by Jim Dreaver -
How often are you in the Zone? Are you in control of your business and your life or does it feel at times like it controls you?
Do you know how to stay relaxed, clear, centered, no matter how challenging your work or personal circumstances? Are you doing what you love and producing the results you want?
You’ve had moments of living in the Zone. If you’ve been a student of inner growth, perhaps you are there a lot of the time. Or maybe you have a favorite sport or activity that gets you in the Zone.
Yet, with the right understanding and some skilled coaching, it is possible to live in the Zone all the time, no matter where you are, who you are with or what is happening around you.
Other people can be caught up in crisis and confusion and here you are, providing a beacon of light, clarity, and inspiration for everyone. You remind them that they, too, can be in the Zone.
To be in the Zone is to be dialed in to your natural state of clarity, presence and personal power. It’s being free of stress, worry and negative emotions. It’s living with a sense of ease, joy and deep peace within. It’s having abundant energy for your work, relationships and creative life.
It’s focusing on and achieving the goals and dreams that matter to you. It’s being able to stop whenever you want, breathe consciously and simply enjoy the beauty and wonder of the now moment.
I spent twenty years learning what it takes to live in the Zone. Seven years ago I went through a shift and discovered exactly how simple it is, once we have the right understanding, to live there, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
In this article I want to share the essence of my unique approach to living and working in the Zone. I call it the Zone Process. Work with it and I guarantee it will support you in taking the next step on your journey to inner peace and outer success.
Do you know how to stay relaxed, clear, centered, no matter how challenging your work or personal circumstances? Are you doing what you love and producing the results you want?
You’ve had moments of living in the Zone. If you’ve been a student of inner growth, perhaps you are there a lot of the time. Or maybe you have a favorite sport or activity that gets you in the Zone.
Yet, with the right understanding and some skilled coaching, it is possible to live in the Zone all the time, no matter where you are, who you are with or what is happening around you.
Other people can be caught up in crisis and confusion and here you are, providing a beacon of light, clarity, and inspiration for everyone. You remind them that they, too, can be in the Zone.
To be in the Zone is to be dialed in to your natural state of clarity, presence and personal power. It’s being free of stress, worry and negative emotions. It’s living with a sense of ease, joy and deep peace within. It’s having abundant energy for your work, relationships and creative life.
It’s focusing on and achieving the goals and dreams that matter to you. It’s being able to stop whenever you want, breathe consciously and simply enjoy the beauty and wonder of the now moment.
I spent twenty years learning what it takes to live in the Zone. Seven years ago I went through a shift and discovered exactly how simple it is, once we have the right understanding, to live there, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
In this article I want to share the essence of my unique approach to living and working in the Zone. I call it the Zone Process. Work with it and I guarantee it will support you in taking the next step on your journey to inner peace and outer success.
THE ZONE PROCESS
1. What is the story I am telling myself about this situation?
Pick the situation, real or imagined, that is causing the most stress or upset and keeping you from being in the Zone. What beliefs, judgments, worries, expectations, assumptions, or considerations are you holding onto that are generating feelings of stress or anxiety?
Start to inquire into and investigate the story you are telling yourself about what’s bothering you. Notice the attachment you have to your story, your position, your point of view.
Take time to explore this. Write your thoughts and feelings down if it helps, or share them with someone if you are doing this process with a friend or associate.
Note: For the Process to work you must be completely honest with yourself. You must be willing to look at all your judgments, fears, beliefs, and concerns without judging yourself for any of it.
It is only through laying your entire "story" out in front of you that you get to see, and--eventually--be free of it.
2. Who or what am I if I let the story go and just be totally present in this moment?
Start to inquire into and investigate the story you are telling yourself about what’s bothering you. Notice the attachment you have to your story, your position, your point of view.
Take time to explore this. Write your thoughts and feelings down if it helps, or share them with someone if you are doing this process with a friend or associate.
Note: For the Process to work you must be completely honest with yourself. You must be willing to look at all your judgments, fears, beliefs, and concerns without judging yourself for any of it.
It is only through laying your entire "story" out in front of you that you get to see, and--eventually--be free of it.
2. Who or what am I if I let the story go and just be totally present in this moment?
Once you are clear about the story you are telling yourself, put it aside for a few minutes. Breathe deeply and slowly down into your belly, plant your feet on the ground. Be very still, aware, present in this moment now.
Open up to what you are sensing and feeling within and around you. If feelings or emotions surface, welcome them, breathe into them, experience them. Don’t try and analyze or interpret them. Don’t make up a new story around them.
The key here is to let go of every belief, every concept, every story, whether about the situation you are facing, what you are feeling, who or what you are, or anything else.
It is to allow your mind to clear totally, if only for a few minutes, so that you can experience what it means to be truly open and present, free of any distracting thoughts. If you do this, and just stay very present and aware, eventually any strong or disturbing waves of feeling, emotion, or sensation will pass.
