Search Inside Yourself

In a week I am going to training in San Francisco with the Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute — a spinoff from Google’s Mindful Leadership program.

When we “search inside ourselves,” we are following a desire in all of us to be ourselves - to do what we want to do, to play, be happy, be curious, move our bodies. It’s us, we find, uncovered from the dust of past hurts, anger, and fear.

What mindfulness practices do is help us rediscover ourselves, our best selves.

Take yourself on the most secure, happy, proud, content day, a day where you genuinely feel safe and secure, loved and life is good! Mindfulness practices help you find your best self and live more of your life in your best body and headspace.

We all yearn to be our best selves. And if you don’t yearn, you’ve forgotten! The way to rediscover is to connect with your body, over and over, while paying attention:

Move your body in a way that you enjoy: dance, yoga, exercise, walk
Awaken your senses and savor the sensations: eat something delicious, get a massage, listen to your favorite music, smell the roses
Have really great sex with someone (or yourself)
Evoke feelings of love and affection by cuddling your pet, or your child or spouse
Do any and all of the above - but - remember: do these things while paying attention to your experience in the present moment. Resist the habit of staying in your head, in your thoughts. Be there. Now.

We get so detached from our bodies because our society is all about the brain and this myth that feelings are somehow less important than thoughts. It isn’t until recently that our society has started to let go of the untruth that we largely make rational decisions and that rational thoughts drive our behavior.

Daniel Kahneman won the Nobel prize in 2002 for his work on judgement and decision making. Conducting dozens of experiments, his work supports that our decision making is largely dependent on the situation and the environment. His book, Thinking Fast and Slow, came out in 2011 and documents this understanding, if you’d like to learn more.

Watch a short video to learn more about Google’s Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute.