The Power of Breath
Yeah, it’s a weird conscious leadership trick to ask your team members to breathe together before a meeting.
But if you’ve ever rushed from one meeting to another (like every hour, right!), without time to go to the bathroom, you’d feel better if you could just collect your wits!
I used to be afraid to do it with my clients. But whether we were working 1-1 or with the team, they told me…
It was the best two minutes of their day!
That’s a sad statement on modern work life. Or, it’s a testament to the power of breath to shift your physical and emotional state to focus on the meeting.
Four Steps to a more Mindful Meeting.
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Prepare with a concise agenda and the right people in the room.
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Start by breathing together for two minutes. It’s a simple as asking everyone to get comfortable in their chairs, put their feet on the floor and close their eyes. Put a timer on for 2 minutes and slowly count to four out loud with the inhale and again with the exhale. The goal is to breath slowly and deeply, but it’s most important to relax. Two minutes passes quickly!
- Go around the room and get everyone’s internal weather. What’s going on inside? Is it cloudy, foggy, sunny, rainy, stormy, thundershowers, etc. This allows people to reveal their current emotional state without the details. Invite anyone needing further support to talk later.
- Make your meetings shorter and stick to it. Commit to doing what needs to be done in 50 minutes. Let that extra 10 minutes give everyone time to show up ready to focus!
What are your ideas for mindful meetings?
What’s Your Leadership Style?
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