Your head will clear, your body will relax, and you will awaken to a deeper sense of inner harmony and well-being. You will tap into the power of presence itself.
Then, ask yourself question # 2. Stay present. Don’t grasp at conceptual answers. Let it be an intuitive process. Now, notice that if you can observe your thoughts and beliefs, you cannot be them.
You are what is observing. So, what is that? You can’t say, because the moment you do, you are back in beliefs, concepts, back in your "story" about reality, rather than Reality itself. Eventually it will dawn on you that you are not your circumstances, nor your story.
Rather, you are the consciousness, the timeless awareness, or presence, that is expressing through this body/mind/self that is "you." Every person who masters living in the Zone, who awakens to their essential nature--which some call enlightenment, or self-realization--understands this.
3. What action needs to be taken?
Open up to what you are sensing and feeling within and around you. If feelings or emotions surface, welcome them, breathe into them, experience them. Don’t try and analyze or interpret them. Don’t make up a new story around them.
The key here is to let go of every belief, every concept, every story, whether about the situation you are facing, what you are feeling, who or what you are, or anything else.
It is to allow your mind to clear totally, if only for a few minutes, so that you can experience what it means to be truly open and present, free of any distracting thoughts. If you do this, and just stay very present and aware, eventually any strong or disturbing waves of feeling, emotion, or sensation will pass.
Your head will clear, your body will relax, and you will awaken to a deeper sense of inner harmony and well-being. You will tap into the power of presence itself.
Then, ask yourself question # 2. Stay present. Don’t grasp at conceptual answers. Let it be an intuitive process. Now, notice that if you can observe your thoughts and beliefs, you cannot be them.
You are what is observing. So, what is that? You can’t say, because the moment you do, you are back in beliefs, concepts, back in your "story" about reality, rather than Reality itself. Eventually it will dawn on you that you are not your circumstances, nor your story.
Rather, you are the consciousness, the timeless awareness, or presence, that is expressing through this body/mind/self that is "you." Every person who masters living in the Zone, who awakens to their essential nature--which some call enlightenment, or self-realization--understands this.
3. What action needs to be taken?
With the increased clarity and presence you now feel, your understanding will grow.
Everything, even the seemingly irrational aspects of human behavior, will start to make more sense to you. Then you can ask question #3. Is there some immediate action that needs to be taken about the situation that was bothering you?
Does something need to be communicated? Sometimes action is needed, often it isn’t. Sometimes the best thing to do is to pause for a while, and breathe into the simple joy of just being. It is amazing how many problems solve themselves when "we," with all our agendas and considerations, get out of our own way.
If there is nothing needing your immediate attention, you can then ask: "What do I want to create? What is my vision and purpose? What are the goals I need to focus on to fulfill my purpose?" Get clear about your intention, and proceed with whatever action is needed, knowing that whenever upset or conflict arises in the future, you now have the technology to deal with it.
As you work with it, the Process will bring you to the place where your inner peace, happiness, and meaning in life no longer depend on beliefs or concepts about who you are, nor on other people or outer circumstances.
Instead, they will flow from within you, from the energy and power of the life force vibrating in every cell of your body. This energy will leave you feeling renewed in body, mind, and spirit.
As the realization of inner freedom deepens, you will find yourself naturally and consistently living in the Zone. You will no longer live from thinking and worrying but from clear, relaxed, present-time awareness itself.
Then you can use thinking, goal-setting and imagination for the powerful creative tools they are and the results you seek in your life will manifest much more effortlessly. Wisdom and love will guide you every step of the way.
Everything, even the seemingly irrational aspects of human behavior, will start to make more sense to you. Then you can ask question #3. Is there some immediate action that needs to be taken about the situation that was bothering you?
Does something need to be communicated? Sometimes action is needed, often it isn’t. Sometimes the best thing to do is to pause for a while, and breathe into the simple joy of just being. It is amazing how many problems solve themselves when "we," with all our agendas and considerations, get out of our own way.
If there is nothing needing your immediate attention, you can then ask: "What do I want to create? What is my vision and purpose? What are the goals I need to focus on to fulfill my purpose?" Get clear about your intention, and proceed with whatever action is needed, knowing that whenever upset or conflict arises in the future, you now have the technology to deal with it.
As you work with it, the Process will bring you to the place where your inner peace, happiness, and meaning in life no longer depend on beliefs or concepts about who you are, nor on other people or outer circumstances.
Instead, they will flow from within you, from the energy and power of the life force vibrating in every cell of your body. This energy will leave you feeling renewed in body, mind, and spirit.
As the realization of inner freedom deepens, you will find yourself naturally and consistently living in the Zone. You will no longer live from thinking and worrying but from clear, relaxed, present-time awareness itself.
Then you can use thinking, goal-setting and imagination for the powerful creative tools they are and the results you seek in your life will manifest much more effortlessly. Wisdom and love will guide you every step of the way.
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