Week 3 - Ikigai + (Re)Centering
Circle Discussion Topics:
Check in. How is everything going?
Mindfulness with the RAIN Technique
Mindfulness with the STOP Technique
Gratitude Journaling
Ikigai
Mindfulness with the RAIN Technique
The
Tara Brach on Mindfulness: “Mindfulness is paying attention to what's happening in the present moment without judgment… We step out of our thoughts about the past and the future, and we actually start occupying a space of presence that is bigger than the particular emotions or thoughts that are going on. Mindfulness gives us more choice as to how we want to experience things, what we want to say, what we want to do. So instead of reacting, we can actually respond from more intelligence, more kindness. It actually lets us inhabit our best selves.”
R.A.I.N. is a 4 step process for mindfulness:
R - Recognize: Recognize that we are feeling…. something! Anger, grief, anxiety, etc...
A - Accept / Allow: “With "allow" you actually are pausing, saying 'it's OK.' Let's just let this be for a few moments. And that's the pause. That's the space we're creating that gives you the power and the freedom.”
I - Investigate: Investigate how your body is reacting to how you’re feeling. Are you tensing? Are you clenching your jaw or fists? Is your stomach twisted in knots?
N - Non-Identify / Nullify (distance yourself) and Nurture: Nullifying the emotion doesn’t mean that you should bury it. It actually acknowledges that you have done the first 3 steps, and so you can rise above the emotion, and look at it (as well as the context of the emotion) from a distance. Tara Brach refers to this step as, Nurture. “This step is all about learning to be kind to yourself and offering yourself what is needed…’”
You can quickly listen to Tara Brach explain the RAIN Technique in this 15 minute podcast:
Her book is called, “Radical Compassion: Learning to Love Yourself and Your World with the Practice of RAIN.”
Mindfulness with the STOP Technique
The STOP intention is similar to RAIN in that both require pausing to be cognizant and kind to yourself. It is also easy to share with kids. This is taken directly from mindfulamazing.com.
S.T.O.P
S - Stop: Just take a momentary pause, no matter what you’re doing.
T - Take a Breath: Feel the sensation of your own breathing, which brings you back to the present moment.
O - Observe: Acknowledge what is happening, for good or bad, inside you or out. Just note it.
P - Proceed: Having briefly checked in with the present moment, continue with whatever it is you were doing.
Gratitude Journaling
This might seem very Pollyanna of me, but I’ve found that gratitude journaling is very beneficial when I’m feeling down.
I’ll spend 2 to 3 minutes focusing on my breathing while I think of things that I’m grateful for, or things that are connected directly to the source of my sad emotions.
I try and reframe the feelings by thinking of how a situation has made (or will make) me more resilient. It doesn’t take much time if you keep it simple. You can start with: “I am grateful for being aware of my emotions.” You can use post it notes to write and capture these positive thoughts. Or even make note of them on your phone. You can then add these notes to your journal later.
“...There's a growing body of research on the benefits of gratitude. Studies have found that giving thanks and counting blessings can help people sleep better, lower stress and improve interpersonal relationships. Earlier this year, a study found that keeping a gratitude journal decreased materialism and bolstered generosity among adolescents.”
Ikigai
Ikigai is a Japanese concept that explores ‘a reason for being.’
From an NPR podcast: “Typically in America, we've divided our adult life up into two sections. There is our work life where we're productive, and then one day, boom, we retire. And typically, that has meant retiring to the easy chair or going down to Arizona to play golf. In the Okinawan language, there's not even a word for retirement. Instead, there's one word that infuses your entire life, and that word is ikigai. And roughly translated, it means the reason for which you wake up in the morning.”
https://www.npr.org/transcripts/408023437
I first learned about Ikigai from one of my mentors. By reviewing each circle, he helped me confirm my passion for my career in User Experience Design. It also helped guide me in creating Omba.
Using my journal, I wrote out different sections and then I listed everything that I could possibly think of under each section:
What are things that I love?
What are things that I feel confident about? (What am I good at?)
What can I be paid for (past/present/future)?
What does the world need? What does my community need?
Omba Workshop Week 3 Recap
Here are some links that I wanted to share with you to recap our discussion:
Mindfulness with the RAIN Technique
R - Recognize: Recognize that we are feeling…. something! Anger, grief, anxiety, etc...
A - Accept / Allow: “With "allow" you actually are pausing, saying 'it's OK.' Let's just let this be for a few moments. And that's the pause. That's the space we're creating that gives you the power and the freedom.”
I - Investigate: Investigate how your body is reacting to how you’re feeling. Are you tensing? Are you clenching your jaw or fists? Is your stomach twisted in knots?
N - Non-Identify / Nullify (distance yourself) and Nurture: Nullifying the emotion doesn’t mean that you should bury it. It actually acknowledges that you have done the first 3 steps, and so you can rise above the emotion, and look at it (as well as the context of the emotion) from a distance. Tara Brach refers to this step as Nurture.
Mindfulness with the STOP Technique
S - Stop: Just take a momentary pause, no matter what you’re doing.
T - Take a Breath: Feel the sensation of your own breathing, which brings you back to the present moment.
O - Observe: Acknowledge what is happening, for good or bad, inside you or out. Just note it.
P - Proceed: Having briefly checked in with the present moment, continue with whatever it is you were doing.
Gratitude Journaling
“...There's a growing body of research on the benefits of gratitude. Studies have found that giving thanks and counting blessings can help people sleep better, lower stress and improve interpersonal relationships. Earlier this year, a study found that keeping a gratitude journal decreased materialism and bolstered generosity among adolescents.”
Ikigai
Using my journal, I wrote out different sections and then I listed everything that I could possibly think of under each section:
What are things that I love?
What are things that I feel confident about? (What am I good at?)
What can I be paid for (past/present/future)?
What does the world need? What does my community need?
Sierpinski Triangle
Lastly, (same reminder as last time) you don't need to spend a lot of time and every single day to journal. This is a gift of time for yourself. Even 2 minutes to write down a partial thought, cut a single cool-looking letter from a magazine, tear an interesting background design from the newspaper... all of these small things are like the nano-goals of the Sierpinski Triangle.
https://thepracticeofpractice.com/2014/09/21/the-fractal-nature-of-goals-and-music-practice/
See you next week, Melissa