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Now Available - Deep Coaching: A Guide To Self-Directed Living

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Featured Articles

The Benefits of Meditation: Meditation has likely been practised throughout the span of human history. This artcle explores what meditation does, and some of the many benefits to the practitioner.

Mantra Meditation: Meditatiing with a mantra is a simple and effective way to calm the mind and become centred in the present moment. This article provides simple, basic instructions for mantra meditation.

Mindfulness Meditation: Meditative forms are legion and mindfulness meditation is amongst the most subtle and effective. This article provides simple instructions on how to use the natural rhythm of the breath to practice mindfulness.

In the Spirit

On Cycles
The universe would appear to run on cycles. There are cycles of beginnings, middle points, endings, and new beginnings; birth, growth, death, and rebirth. The sun rises and sets each day. The moon starts anew, waxes, becomes full, and then wanes to a newness once again. The seasons of Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter form a cycle and all life follows their sway. The earth rotates around the sun and the sun rotates around the centre of the galaxy. Stars are born of intergalactic dust and explode into intergalactic dust, only to give rise to new stars.
So it is with our lives. There are times of new beginnings, growth, waning strength, and renewal. There are times of plenty and times of austerity. Times of sadness and times of joy. These cycles are as natural and pure as the seasons and are not to be resisted. They are part of the natural order of things.
It is in the time of darkness, the low cycles, that truly wonderful things happen for us. Just as the earth sleeps during winter and gathers her strength for the re-birthing of Spring, so we too gather our strength and renew, heal, and prepare to be reborn. It is during these times that we often reflect upon the deeper things of life, upon our inner selves. The gifts of contemplation and reflection come to us in the dark. The truth of this is felt each day: We awaken refreshed and move through our day with increasing vigour. Over the stretch of the day our strength diminishes and we grow weary. Finally we are compelled to sleep. It is during this small death that we heal, grow, and renew our bodies, our minds, and our spirits.
So too in the longer cycles of mood and economic fortune, the lows are a sacred and necessary time. In this Winter season, do not run from them: immerse yourself in them.

Book Recommendation

Gay Hendrick’s & Kate Ludeman’s “The Corporate Mystic.”

When The Corporate Mystic was first released in 1996 it provided a compelling vision for the future of business leadership. Sufficiently ahead of the curve at the time, its message is still fresh and relevant today. The authors use the term “corporate mystic” to refer to those business leaders who who operate from a base of integrity, pursue their visions with passion and compassion, and evoke the full potential of those with whom they come in contact. They are men and women who are committed to being their full, undivided selves, and to promoting the same in others. Their key gift is the capacity to project themselves into the future, intuit a clear vision of where their organizations need to go, create a road map to get there, and inspire those they lead toward the realization of the journey.

Hendricks and Ludeman have drawn on their extensive experience in training leading executives to identify the core qualities corporate leaders need to possess to flourish in today's ever changing business environment. They then provide guidelines to help readers develop and use these qualities in their current leadership roles and private lives. The book is insightful, inspiring, and validating to those who have already become corporate mystics in their own ways. For some, it may well read as a manifesto. The Corporate Mystic: A Guidebook For Visionaries With Their Feet On The Ground was published in 1996 by Bantam.

Other book recommendations are available here.

Copyright © 2002,  G. S. Renfrey