Accidental Mindfulness

Many people practice meditation to create the space needed to witness the activities of their minds. In time, and with practice, the mind is able to become more settled in meditation. Eventually, it may be possible to access deep insight with this part of the mind; this is wisdom mind. Wisdom mind is open, receptive and clear. In wisdom mind we are deeply centred and connected to a sense of universal energy; this opens us to insight or profound intuition. There are other approaches to accessing wisdom mind. We may also experience it spontaneously, as the following story illustrates.

In March 2002 I was in a car crash. I left my home at about 4:30 am to drive to the airport. It was a cold, icy morning; I scraped the windscreen and set off, slightly late. As I drove out of my village on the familiar country road, my mind was busy considering parking options at the airport. I took the first curve of an S-bend slightly too fast and on the second curve I felt the car slide sideways. It didn’t correct as it sometimes seems to, and I knew immediately that I had hit ice and no longer had control of the car. This “knowing” arrived fully formed, rather than in words, accompanied by a spike of alarm, my reptilian brain in action. My mammalian brain kicked in quickly: What to do? Don’t know. Mustn’t touch brakes. What then? Don’t know, mustn’t touch brakes. All in a second. Panic.

Then something else happened, a calm assessment; I only know what I mustn’t do, so I must go with this. A memory of falling in a faint and landing unhurt flashed through my mind and I thought, “My best chance is to relax until the car comes to a halt.” My mind was clear, spacious and light. I relaxed back into the seat, closed my eyes, experienced lumps and bumps as the car hit the opposite verge, spun 180 degrees, tipped into a ditch, and stopped. I thought, “I’m alive” and scanned my body. There were no obvious signals of damage. Later I found I had a couple of bumps and bruises and slight whiplash, but basically I was okay.

In this experience my mind and body co-operated to give me a good chance of survival, thanks also to the fact that the car did what it should and crumpled, protecting me. I attribute my experience to quickly accepting that my analytical, problem-solving brain had run out of options; in being able to let go, I created space for wisdom mind.

Does any part of this story resonate for you? How do you receive the internal alarm calls that your nervous system and basic brain provide? What activity does this typically spark in your problem-solving mind? How do you recognise when wisdom mind is present? Each of these aspects of our brain has utility and purpose. In cultivating mindfulness we become sensitive to the activities of our mind and so are able to consider which aspect offers a skilful and appropriate response to our current circumstances.

If we seek to grow our capacity to more consistently inhabit our finest leadership spirit, we will support our quest through practice in centring body, energy and mind. As we become centred, the focus of our attention shifts. We are less interested in task, in what is produced or delivered, and we begin to attend to how things come into being, and the qualities that create the conditions for potential to emerge. In Taoist philosophy, this moment is called wu chi, the moment of stillness and emptiness that is full of potential. Perhaps it is our way of being that creates potential, not what we do or say. How would the quality of our leadership conversations change if we believed this statement to be true?

As we inhabit a different form of presence, we invoke a change in energy in our conversations, prompting a different form of presence in those present. The quality of our presence influences what is possible, and since this is a factor in which we have some sway, this is fertile ground for changing our leadership conversations.

***

Excerpted from the forthcoming Pause for Breath: Bringing the Practices of Mindfulness and Dialogue to Leadership Conversations, by Amanda Ridings and available 4 July 2011. Pause for Breath uses stories, practice activities, and inquiry to explore mind, body, and spirit approaches to raising awareness of our contributions to, and impact in, conversations. To pre-order, contact info@originate.org.uk Amanda Ridings, based in Scotland, is an executive coach, coach supervisor, and t’ai chi practitioner committed to supporting systemic change “one leadership conversation at a time.”