I was at a workshop when one of the leaders, who I was having a good conversation with at the time, mentioned to me that the reason she meditated every day because then she could trust herself. I felt like she was on to something that I’ hadn’t thought of in that way before.

When you meditate you close out and quiet down the noise in the mind so that you can better listen to your body and soul wisdom.  You allow for time to listen.

We all want to be heard, and in conversation we practice listening to others, but how often do we listen to ourselves or our guiding voice?  Really listen, I mean.  For those who are spiritual, prayer is the time to talk to God/dess/ the Universe.  Do they also allow themselves the time to listen in that conversation?  I believe they should.

Coming out of meditation feels like stepping out of a bath, the elation after a long run, or waking up on the right side of the bed.  In that moment and afterwards you are influenced only by your heart. You are listening to you and not the worries in your head or the opinion of others.

And so, yes, meditating has health and a variety of other benefits to it, but also keep in mind that being able to trust yourself is one of those.

One of the rules to improvisational acting is to never say ‘no’ or ‘but.’  Why?  Well ‘no’ stops the flow of creativity.  It stops momentum.  The trick is to say ‘yes, and…’

Just like a good improv, brainstorming is facilitated by always saying yes.  Gathering all the nuggets of information and ideas before determining which is best or suits the situation the best. 

The minute you say no the improv ends.  The minute you say no in a brainstorming or other business meeting the energy leaves.

So think about this as you try to fuel creativity and innovation within you business or life.  Since, you are able to pull more and more potentially good information from people by encouraging them to continue, are you really doing that through your communication?

Are you saying ‘yes, and’ or ‘no, but’ in your life?

Over thanksgiving weekend with friends I met a friend of a friend and we spent some time getting to know each other. On the last day she made the comment “You are like a new species of bird to me. I’m so curious about you.”

It made me think and I liked the idea. I also realized that that is perhaps what has been missing in my approach with others in the past. I’ve allowed and nurtured myself to be different and expected others to be the same. This is not to say that they haven’t shown me otherwise, but merely that I have a sense of myself as different from the whole, when really, we are each beautiful in our own way and unique.

The quotidian behavior, which I have to a certain extent been expecting, is ironic since I myself have been questioning the cultural norms presented earlier in life and am rapidly changing and evolving. Why shouldn’t I expect others to be as well?

If I am finding happiness in being who I truly am, isn’t it probably that others are fluctuating and evolving too? Therefore, being open to listening and asking questions as if someone is a species that I do not know fully will allow me to really get to know them better and is a step in my own growth. I can see this happening in sitting down and asking questions with the genuine expectation that I don’t already know the answer, in that it may subsequently free people up to respond with how they really feel. Isn’t this a more anthropological and scientific approach?

Since the societal norms that I learned growing up and over the course of my life are the framework that I’ve expected in the past and as I’m learning, are not the only way that people communicate and behave, naturally shifts in my behavior and thinking pattern will also emerge. I am happy to identify this shift in thinking and now eager to begin to explore the biodiversity of the landscape of my family, friends, and all those I encounter in life.

This post is also viewable on iTeachToo.com through this link.

During a conversation at the Fall 2009 SVN conference over tea, Diana Lee of the Biomimicry Institute added this wisdom to our conversation; “There is no energy crisis in nature.” Waste exists in our minds and in our culture but in the natural world which we are a part of, the outputs of one process become the inputs of another.

The opening night plenary of the SVN Spring Member Gathering delved into this topic with Gunter Pauli, the co-founder of SVN Europe, Ecover, and the Zero Emissions Research & Initiatives (ZERI) took the stage.

Gunter wants you to believe that you can change the rules of the game and throughout the presentation, example after example showed just how much could be done toward preservation and conservation while doing just that.

Gunter Pauli – The Blue Economy

He has combed the natural world with the world’s leading academics looking for innovations that could revolutionize industries. But in order for an innovation to be considered, it must

• Be inspired by the ecosystems
• Be based on physics
• Target blatant models of unsustainable consumption
• Always generate multiple benefits

Gunter showed examples from the 100 innovations he profiles in his book. The idea that most grabbed the crowd’s imagination was the possibly of building a battery-less cell phone that charges itself by collecting body heat and motion. The other 99 innovation can be found in his book, The Blue Economy; 10 Years, 100 Innovations, 100 Million Jobs.

As the conversation continued, the greatest challenge of using less, it seems, is not in developing the innovations themselves but in resistance from corporations which stand to have their business plans upended. It is in their short-term interest to block these innovations from succeeding. These challenges may slow down progress, but they will not stop it completely and with the greater needs of the planet in mind we have to continue looking to nature for the solutions that will help to make our lifestyles more sustainable.

Gunter thinks we do need to change the game, but we need to be cagey about it: “David took on Goliath and won because he changed the rules of the game – and he didn’t tell Goliath.” And he closed by challenging SVN: “Please conspire to make this a better world.”

This post was written for SVN during their spring member conference.