Practice!

The three practices we need

The three main practices that we can use to train our minds are Meditation, Mindfulness and Encounter.  Each of these practices has a particular link to our three internal needs for competence, self-determination and connection.

The first two are solitary practices.

Meditation allows us to improve our focus – improve our ability to ignore distractions – and thus is strongly linked to building our competence.

Mindfulness allows us to improve our ability to accept things as they are and to develop the ability to choose our response rather than react automatically.  This is strongly linked to building our self-determination.

Encounter is the only social practice of the three and is strongly linked with our internal need for connection.  Through this practice we can connect deeply with others and through these connections we ourselves develop and help the other to develop as well.

We are social creatures and our brains develop best in connection with others.

The three practices are not equal.

When we are deeply connected we will develop competence and self-determination as a matter of course, they are components of healthy growth.

Yet, beginning the practice of Encounter is hard and Meditation and Mindfulness are necessary practices to help us get there.

John Corrigan is an expert in helping individuals to bring their whole of mind to their daily life and increase their effectiveness and the effectiveness of those around them. This expertise scales from the individual to the team to the organisation. At the core of this work is the practice of encounter.  Earlier blogs can be found here.