Visualizing the Next Day
/Tonight I am spending time preparing to return to my workplace after vacation. For a change, I am working on visualizing my day tomorrow. How do I want to start my day once I enter my work space? Can I see myself going through my day, but this time, see myself as calm, happy, and centered? And then, once I am there, how can I maintain a sense of inner calm? With emails to return, meetings to attend, problems to confront, it can seem daunting. It can be challenging to maintain a serene presence in the modern workplace, or in any everyday situation. The first step, if we feel affected by an external event, is to be aware of how we are feeling in that moment. Once we develop that awareness, we can step back and regroup.
This type of mindfulness is a central tenet of Buddhism and of many other philosophies. There are many different ways to express the same concept.
I am also exploring the work of José Silva, who discovered a way to monitor our thoughts, and learn to re-set our thinking to bring about healing and happiness. It involves practicing gratitude, affirmations and visualizations, similar to Buddhism. The key is to practice this regularly so that we can integrate mindfulness, or whatever one chooses to call this awareness, into each moment. Easier said than done. Our past experiences shape how our brain responds to certain situation... our brains become wired and cue us to react in the same manner each time. This does not always serve us well in our evolution toward self-actualization, so we may need to work on breaking these patterns.
What would happen if we each learned to re-set how our brains respond to recurring situations? And, to take this even further, what if we to envision ourselves and the events occurring around us unfolding in the way we desire (like athletes preparing for a competition)? Could we positively influence the outcome? Could we positively influence the energy around us, creating a more healthy environment in our workplaces or in our everyday lives?