acceptance Archives - The Conscious Professional https://www.theconsciousprofessional.com/tag/acceptance/ Thu, 28 May 2026 19:56:21 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://www.theconsciousprofessional.com/thecon/wp-content/uploads/cropped-Med_Blue-32x32.png acceptance Archives - The Conscious Professional https://www.theconsciousprofessional.com/tag/acceptance/ 32 32 Love as a Form of Courage https://www.theconsciousprofessional.com/love-as-a-form-of-courage-pride-marriage-conscious-relationships/ Fri, 05 Jun 2026 04:00:04 +0000 https://www.theconsciousprofessional.com/?p=13299 June is Pride Month, and this year it also carries a very personal marker for me, my first wedding anniversary with my husband Jack. Just over a year ago, we […]

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June is Pride Month, and this year it also carries a very personal marker for me, my first wedding anniversary with my husband Jack. Just over a year ago, we stood at the top of The Gherkin, surrounded by people we love, and made our vows above the city that has held so much of our story. It was a day of beauty, joy and tenderness, but more than that, it felt like a threshold. The energy of the wedding was like an explosion of love in our lives, and in the year since, I have been surprised by how far those ripples have travelled.

Some of those ripples have been very practical and visible. Our little Boston Terrier, Juno, has arrived in our lives, bringing mischief, devotion, laughter and a daily reminder that the body knows things the mind forgets. Another ripple has been professional, as the experience of our wedding helped open a new part of my work as The Conscious Celebrant. I now have a deeper desire to help others create ceremonies rooted in presence, meaning and love. It is one of the great joys of life when a personal transformation becomes a doorway into service.

As someone who grew up somewhat divorced from the appeal of marriage, and legally excluded from it, I have been surprised by how much marriage has brought growth, evolution and learning into our lives. For many years, marriage did not feel like something that belonged to me. It seemed to belong to another kind of world, another kind of story, another set of assumptions about life and love. Even after legal change made marriage possible, I do not think I fully understood what it might mean as a lived experience.

What I am discovering is that marriage is not simply a romantic institution or a legal structure. At its best, it is a practice of revealing and witnessing. It asks us to be seen not only in our polished and generous moments, but also in our tiredness, reactivity, fear and uncertainty. It asks us to listen when we would rather defend, to soften when we would rather contract, and to keep choosing connection when the easier reflex might be distance. This is not always dramatic work. Often, it happens in the small daily moments where love becomes a choice rather than a feeling.

As our love deepens, the lessons I am learning and relearning are both simple and demanding. Marriage is a dedication to revealing and witnessing. It is a commitment to growth. It is a daily invitation to listen more closely, to speak more truthfully, and to repair when the wrinkles appear, as they do in every real relationship. Repair is not a sign that something has gone wrong. It is part of the devotion. It is how love remains alive rather than becoming an idea we once had about ourselves.

In that sense, love is not separate from confidence, but a form of courage. Not the loud kind of courage that seeks applause, but the quieter kind that allows us to be known. The courage to be seen. The courage to be wrong. The courage to be changed by another person’s presence in our life. It takes courage to let another human being witness us over time, because love, real love, will not only affirm us. It will also reveal us.

This connects deeply with my work on Conscious Confidence. I often speak about confidence as the capacity to stay present, clear, values-led and willing to act when certainty is no longer available. In professional life, that might mean speaking up in a meeting, leading through uncertainty, taking a creative risk or making a values-led decision under pressure. But the same capacity is needed in love. We need presence when emotion rises. We need clarity when old patterns appear. We need alignment when we are tempted to perform or protect. We need action when the next right step is not comfortable, but true.

This is also why my work as The Conscious Celebrant matters to me. A ceremony is not only an event. It is a threshold where love becomes visible, witnessed and consciously held. At its best, a wedding ceremony gives shape to devotion. It allows two people, and the community around them, to pause inside the ordinary rush of life and say, this matters. This love is real. This commitment is worthy of presence.

