Raise Your Hand If You’re Feeling Overwhelmed

Jen Ayres explores personal preparedness actions we can all take – November 2020

If you had to sum up this year in one word, what would that word be?

For me, based on what I keep bumping into regularly, that word would be ‘overwhelmed’. While the press often refer to the impact of these times as the worst in ‘peacetime’, these are not peaceful times. If you look at life through the prism of PESTLE factors (political, economic, social, technological, legal, environmental), we are being attacked on all fronts. When one or two areas of our life blow up, we can often brush ourselves off and soldier on. But right now, with so much disruption and chaos in so many areas, we are being tested like never before.

In lots of different ways, 2020 has been a wake-up call. While governments are being questioned about their lack of foresight and preparedness, we should be asking ourselves the same questions. We may have personal tools, practices or external support we utilize when in crisis to enable us to breathe and move forward calmly, but what about preventative action?

For those of you who already have a regular Zen practice, the above paragraph is largely redundant, so really I’m talking to anyone (like me) who lets Zazen slide when life gets too busy, or to those of you who have wanted to take part in a Zen program but haven’t gotten around to it yet. Zen Leader provides us with all the tools to be mentally prepared, we just have to make sure we use them.

The first step is Zazen, the keystone of Zen practice. If you’re like me and could do with some external accountability to sit regularly (strange, but true that some of us need some extra help to sit still every day 😊 ), there are morning zazen sessions taking place online for both US and European times*. I have to admit, as a night owl, it’s been a struggle to get up in time for a 6am sit but I really need that extra time in the morning to get myself into the best possible shape for the busy day ahead. Stress breeds on mental clutter that we can’t let go of and to stop being distracted by those thoughts takes practice, daily meditation practice.

So, who’s with me and going to commit to sit together in the morning and get prepared for whatever the day ahead will bring?

*Editor’s note: For information about virtual Zazen US time, check out Chosei Zen’s Virtual Dojo US for more information. Information on the Europe time-friendly sitting can be found at: Chosei Zen Virtual Dojo Europe.

ZL3/heal 3

Launch into the New Year with the clarity about the future you’re ready to create, and boundless energy fueling your leadership. Join Ginny Whitelaw and guest instructors for the final program in the Leader and HEAL trilogy: ZL3/HEAL3. The program runs from Thursday, Jan 21 at 7 pm CT until noon CT on Sunday, Jan 24. In its virtual format, it couldn’t be more convenient or closer to home. Please register now while it’s top of mind and and get ready to supercharge what’s ready to come through you in 2021. 

Coaching service

We’re inviting you to be among the first to take part in a new service we’re offering through the Institute for Zen Leadership: individualized Zen Leader Coaching! 

While this may be a new service offered through IZL, this is not the first rodeo for our Zen Leader Coaches. This team has been coaching, teaching and mentoring executives, business leaders, entrepreneurs, and even other coaches for a long time in many different contexts. Check out our bios here. When you register, you can identify if there is a particular coach you’d like to work with.

We’re offering packages of 3 or 6 coaching sessions, lasting around 90-minutes each. In your initial session, you and your coach will identify objectives for the coaching and develop a plan for realizing them. 

FEBI early bird rate through december 7th

And in other good news, the early-bird discount for our own FEBI Certification Program runs through Dec. 7th. This is a $200 off discount. FEBI Certification is one of the requirements for both the Zen Leader Coach and Zen Leader Instructor certificates. When you make something physical, you make it practice-able, and that’s the power of adding FEBI to your coaching and leadership. 

This is a 4 part course taking place on Tuesday March 9th, 23rd, April 6th, and 20th from 10:00am – 11:30pm US Central Time Zone.