to combining your beginners and experienced mind that will enable you to be successful in your chosen endeavors, as well as derive more pleasure and enjoyment from them”

 W

Dear Integral Meditators,

As we sit in between the Western new year and the Chinese Lunar year, it can be an interesting time to cultivate our beginners mind, in balance with our experienced mind. The article below offers a few practical ways to start!
The Wednesday classes this week will be on the subject of the article, and the next Beginners Meditation Workshop is on Saturday the 18th.

In the spirit of the journey,

Toby

Songs of Innocence and Experience – Combining your beginners mind with your wise mind

Your beginners mind (BM) is your ability to come to a task or experience with curiosity, as if for the first time.  It may be an experience that you have had many times before, or you may literally be doing it for the first time. Either way your beginners mind is a learning mindset. It watches closely, absorbing as much information as it can. Think of a child intensely interested and involved in trying to ride a bike for the first time, and you get the idea. Your BM is happy to try and fail, try and fail, try and fail, until it succeeds.
Your beginners mind helps you to keep on learning as you get older, keep your enthusiasm for life, keep you positively humble. Your BM helps you learn new things faster, and prevents you taking familiar good things in your life for granted. Mentally it keeps you young, flexible and joyful.
The beginners mind should not be confused with simply being naïve, childish, or getting bored easily and so giving up on tasks before they are done or mastered!

Your experienced mind (EM) is the sum total of all your life experience up to this point. It knows a lot of things that are very useful in helping you navigate all the situations and choices that you have to go through each day. You might think of it as the wise old man or woman within you that compares what is happening in the moment to the past in order to see if there are any patterns, experiences or learning’s that you already have that can help you with what you are facing right now.
Your EM helps you to leverage on what you know already in order to prevent you making mistakes. It saves you time, helps avoid pain, and enjoy greater success with regard to  what you are experiencing in the moment. It recognizes that in many situations we are not complete beginners, and that that is a very good thing!
Your experienced mind should not be confused with that part of you that becomes cynical, jaded, or that thinks it ‘knows it all’. It is intelligent, helpful and alert.

Integrating your beginners and your experienced mindsets
From an integral mindfulness point of view, we try to combine the best of our beginner’s mind and experienced mind together, so they are helping each other, and us to meet our life challenges more successfully. One simple way to start doing this is to ask two questions regarding any challenge you have, and want to extract practical learning from:

  1. If I view this situation as if for the first time, what do I see and observe?
  2. What is my past experience and learning telling me about this situation?

Sit with each question for a short while, and see what perspectives and insights come from both. You can then combine them into a wise approach to your experience that combines your ability to learn in the moment (beginners mind) with your ability to use past experience effectively (experienced mind).

A simple example
Forty minutes ago I sat down to write this article. I felt a bit nervous and unsure about the content, but my experienced mind (EM) told me that if I just started mapping it out and writing, I would find the idea translated into an article.  I then set aside my EM and brought my BM to the task, seeing the content ‘as if for the first time, paying attention to the present, being curious and enthusiastic. Now here I am, at the end of my article, my work complete. It’s a simple example. How could you combine your beginners and experienced mind today in order to be successful in your chosen endeavor?

Click here to listen to a 20 minute beginners mind meditation that I recently recorded.

Related article: Appreciating the past to liberate the present

Integral Meditation Asia

Online Courses * 1:1 Coaching * Books * Live Workshops * Corporate Mindfulness Training *Life-Coaching *  Meditation Technology

Categories
Concentration creative imagery Energy Meditation Integral Awareness Meditation and Psychology Meditation techniques mind body connection Mindful Confidence Mindful Resilience Mindful Self-Leadership Mindfulness Presence and being present

Strong back, soft front

W
“By practicing a physically ‘strong back, soft front’ posture, we can get a feeling of what it is like to be inwardly strong and at the same time gentle on a psychological level.”
W 

Dear Toby,

This weeks article looks considers how physical posture can invite psychological change, and how you can cultivate real inner strength.

In the spirit of  strength and gentleness,

Toby

Strong back, soft front

Traditional meditation posture involves sitting up straight, with an unsupported back. The head and neck are above the chest and shoulders, chest above the belly, belly sitting above the hips, like a stack of bricks. One reason for this is that meditation is about alertness as much as relaxation. If you lean against something, it may be relaxing, but the danger of your alertness dipping increases. So we can sit upright to cultivate this balance of relaxation and alertness upon which all effective meditation and mindfulness relies.

Soft front, strong back
As you are sitting up straight with a strong back, you can also deliberately soften the front of your body, the chest, belly and face. So you have a soft front, backed up by a strong backbone. This can be a physical posture that reminds us of how to be in life; we can present a gentle, restrained face to the world, because we know we are strong inside. Because we are inwardly strong, we are confident enough to be gentle outside (unless it is appropriate not to be so for a specific reason).

Armoring the front to hide a weak back
Often in life our position is the opposite of strong back, soft front. We feel afraid and insecure on the inside (weak back), and so to compensate we present a strong, armored, even aggressive front to the world to compensate. This affects our sense of who we are, and how other people experience us. By practicing the ‘strong back, soft front’ posture, we can get a bodily feeling of what it is like to be inwardly strong and at the same time gentle on a psychological level.

Practicum
Spend a little time each day sitting with a strong back and soft front. Let your body learn to recognize what this feels like. As you go about your daily activities, experiment with what it is like to feel strong inside and so gentle on the outside. Try talking and acting from this place in your relationships and in the way that you interact with the world. Notice how this changes how you participate in your life, and the opportunities for creative change it opens for you.

Article content © Toby Ouvry & Integral Meditation Asia 2019.

Upcoming classes and workshops

Ongoing on Wednesday’s, 7.30-8.30pm (Restarts 21st August) – Wednesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby (Bukit Timah)

Ongoing on Tuesday evenings (Restarts 13th August), 7.30-8.30pm – Tuesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby  (East Coast)

Tuesday 12.30-1.30 – Integral Meditation classes at Space2B on Stanley Street

Tuesday and Wednesday 17,18 December – Winter solstice balancing & renewing meditation

Integral Meditation Asia

Online Courses * 1:1 Coaching * Books * Live Workshops * Corporate Mindfulness Training *Life-Coaching *  Meditation Technology

Categories
Awareness and insight Enlightened Flow Inner vision Integral Awareness Meditating on the Self Meditation and Psychology Mindful Resilience Mindful Self-Leadership Mindfulness One Minute Mindfulness

Allowing & Participating – Rethinking ‘being in control’

W
“By mindfully combining allowing and participating we can control things better, without feeling the need to be so ‘in control”
M 

Dear Integral Meditators,

This weeks article offers a couple of practical thoughts on how to re-frame our idea of being in control in a way that means less stress and more effectiveness. This weeks Wednesday meditation class will be focusing on how to work with these ideas!

In the spirit of participation,

Toby

Allowing & Participating – Rethinking ‘being in control’

I’ve recently been experiencing a time in my life where there are so many factors undergoing change that inevitably anxiety keeps coming up. When change occurs, especially deep and radical change, the part of us that wants to feel ´in control’ inevitably feels stressed because the situation feels ´out of control’.
I did a session with a client about the same topic. She was fighting with a similar feeling of trying to be ‘in control’ whilst feeling so many factors ‘out of control’. One of the ways in which we reframed our situation was to use the polarity of ‘accepting and participating’ rather than ‘in control or out of control’.
In control and out of control is a win-lose game; to control is to win, to be out of control is to loose. With allowing and participating:

  • We allow things to be uncertain, unfixed, to an extent beyond our control. By accepting we relax more comfortably into the situation we find ourself without unnecessary struggle
  • By participating, we look for ways to dance with and influence the situation in creative and constructive ways. Without trying to fix everything at once, we enjoy engaging and participating with our life each day through action that is as intelligent and playful as we are able.

When we practice allowing and participating, we can create a win-win experience: We can relax with things we can’t totally control, while staying active and engaged.
By mindfully combining allowing and participating we can control things better, without feeling the need to be so ‘in control’.