For many LGBTQ+ people, Pride is not only a celebration. It is also a remembrance. It asks us to remember those who made visibility possible, those who loved in private because they were not safe in public, and those who fought for the ordinary freedoms that others were permitted to take for granted. Marriage is one of those ordinary freedoms that was not always ordinary for us. So this year, Pride feels especially tender. I am celebrating not only identity, but devotion, belonging and the right to build a life that reflects the truth of who we are.

Perhaps this is why love matters so much in the wider conversation about leadership and human flourishing. Love teaches us presence. It teaches us listening. It teaches us repair. It teaches us that being right is not always the highest aim, and that being known is a deeper form of success than being admired. These are not soft lessons. They are some of the most challenging and necessary lessons of a conscious life.

So, this Pride Month, I am celebrating love as a form of courage. The love we fought for. The love we live. The love that steadies us. The love that reveals us. The love that calls us into deeper maturity and greater truth. And I am celebrating the strange and beautiful surprise that something I once felt excluded from has become one of the great teachers of my life.

By Neil Seligman



Neil Seligman
is a pioneer in the field of conscious leadership and a passionate advocate for mindfulness, presence, and spiritual growth at work and in life. He is the author of Conscious Leadership and 100 Mindfulness Meditations, and the Founder of The Conscious Professional.

Ready to go deeper? Here are three ways to connect:

1. Try our 10-day online mindfulness course: Zen in Ten

2. Explore 1:1 Coaching or Energy Work: Schedule Here

3. Explore Keynotes and Team Trainings: Let’s Talk

 

 

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Obstacles, Obsessions & Enrichment 2021 in Review https://www.theconsciousprofessional.com/obstacles-obsessions-enrichment-2021-in-review/ Fri, 10 Dec 2021 05:00:10 +0000 https://www.theconsciousprofessional.com/?p=11303 This has been a bit of a confusing year to look back on as it has had so many chapters and quite a number of surprises. My partner Jack and […]

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This has been a bit of a confusing year to look back on as it has had so many chapters and quite a number of surprises. My partner Jack and I started the year in lockdown in Highbury Stadium and are ending it in relative freedom in a converted Church in Tufnell Park (more on that in a moment)!

Whilst in January we were all hoping that the speed-tested vaccines would work, now we are looking down the barrel of the Omicron variant hoping that it won’t put the kibosh on another family Christmas. Perhaps by the time you are reading this, Omicron will have subsided into a big false alarm – or perhaps we will be back in lockdown – planning another illicit Christmas-present drop in a dimly lit car park off the M4. Covid certainly has a powerful way of teaching us about non-attachment. When we now make plans, we do so holding them ever so lightly – knowing that at any moment they may just disappear…

Obstacles

If we had forgotten from previous real estate adventures, 2021 has confirmed that moving-house is not for the faint of heart. It is with a certain confusion, pride and exhaustion that we look back on three completed transactions spanning December 2020 to June 2021. Our 2 sales and 1 purchase seemed to go on forever. We had decided to sell in March 2020 just as covid was announcing its arrival on our shores. To add to our load, my flat in Highbury Stadium was affected by the retroactive cladding regulations that resulted from the devastating Grenfell fire and investigation. It was frankly a miracle of alignment that we were able to sell it at all – let alone for its pre-covid value.

In April of this year, the toll of covid’s impact on my business and our lives, losing a buyer, losing a dream property purchase (twice) and not knowing if the cladding-hit flat would complete had left me pretty close to breakdown. When the sale went through, lockdowns lifted and our new purchase finally landed – it was as if I was reborn and the Summer was the most uplifting I have experienced for years – perhaps even a decade. With hindsight, I look back on the journey to our new home with a sense of awe – all of the alignments, the losses, the support, all moving beautifully (yet in most mysterious and sometimes alarming ways) in order to deliver us to our new nest. A place beyond the scope of our dreams. The obstacles were merely re-directs – and here we are. It literally blows my mind.

Obsessions

As I say, this year has been hugely challenging for me personally and professionally – finding myself at different times enormously inspired and at others imagining throwing in the towel. Transforming a business that relied on in-person appearances for corporate and public training into one that serves both individuals and groups online and in-person has been quite the stretch. Yet, in the alchemy of these times, what emerged most strongly this summer was that at the core of who I am –I want to do good work. I want to be of service to my clients and to create enough abundance doing so to enjoy the flow of my life.

