Your Power Center
Navel Gazing
Part of my job as a coach is to ask the deep questions. Why do you want that? What purpose does that serve? What difference will it make? And what does that mean to you?
These questions cut to the underlying motivation of the desired change. If
that fundamental "why" is not identified, then we can talk strategies, tips, and
techniques forever but the improvement, whether personal or professional, won't be sustained.
The answers aren't always apparent and considering them may take a little time. There can be a degree of discomfort at the realization of a gap or incongruence in your life.
Sometimes I'll hear, "I don't like that navel-gazing stuff," and there is an attempt to dismiss the exploration as esoteric. Barbara, a market research executive, confessed she felt a bit self-conscious about
"the luxury" of navel-gazing when others in the world are barely surviving.
So the question remains: Is it worth the effort to go deep?
With the Strength of Your Core
To those who think that pondering the deep questions is just navel-gazing, I say:
Yes, but that's your power center! Ask any chiropractor, acupuncturist, or other energy worker in the healing arts and they'll tell you about the core chakra.
It's the energy center in your body that represents your personal power, vitality, and self-esteem.
Likewise, those who teach the martial arts, yoga and Pilates all emphasize the importance of
moving with the strength of your core. In researching why core strength is important, I found articles written by weight lifters, runners, cyclists, dancers, gymnasts, professional athletes, as well as medical experts from Mayo Clinic and Harvard. Your core
- the body's center of gravity - is a key factor in your stability, flexibility, and overall strength and power.
On a physical level, every time you stand up, reach for something, or walk across the room, the movement originates from your core, your power center.
In the same way, when you allow a sense of purpose to guide
your actions each day, you are operating -
moving, working, living from the strength of your core.
Navel Acting
The reason people poke fun at navel-gazing is that it can't end there. Just
as acting without consideration can result in wheel spinning and frustration, it's also true that
pondering without acting is letting insight evaporate into thin air.
Navel Gazing must lead to Navel Acting, which I'll define as moving with purpose and intention, from the power and strength of your core.
Perhaps even more than a luxury, it is an inestimable freedom to be able to navel-gaze and consider your purpose in life. If that's the case, it makes the responsibility to do it even greater. Connect with your core, then move.
This Week's Call To Action:
- Don't stop yourself from asking the deep questions, from peering into your whys. After pondering the interior, take action in the exterior physical world.
- What's one way you will connect with your power center?
All movement starts from the core.
See you in the current,
Notes:
I never knew there was a word for
navel-gazing:
omphaloskepsis. And here are four antique statues depicting this activity!
|
Current of Life, by Virginia Kravitz,
is a free, biweekly ezine for accomplished professionals who
want to have more fulfilling careers and lives. Each issue
provides practical guidance and inspiration to embrace a new
and joyful momentum as you navigate the important decisions
of your life. As a subscriber, you have exclusive access to
special events such as teleclasses, call-in days, program
previews, and Current Conversations, a monthly community
call.
Learn more about my unique approach which incorporates the
Five Stages of Living in the Current.
Visit:
inthecurrent.com
© 2014, Virginia M. Kravitz and In
the Current®. All Rights Reserved.
You are welcome to reproduce this article provided it is
without any alteration,
includes the copyright line above, and a link to
www.inthecurrent.com, if distributing electronically.
|