02May 2017 by aryask@gmail.com

Lavender trust

gratitude, self-awareness, self-trust, storytelling
Lulu just lost her job and with it a messy break up. It’s like a sinking ship in her gut and exploding rocks in her chest. She faces a new chapter in her life. She feels terrible uncertainty and self-doubt. She decides to go on an adventure and winds up in a forest. It’s dark and she finds a hut by the river. She steps in and an own is sitting there with books and a lit candle scented like Lavender Trust. The owl welcomes her in as though expecting her. Lulu tells him of her lousy state and the owl says, “Get super clear about yourself and how you want to grow. It’s not that you have to overcome uncertainty, but to examine the negative beliefs you’ve attach to it. Trust your…
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01May 2017 by aryask@gmail.com

Meeting rage with vitality

empathy, mindfulness, patience
Henry is in his alpha state of vitality and has been crushing it all morning. He's feeling good and focused. He gets into his car and slowly backs out of the driveway. He can’t see the incoming cars so he goes extra slow. A white van passes. He brakes, and slowly begins again. A second car comes and gives Henry a fury honk, quite lengthy and pointless really. Henry gently brakes and turns to look at the driver and it was a dumb cunt. Just as rage swells up, Henry’s alpha is still near and offers a vision of empathy. With a slight turn of awareness, he steps outside of himself and sees through the eyes of the girl thinking, “Maybe she thinks I was trying to get in her way. What’s in her way?…
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03Apr 2017 by aryask@gmail.com

14 ways to treasure time

mindfulness
Life is busy, continuously commanding attention from all sides. Amid the fierce conditions of work and life in general, how can one maintain a steady flow toward a simple aim and not be “too busy” to treasure time? How can we learn to not overcrowd our attention with unessential things? Learning to take a break is invaluable to add more joy and focus. Things can be overwhelming at times but things are also manageable with a mindful break routine. Taking a break doesn’t degrade your work ethic. In an interview with Charlie Rose, Bill Gates talks time, “You control your time and just sitting and thinking may be a much higher priority than a normal CEO might realize. It’s not a proxy of your seriousness that you haven’t filled every…
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06Mar 2017 by aryask@gmail.com

Podcast: Waking up to what is with Eric Kaufmann

leadership, self-awareness
Seeing Potential Podcast aims to form dialogue with creatives and entrepreneurs at the crossroads of change, exploring the concepts of mindfulness, creativity, and leadership. In this episode I sat down with Eric Kaufmann to discuss what it means to be awake and the skills to develop as a leader. Eric Kaufmann is the president and founder of Sagatica, where he guides leaders to make better decisions and achieve better results. His book The Four Virtues of a Leader, shares practical ideas and tools that deepen a leader’s ability to be efficient, effective and deliberate; a leader whom people are drawn to follow. The crucible of Eric’s journey contains 16 years of leadership consulting, management at Fortune 100 firms, degrees in business and psychology a quarter century of Zen practice, living in Israel…
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28Feb 2017 by aryask@gmail.com

Celebrating what is

gratitude, self-awareness
It has been said that the test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas at the same time, and still be able to function. For example, one would recognize the absence of hope and still be grateful to be alive. Rather than insist on what should be, one surrenders to a living relationship with what is. There is no glorified “me” to enforce so emotions move freely, and we get to bear witness to nature’s unfolding. Throughout the day, there are chores one must accept and celebrations we get to relish. A life that overflows with vitality tends to net more celebrations, and gratitude is the groovy tune as language tangos with emotion. For example, consider how our attention is colored by “I get to,”…
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