Central to this is my dedication to my mission. I am an advocate and inspirer of personal and spiritual growth. I stand for the cultivation of conscious awareness, mindful living and wellbeing. Even when times were tough this year, there was no getting away from my dedication. I am in this work for the long haul. It may take numerous forms, but I have found my calling, perhaps my obsession, and I will create and innovate as much as I need in order to stay true to it.

Enrichment

Thanks to some dear friends, I am studying a work called The Gene Keys by Richard Rudd. It is fascinating and overflowing with inspiration for deep contemplation. In this model, enrichment is all about finding the richness of each moment, even those that are repetitive quiet or troubling. It is about seeing through the diversion of distraction and coming to know yourself as the root of joy and pleasure beyond passing sensory desires and the unfolding narrative of circumstance. I felt it most keenly through the summer months as I was spending time swimming in the ponds at Hampstead Heath, connecting with like-minded peers and friends on various retreats, and opening to a new creative project that will take me into 2022 with plenty to look forward to.

Enrichment is also the journey of the storyteller who learns how to share their truth in a way that uplifts, inspires and enriches the spirit of others. It has become an important part of my practice to nurture this in my day-to-day, in my relationships, and in my work. If you are looking for some enrichment this month or over the coming year, I wholeheartedly recommend beginning your Gene Keys journey too. The teachings are profound, the journey revealing, and I believe you will know yourself more completely as a result of it.

Coda

As we close out 2021 – I want to particularly thank you for reading these words and for following my journey and for allowing me the honour of being seen and heard. I hope your year, was full of learning and love.

From my heart to yours, Happy Holidays and here’s to an inspiring New Year!

By Neil Seligman

 

P.S. Whenever you are ready… here are 4 ways we can support your personal and professional Conscious Goals:

1. Access Free Live Meditations & Energy Transmissions

Inside our private Facebook Group, The Conscious Professional Mindful Community where Neil leads live weekly community events. Join now for free.

2. Learn To Meditate With Neil Seligman In Just 10 Days!

Zen in Ten, our flagship online course, is a ten day mindfulness challenge for people who need to slow down.  

3. Work With Neil One-To-One

See if a Conscious Coaching Partnership is right for you. Book a 15-minute discovery call with Neil here.

4. Bring The Conscious Professional To Your Business

See if The Conscious Professional training and coaching programmes are right for your team or workplace. Book a call here.

The Conscious Professional is dedicated to delivering inspiring corporate mindfulness and professional resilience training, conscious leadership coaching and workplace wellbeing services at the level of professional excellence. Thank you for following our blog.

 

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How to Embrace, and Love, Your Faults https://www.theconsciousprofessional.com/how-embrace-love-faults/ Fri, 07 Aug 2020 14:00:39 +0000 http://www.theconsciousprofessional.com/?p=10208 “It is in our faults and failings, not in our virtues, that we touch one another and find sympathy. We differ widely enough in our nobler qualities. It is in […]

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“It is in our faults and failings, not in our virtues, that we touch one another and find sympathy. We differ widely enough in our nobler qualities. It is in our follies that we are at one.” – Jerome K. Jerome

Nobody is perfect. Indeed, what does it mean to be perfect? What is for sure is that the criteria for perfection will be different from person to person. This being the case, your faults may or may not have credence, depending on who you are!

Your faults may be genuine defects, or they may only exist in your mind. Your faults might be physical, social, emotional, attitude based or in your outlook. What is vital to your resilience is that you both acknowledge these faults, whether real or not, embrace them and treat them with love.

1. Face Your Perceived Faults

Often we ignore what we believe to be our faults. We try to avoid thinking about them, or even daring to connect with ourselves and name what they are (or what we think they are). Have you ever thought to yourself, ‘I’m in such a bad place, and I can’t work out why.’ In these moments, can you honestly say that you have sat down and dedicated your thoughts to pinpointing what that reason is?

Perhaps you perceive yourself to be physically imperfect. You might be feeling anxious about how you have behaved in some way, or about the way you continue to tackle certain situations. Perhaps you react emotionally to some things in a way that is detrimental to your wellbeing. First of all you must diagnose the core your worry; what do you, personally, think your faults are? Whether these faults are actually faults or not is less the focus at this stage, just locating the source is a big step in learning to love yourself.

