7 Ways How Mindfulness Supercharged my Life as a Founder
Easing into well-being
I’ve been a high performer all my life. I’ve also only ever worked within a professional services, management consulting environment, so the grind and hard work is a thrill I enjoy and have been accustomed to since my 20’s. At a very young age, I found myself super successful by the traditional measures which include more money, power and stuff to show for it.
It was a Wednesday morning while driving my gorgeous coupe, when I found myself suddenly making an emergency stop to call my therapist in front of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church on Rivonia. This was after receiving a work email that really disoriented me (or shall I say, that really made me lose my sh##). It was of course a buildup of micro stresses that I had brushed aside due to the fear of being seen as “not cut out for the job” – and that for an overachiever like myself, was absolutely not an option.
After a few breathing exercises, my therapist gently let me know that I was having an anxiety attack, and that our cognitive-behavioral approach may need to be supported by antidepressants. I did a lot of self-inquiry after that call, as one does when sitting in a doctor’s waiting room after a health scare; Joy, are you now a mental case statistic? Was this the life you wanted? Is this what ‘success’ should feel like? Are you really living well?
After reading the prescription on the box of antidepressants, I put them aside and made a promise to myself that day, that I would heal myself without pharmaceutical medicine (unless absolutely necessary), and that I would stop doing the things that made me sick. The first thing on my list was to change the way I worked.
I am not a special case with this health scare. There are many of us that are high performing mental health cases. For over a year, my day started with crippling anxiety and I could not sleep throughout the night. And after many months of intentional mindfulness practices, I can truly say that I am in the best shape that I’ve ever been in my life, holistically. And no, I don’t mean the super-fit type of shape – I struggle to keep a gym membership going for more than 3 months (lol). I’ve spent some time finding ways that lean towards a well-being that works for me – Instead of popping a pill, I started filling my life with other types of “medicine” which included daily quiet time for prayer, meditation, yoga, and journaling; tennis, gardening and plant medicine, music, dog walking, and spending a lot of time in nature.
After a hard interrogation about who really owned my life and how I wanted to be & do this life, my idea of success expanded to include holistic well-being at the center of everything I do.
And I suppose this is what this first blog of “In the Oasis” is asking us to do – to redefine your definition of success and how you could supercharge your life by slowing down? As I answered these questions for myself and consciously healed from years of burnout after my wake up call, I conceived The Nomalanga Tribe, on the simple belief that one person who is conscious about healing self, can trigger the rest of the ecosystem to thrive.
Again, I am also not special here. There is a global wave towards a focus on well-being post-COVID. The spotlight on mental health to combat rising stress, burnout, and other mental health challenges has risen to improve our performance at work and other important spheres of our lives. In her book Thrive and company Thrive global, CEO Arrianna Huffington introduces wellbeing a new metric to redefining success and creating a happier life. They’ve done a lot of good research in the University of Cambridge and found that mindfulness staff based therapy (such as walking meditation) reduced depressing episodes from 78% to 36%!
I have shared 7 ways below how walking outside, as a mindfulness practice has supercharged my life as we build the tribe from 2021 to today.
1. I sleep better and have more stamina to do other activities that I love
I have noticed that if I hike on a Sunday I have more uninterrupted nights of sleep and have more energy in the week. This practice has also improved my stamina to play tennis for longer, and walk up a few flights of stairs without gasping for air…in heels too.
2. It clears my mind and eases my central nervous system
Living in the city, we underestimate the toxins in the air that we consume daily and the consequence of being glued to our computers. Did you know that our brain is actually all over our body through neurological transmitters that need fresh air to circulate and carry new messengers throughout the body more optimally? Walking outside is like a spa for your brain.
3. Some of my best ideas come from nature
This goes for ideas in my keynote addresses, any client issue, hard conversations I need to have with my family and friends, or the musical note that’s missing from a track we’re producing. I came up with The Integrated Leader Coaching course while on a hike – this has become our highest selling product! Talk about literally tapping into “blue sky thinking”
4. I load up on natural Vitamin D
The sun is the most reliable and free pill for vitamin D. It is affectionately referred to as “the sunshine vitamin”. A study done in Spain (of course trust the Spanish and their Siestas) found that short bursts of sun exposure can usually allow your body to produce all the vitamin D it needs for the day. Vitamin D helps to keep our bones, teeth and muscles healthy.
5. It slows me down to help me release and manage accumulating stress
Hiking, no matter how short, has become a vacation for my body, mind and soul. When I’ve been feeling funky, dealing with disappointments, been thinking with no solutions, and in general when I need to take off my life. It is in the quiet of nature that I get the power to reframe any situation I’m confronted with.
6. I’ve become wiser and I get space to reframe my perspectives
In nature I can have an uninterrupted dialogue with myself and the environment around me. With this space, I can go to the heart of the matter much quicker. There is something to be said about how the unbounded nature of being outside cuts out all the BS we accumulate when pressured to move fast and catch up with life that seems to always be out of reach. After a walk in nature, I am able to then plan my week more effectively on things that move the dial for me as the driver of life with less distractions.
7. It offers inspiration that improves my craft
A clearer mind when fully recharged can fire up new neurological pathways that trigger creativity that would otherwise not be accessed. I have noticed that during or after a nature walk, I come back with deeper questions that help me continue to improve my craft as the visionary at The Tribe, tapping into different healing modalities for the future of work, and a coach and advisor to leaders and business on human sustainability.
I reconnect with the wonder of ALL life (bonus point)
Coming out of the isolation that wfh alone can bring, walking in nature helps me to connect with all of life, and to something much bigger than me. I suddenly realize why most great leaders, artists, Founders, and Creators were also inspired by long walks in nature. Mbeki’s idea of the African Renaissance captures Africa’s ancient relationship with nature here:
“I am an African
I owe my being to the hills and the valleys, the mountains and the glades, the rivers, the deserts, the trees, the flowers, the seas and the ever-changing seasons that define the face of our native land.
My body has frozen in our frosts and in our latter day snows. It has thawed in the warmth of our sunshine and melted in the heat of the midday sun. The crack and the rumble of the summer thunders, lashed by startling lighting, have been a cause both of trembling and of hope.
The fragrances of nature have been as pleasant to us as the sight of the wild blooms of the citizens of the veld.”
Echoing this view, I too am learning to commune with the birds, drink from the flowing streams, chase waterfalls, and learn from our natural environment while building and leading a tribe that has already supported hundreds of leaders to thrive since starting up in 2021.
Making the first step
Ofcourse, I understand that this is a huge paradigm shift coming from a world that almost celebrates stress as the war scars that gives us permission to live a successful life.
And after walking in nature by myself as I healed from my “Civilizations Disease” (ergo burnout), I am honored to now be doing this with other leaders through our various leadership programs. CoachingOutside might be the medicine you need to take your first step towards leading from a place of wellness. Guided by the mindfulness practice of walking in nature, we have designed CoachingOutside, an intimate group, monthly coaching session focused on improving life-work integration for leaders, guided by a coach in nature.
In a world of hyper dependency on popping a pill as soon as we feel unwell, The Nomalanga Tribe is offering a different kind of prescription that puts you as an active participant in your wellness, the third metric of success.
Announcements
Join the next CoachingOutside session: 27 August 2023
10% OFF Coupon: HEALJOZI2023
To arrange your own team session, email back Lufuno on heal@tribenomalanga.com
For 1-1 sessions ask about “The Integrated Leader” 7 Week Coaching Course
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With love,
The Doctor of Joy