Showing posts with the tag “Quality Of Being”

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• March 9, 2021
  9Mar2021

  Centering, Not Centered

  

  Beginning again and again is the actual practice, not a problem to be overcome.
  --Sharon Salzberg

  How centered are you right now? Are we ever completely centered, or centered for very long? The more I teach and practice centering myself in this life, the more I'm pretty sure (at least for me) that being centered is really a continual RE-centering process. 

  Life is always changing, as difficulty and conflict arise and recede. The continuous losing and coming back to center is natural. There may not be a Perfect Center. Only Centering, as we make continual little adjustments and return again and again--a natural and beautiful part of what it means to be human and to be aware.

  So let's practice....

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• August 14, 2018
  14Aug2018

  Internal Aikido: Being and Doing

  

  The new owner and chief instructor at Portsmouth Aikido, Aaron Cass, gave a seminar at the dojo recently on "Internal Aikido." It was enlightening, and fun. You may say this is what I do, and to some extent you'd be correct. I help individuals and organizations use the aikido metaphor to think and act more purposefully in stressful situations, like conflict. I teach them how to incorporate aikido principles, such as blending and redirecting energy by using words to listen, acknowledge, and express a point of view.

  However, Aaron was teaching something else--specifically  how to carry ourselves physically so that our posture is aligned in a way that allows for efficient and effortless body dynamics.

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• August 5, 2014
  5Aug2014

  The Manager as Mediator--Step 4: Build and Teach Conflict and Communication Skills (Part 2)

  

  
  In the last Ki Moments post, we left our Manager as Mediator 5-step model in the middle of Step 4: Build and Teach Conflict and Communication Skills. Step 4 has two parts:

  • Quality of Being: With what attitudes and awareness do I approach the conversation?
  • Communication Strategies: How do I communicate my point of view and willingly entertain and acknowledge another?

  We covered Part 1 in the last post. Today the focus is Part 2: Communication Strategies.

  We are preparing the parties to meet jointly. When that happens, you'd like them to be able to listen to each other, propose alternatives, and build solutions. You don't want them reacting emotionally, shutting down, or pretending things are all right when they aren't. This means they've learned and practiced some skills.

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