2. What Do You Love About Yourself?

It is all very well to beat ourselves up about our faults, but how often do you celebrate your virtues? I have heard it said many times that if a hundred things happen, we, as humans, will often dwell on the one thing that wasn’t great, rather than the ninety-nine things that were. If you are going to pinpoint your faults, you should spend equal time reminding yourself of what is fantastic about you as well. It’s only fair!

3. Comparison is the Enemy of Self-Love

Imagined faults are often created because we think others have it better. That person is fitter than I am. That person is more attractive than me. If only I was as clever/as kind/as successful as that person. This is no way to love yourself. We are all different. Take me for example, I have a judgemental relationship with my body. I am getting older, so it is harder to keep fit, and I don’t like that I am heavier than I used to be, or that I now have back fat, or that I have a bit of a belly. I said this to a young, slim friend of mine. He told me that it was nonsense, that I was perfect as I was, and that he wished he had my arms. We all compare ourselves, and the likelihood is that you have something somebody else wishes they had. This would be less of an issue if we just focused making sure we were happy with ourselves, regardless of other people.

4. Is There Anything You Can Do?

Your faults then. Is there anything you can do to change them? If you don’t like your body, is there something you can do to change that? Would the change be worth the price? If you aren’t sure that you are emotionally fit, or that you are behaving as you would like, is there somebody you can talk to? Is there somebody you can see? Are your faults unchangeable, and therefore not worth beating yourself up about?

5. Be OK With Yourself

Accepting your faults is paramount. Talking about them openly, accepting them as part of your personality and learning to love them is essential to ensuring that you are the best version of yourself. Wellbeing and resilience depend on self-love and confidence, this relates to everything that is good about you, and all the things that are not so good. Be yourself and work on being OK with it.

By Chris Thomson

Being hard on yourself? Boost your wellbeing by keeping negative thoughts at bay… 6 Ways to Override negative Thoughts

P.S. Whenever you are ready… here are 4 ways we can support your personal and professional Conscious Goals:

1. Access Free Live Meditations & Energy Transmissions

Inside our private Facebook Group, The Conscious Professional Mindful Community where Neil leads live weekly community events. Join now for free.

2. Learn To Meditate With Neil Seligman In Just 10 Days!

Zen in Ten, our flagship online course, is a ten day mindfulness challenge for people who need to slow down.  

3. Work With Neil One-To-One

See if a Conscious Coaching Partnership is right for you. Book a 15-minute discovery call with Neil here.

4. Bring The Conscious Professional To Your Business

See if The Conscious Professional training and coaching programmes are right for your team or workplace. Book a call here.

The Conscious Professional is dedicated to delivering inspiring corporate mindfulness and professional resilience training, conscious leadership coaching and workplace wellbeing services at the level of professional excellence. Thank you for following our blog.

 

 

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Neil Seligman: My Pride Story https://www.theconsciousprofessional.com/neil-seligman-pride-story/ Fri, 03 Jul 2020 14:00:11 +0000 http://www.theconsciousprofessional.com/?p=10171 Normally at this time of year Jack and I would be out in Soho celebrating Pride with friends and strangers. This year is a bit quieter, but with everything going […]

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Normally at this time of year Jack and I would be out in Soho celebrating Pride with friends and strangers. This year is a bit quieter, but with everything going on in our world I believe Pride’s message of inclusivity, diversity and personal courage is needed now more than ever. So if you’ll bear with me, I’d like to share with you a little of my story as it relates to Pride…

Born in ’78 I grew up in the 80’s and 90’s when the word gay (and all its synonyms) were used at school to describe anything that was weak, rubbish, or less than. I was also taught from a religious perspective that homosexuality offered a one way ticket to hell. Whilst I didn’t identify as gay until I was 19, I was certainly discouraged from some of the ambiguous feelings I felt before then as I went through my teens.