Article content © Toby Ouvry & Integral Meditation Asia 2019.

Upcoming classes and workshops

Ongoing on Wednesday’s, 7.30-8.30pm (Restarts 21st August) – Wednesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby (Bukit Timah)

Ongoing on Tuesday evenings (Restarts 13th August), 7.30-8.30pm – Tuesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby  (East Coast)

Tuesday 12.30-1.30 – Integral Meditation classes at Space2B on Stanley Street

Tues  10th & Weds 11th December – Monthly Full Moon Meditation & Manifestation Session

Saturday 14th & 15th December, 2-5.30pm – The Mindful Heart Meditation Workshop

Tuesday and Wednesday 17,18 December – Winter solstice balancing & renewing meditation

Integral Meditation Asia

Online Courses * 1:1 Coaching * Books * Live Workshops * Corporate Mindfulness Training *Life-Coaching *  Meditation Technology

Categories
creative imagery Inner vision Life-fullness meditation and creativity Meditation and Psychology Meditation techniques Mindful Resilience Mindful Self-Leadership One Minute Mindfulness Stress Transformation

Finding ledges on the steep climb

W
“During the day I practice ‘returning to a ledge’ several times, creating a safe, appreciative space where I can look after myself and also feel that the steep climb of my life is do-able, and that it is all worth it!”
S
Dear Toby,
This weeks article describes an image that I have been using for a while to enjoy and appreciate my life, even when it feels like ‘the pressure is on’! I sometimes offer it as a pratice to my coaching clients when they are going through times of stress. I hope you enjoy it.This weekend has the beginners meditation workshop on Saturday morning for those interested.In the spirit of ledges,

Toby

Finding ledges on the steep climb

I sometimes think about my life as a climb up a cliff face. Particularly when times are stressful, seemingly relentless and demanding I imagine myself climbing a steep cliff, with the destination a long way above and out of site. For most of the climb it is simply about looking around and reaching up for the next hand of foot hold, one after the next. Without a break, this would seem intimidating, so I imagine that on this climb there are small ledges that are just big enough for me to climb on and sit down. Here I can relax, regenerate and take temporary refuge. In my minds eye during the day I imagine I have reached one of these ledges. I sit and:

  • Look down of the most recent part of my climb and appreciate myself for having made the progress.
  • I imagine there is a light breeze and perhaps some sunlight. I look at the view of the landscape I have around me
  • Perhaps there are one or two rock flowers on the ledge, that help me to connect to the beauty in my life, and to know that my life is good, even amidst the pressure.
  • I breathe and take in the fresh air, I allow myself to pause and feel safe for this moment in my journey
  • I gather my strength and heart, and when I am ready I turn around and set of up the next section of my climb, renewed and more clear headed

During the day I practice ‘returning to a ledge’ several times, creating a safe, appreciative space where I can look after myself and also feel that the steep climb of my life is do-able, and that it is all worth it!

Article content © Toby Ouvry & Integral Meditation Asia 2019.

Upcoming classes and workshops

Ongoing on Wednesday’s, 7.30-8.30pm (Restarts 21st August) – Wednesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby (Bukit Timah)

Ongoing on Tuesday evenings (Restarts 13th August), 7.30-8.30pm – Tuesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby  (East Coast)

Tuesday 12.30-1.30 – Integral Meditation classes at Space2B on Stanley Street

Saturday November 16th, 11.30am-1pm – Get your meditation pratice started now – The shortest and most time effective meditation workshop ever

Saturday November 23rd, 10am-1pm – Qi Gong for Improving your Health and Energy Levels and for Self-Healing

Starts Sunday November 3rd – A six week mindfulness course for adults with ADHD

Re-Starts Monday November 4th, 6-7.30pm – The Men’s Group – The path of conscious manhood

Integral Meditation Asia

Online Courses * 1:1 Coaching * Books * Live Workshops * Corporate Mindfulness Training *Life-Coaching *  Meditation Technology