Smile to the stress and save the world

We need to talk more often about how to accelerate the success of our planet, how to protect it, how to heal it, how to relax it a little bit but we still see a lot of things that go against this.

One of the many reasons is because we humans are the first that don’t protect and don’t take care of ourselves as much, we don’t relax enough. On the contrary, look at what often happens on the street with people yelling at others for a simple traffic problem or people fighting over nothing, aggression is floating in the air, look at the situation in Russia and Ukraine, look at the uncertainty in the financial markets, all these things are caused by humans, look at how many people were stressed during the pandemic, during the lockdowns, and all these things are happening because humans they are not really aware of the delicate situation of the planet, nor of their own delicate personal situation.

An old good friend a few days ago asked me how I had been feeling during the pandemic and I told him that at the beginning around February 2020 I was quite nervous, stress and fear surrounded me, as it was something new starting in Italy. For the western world, with little knowledge at the time of what it was about, but then we applied daily with my wife our daily breathing and yoga and meditation practices and the confinement became a time of a lot of work, creativity, compassion with the rest. I became very productive too, love was in the air to the point that I proposed to my wife at that time.

So, what should I do?

If you want to become a great leader you have to take care of yourself: eat well, sleep well, work with some kind of technique to relax. In this way you lead others and others are aware of what you say, what you communicate verbally and mainly physically. Lead by example, show compassion and emotion through your leadership practice, and for that, practicing mindful breathing will help you a lot.

During those dark days we were in search of happiness. I learned from a Buddhist Monk this breathing technique that I now want to share. You can do this at any time, at work or at home and it will take 5 minutes or more if you want.

1. Seat down in a comfortable place.

2. Close your eyes, inhale deeply and count mentally till 4.

3. Then exhale counting mentally again till 4.

4. Repeat this 3 to 4 times.

5. Then, as you inhale, next time mentally draw a smile around your lips and watch your smile as you slowly relax and exhale.

6. As you inhale, keep a smile on your lips. Observe it mentally and feel it.

7. Repeat 5 to 6 times and then breathe normally keeping your eyes closed just watching.

8. Then, whenever you want, slowly open your eyes and look around you.

Hope you liked it!

Let me know what your experience was like and you can share it here so other leaders and managers can learn from you.