“As a young Barrister in training… I decided to take the risk of being outwardly gay from the start…”

At 19 I fell in love with my first boyfriend whilst studying law at Bristol Uni. We had met at a party – and there were the feelings – and it all just clicked. We were together for a couple of pretty blissful years before we split just after I moved to London to take the Bar. By then I was happy to identify as gay and it was pretty exciting to now be living in (arguably) the international gay capital of the world, London. I made the most of it (!) and one of my more surreal memories is taking Graham Norton as my date to the Inns of Court School of Law Graduation Ball in 2001.

As a young Barrister in training at 12 Kings Bench Walk, I decided to take the risk of being outwardly gay from the start, and the fact that I was able to do that is to pay tribute to the bravest Judges and Barristers who came out to the ridicule and violence of press, public and profession in years gone by. Part of Pride is remembering the heroes that fought for freedoms that are already taken for granted. It was an honour to be elected as Chairman of the Bar Lesbian and Gay Group and wonderful to see that organisation continue to thrive today.

“…I also remember looking at all of the faces of the commuters on the train watching the scene – none of whom intervened or said a word…”

It wasn’t all completely smooth sailing though – there were occasional homophobic remarks even amongst colleagues and frequent slurs hurled at me on the streets, particularly when holding hands with another man (which still sometimes feels dangerous today).

One evening in 2003 as I was on the train home from court I decided to put my arm around my boyfriend at the time. A group began throwing food at us and calling us homophobic names. When we got off the train at Clapham Junction three of them ran after us and assaulted us on the platform. I remember not feeling any pain as everything slowed down – I also remember looking at all of the faces of the commuters on the train watching the scene – none of whom intervened or said a word. We were also disappointed by the police who never followed up on our report. In the end I drafted my own statements and sent them in – but never received an acknowledgement or reply.

“I hope that society can open its heart to become more educated, inclusive, and wise…”

So, when I was cast as the face of Pride in 2005 I was pretty excited to be associated in a small way with the great history of gay pride. Being gay in a straight world has taught me the importance of knowing myself, standing up for myself, and I have come to understand the damage that is done when young people are brought up in a society that does not represent them as equals or offer them healthy role models. As I see my trans brothers and sisters and people of colour continuing their fight for equality, I hope that society can open its heart to become more educated, inclusive, and wise. I hope I can too.

Despite everything, I feel hopeful that the trajectory of our world is moving us closer to equality, to peace, and love.

Love is love.

Happy Pride!

Join me each Monday 7.00-7.45pm for Mindfulness Class!

By Neil Seligman

 

P.S. Whenever you are ready… here are 4 ways we can support your personal and professional Conscious Goals:

1. Access Free Live Meditations & Energy Transmissions

Inside our private Facebook Group, The Conscious Professional Mindful Community where Neil leads live weekly community events. Join now for free.

2. Learn To Meditate With Neil Seligman In Just 10 Days!

Zen in Ten, our flagship online course, is a ten day mindfulness challenge for people who need to slow down.  

3. Work With Neil One-To-One

See if a Conscious Coaching Partnership is right for you. Book a 15-minute discovery call with Neil here.

4. Bring The Conscious Professional To Your Business

See if The Conscious Professional training and coaching programmes are right for your team or workplace. Book a call here.

The Conscious Professional is dedicated to delivering inspiring corporate mindfulness and professional resilience training, conscious leadership coaching and workplace wellbeing services at the level of professional excellence. Thank you for following our blog.

 

 

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Your New Year’s Resolutions: One Month On https://www.theconsciousprofessional.com/new-years-resolutions-one-month/ Fri, 31 Jan 2020 15:00:02 +0000 http://www.theconsciousprofessional.com/?p=9874 “New Year is a new morning and a new morning is a new opportunity and a new opportunity is a new path and finally a new path is a new […]

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“New Year is a new morning and a new morning is a new opportunity and a new opportunity is a new path and finally a new path is a new richness!” Mehmet Murat Ildan

New Year’s Resolutions, to my mind, are a curious thing. The urge to better ourselves is an undoubtedly positive and wonderful thing, but I fancy we don’t tend to learn from our mistakes, be realistic about what we know about our own tendencies or be mindful about the effect of making grand promises to ourselves.

Using the turn of the year (and in this case, decade) to jumpstart some new habits is great. If only we cared about ourselves this much the whole year round, and if only we didn’t feel that the phrase ‘new year, new me’ were necessary. There is nothing wrong with you as you are, you need not reinvent yourself every year!

All of that being said, this time of year fills us with optimism and positivity, which is to be celebrated. The resolutions we make often make an impact for a time, but sometimes, when we fall short of our high standards, we throw the whole resolution in the bin instead of getting back on the horse or evaluating exactly what part of that resolution continues to be of use to you. So, here I have a few suggestions on how to reinvigorate and repurpose those resolutions that might have fallen by the wayside one month in to the new year.

1. Getting Organised

Many of us would like to be more organised in order to be more efficient, less stressed to create more brain space for other things. This is all well and good, but to ‘be organised’ is quite a vague and abstract thing. This is why it is easy for this promise to fall apart, because unless you create a means by which you are more organised, it is hard to be so. Also, as far as I know, some people are naturally organised, and others are not. If you are not, it’s a hard thing to implement with immediate effect.

Here is the thing that helps me to be more organised; stationary! Get yourself a physical diary; a page a day ideally. It helps for a number of reasons. First of all, transferring plans to paper by actually writing it I think helps the mind to take in the information more effectively than when put into a device, which is both more passive, and more like every other digital action you take. Next, having one specific place for all your life and work admin means that all your information is accessible and easy to find. Also, diaries also make planning more enjoyable. I don’t know why. It just does. Try it!

2. Eating Better, Drinking Less

For me, this vague promise never works. In order for me to eat better or drink less I have to implement hard and fast rules. Small steps, taking on one or two of the following suggestions is much more mindful and acheivale way to look after your diet a little better.

  • No alcohol in the house, but drinking whilst you are out is fine.
  • No mean in the house, but meat in a restaurant is fine.
  • Work your way through a cook book to reinvigorate your love for healthy home cooking. Make a project of it!
  • One meat day a week.
  • One booze day a week.
  • Limit a vice. For me, its coffee… I cold drink it all day! I have just limited it to two a day.
3. Exercising More

This is one that has a reputation for failing. There is a good reason for this; getting fit is really hard. The trick is to, first of all, try a number of activities to find one that you genuinely enjoy. And then, once you have found this, to set a target. For me, for example, I am adding skipping to my workout routine this year. My first, short term target, is to manage 20 in arrow by the end of January. Simple, enjoyable and achievable.

4. Spend More Time with Loved Ones

Life flies by. You can get to the middle of the year before you know it, and realise you’ve made no improvement in your connections. Here is something I like to do. I have a few messenger groups that are based on a common interest or shared in joke. This is a good way to keep casual and light conversation going with friends and relatives. It may not be a physical meeting, but it keeps your connections consistent. What’s more, when you do next see these people you have a finger on the pulse of what is going on with them.

By Chris Thomson

‘To Do’ lists are really helpful when trying to achieve new goals. Here is a look at how to make them mindfully… How to Make a Mindful ‘To Do’ List

 

P.S. Whenever you are ready… here are 4 ways we can support your personal and professional Conscious Goals:

1. Access Free Live Meditations & Energy Transmissions

Inside our private Facebook Group, The Conscious Professional Mindful Community where Neil leads live weekly community events. Join now for free.

2. Learn To Meditate With Neil Seligman In Just 10 Days!

Zen in Ten, our flagship online course, is a ten day mindfulness challenge for people who need to slow down.  

3. Work With Neil One-To-One

See if a Conscious Coaching Partnership is right for you. Book a 15-minute discovery call with Neil here.

4. Bring The Conscious Professional To Your Business

See if The Conscious Professional training and coaching programmes are right for your team or workplace. Book a call here.

The Conscious Professional is dedicated to delivering inspiring corporate mindfulness and professional resilience training, conscious leadership coaching and workplace wellbeing services at the level of professional excellence. Thank you for following our blog.

 

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The 3 Actions Of Mindfulness https://www.theconsciousprofessional.com/the-3-actions-of-mindfulness/ Fri, 06 Mar 2015 15:00:17 +0000 http://www.theconsciousprofessional.com/?p=6817 As you hone your skills of contemplation, meditation, stillness and awareness, life will provide multiple opportunities for you to put mindfulness into practice. You can respond with the three actions […]

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As you hone your skills of contemplation, meditation, stillness and awareness, life will provide multiple opportunities for you to put mindfulness into practice. You can respond with the three actions of mindfulness:

1. Observe: become consciously aware of what is occurring without judging it as good or bad.

2. Describe:  neutrally name all aspects of the experience that you are aware of. E.g. I am experiencing anger. I feel hot. My palms are sweating.

3. Participate: make a choice, take action, speak your feelings, take the next step as consciously as you can.

For example, when we are anxious, mindfulness encourages us to meet the experience with acceptance, non-judgment and compassionate awareness. One of the outcomes of the mindful approach is that we step into resourcefulness rather than victimhood. We acknowledge our experience and through not resisting, we allow it to normalize. Anxiety dissipates or we take action.

Mindfulness invites us back into a simpler, purer and more effective state of being and gives us the tools we need to bring excellence to our craft of consciousness. By developing and sustaining a consistent mindfulness practice, we discover new ways to be effective in all aspects of our lives.

 

P.S. Whenever you are ready… here are 4 ways we can support your personal and professional Conscious Goals:

1. Access Free Live Meditations & Energy Transmissions

Inside our private Facebook Group, The Conscious Professional Mindful Community where Neil leads live weekly community events. Join now for free.

2. Learn To Meditate With Neil Seligman In Just 10 Days!

Zen in Ten, our flagship online course, is a ten-day mindfulness challenge for people who need to slow down.  

3. Work With Neil One-To-One

See if a Conscious Coaching Partnership is right for you. Book a 15-minute discovery call with Neil here.

4. Bring The Conscious Professional To Your Business

See if The Conscious Professional training and coaching programmes are right for your team or workplace. Book a call here.

The Conscious Professional is dedicated to delivering inspiring corporate mindfulness and professional resilience training, conscious leadership coaching and workplace wellbeing services at the level of professional excellence. Thank you for following our blog.

 

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5 Conscious Steps to Handling Emotions https://www.theconsciousprofessional.com/5-conscious-steps-to-handling-emotions/ Mon, 16 Feb 2015 15:00:41 +0000 http://www.theconsciousprofessional.com/?p=6785 There are few of us who would deny that we could be more skilled at managing our emotions but what are the practical steps of being with our emotions mindfully? […]

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There are few of us who would deny that we could be more skilled at managing our emotions but what are the practical steps of being with our emotions mindfully?

Here are five simple stages that you can work through when you are feeling challenged by an emotional state that would normally throw you off your game.  Work through these stages in your own silent meditation. Simply close your eyes and contemplate each step in turn.

1. Accept

Accept that your emotional state is calling for your attention. The longer you resist the call, the more challenging the emotion can become. When we accept our emotions they get their hearing and continue their journey. Think of emotions as the weather of your consciousness.

When sadness visits, if it meets no resistance, it will flow straight through allowing the next emotional front to move in. Like the weather, emotion doesn’t always make sense and isn’t  always convenient. The only thing you can do is to be with what is.

2. Feel

Welcome the experiential feeling of the emotion into your mind, body and consciousness. Even if it is only for a moment, and if your circumstances allow, let the emotion to have its way with you. Get curious and discover what this emotion is all about. Really feel it.

3. Express

Really feeling our emotions often leads to spontaneous expression, a wail, some tears, a smile, laughter or sigh. Give yourself some privacy and move the emotion into expression. Use your body, your voice. Do not worry if the expression is neither pretty or cool. If you have a creative practice, take lingering emotions into your artwork, music or journal. If you don’t – do a doodle.

4. Be Courageous

Some emotions feel too big and too painful to experience. At this point you need to tap into your courage. You have been through many challenges in life. You will also get through this one. Have faith in yourself.

5. Listen

Emotions bring wisdom. What is the lesson of this emotional state? Are you being called into a different decision? Are you feeling the outcome of a choice you made previously. Is there some aspect of your life you need to take better care of? However, resist the urge to predict and make meaning out of every emotion. Some emotions are simply passing through.

 

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