I look at the world
And I notice it's turning
While my guitar gently weeps

The Beatles

Leading in a world in turmoil

So many of you who I have spoken to over the last few days have reflected on how, just days after we felt some stability returning after two years of the pandemic, we are once again plunged back into uncertainty, witnessing the unimaginable suffering of the people of Ukraine.

In March 2020 at the start of the pandemic the Harvard Business Review explored how it feels when the world collectively loses its sense of safety. They described the feeling of anticipatory fear that gripped us, as we worried about that which had not yet happened, and anticipated the worst. It took its toll on us.

In schools we are once again asking, ‘how do we help our children understand what’s happening and support them as they learn how to handle their own anxiety? Those who work with Ukrainian or Russian children and their families are, yet again, ensuring your schools can be places of safety, stability and sanctuary at times of fear.

In the midst of this how do we look after ourselves and our staff, keeping ourselves grounded and secure, in the face of such suffering and uncertainty? The response is the same one the Harvard Business Review offered two years ago – we come into the present moment.

How Mindfulness can help

This sort of anticipatory worry or fear can make us feel powerless. We can feel unbalanced as if we are losing our grip. Self-doubt can creep in.  Mindfulness helps us notice when we are leaning into a future replete with uncertainty - and by drawing on some simple practices - allows us to come back to the present moment.

The present moment is a refuge, if we are able to pause and claim it as such. By going inward, if only for a few minutes we can find a steadfastness, and an inner confidence, even whilst in the midst of these troubling times.

That may seem like a small thing, but attending to our mind, and befriending our emotions can empower us. For the sake of ourselves and those we lead, we practice cultivating a loving response, to ourselves and others, even (and especially) in the midst of suffering.

As the late Vietnamese monk Thich Naht Hahn said, “If we want peace, we have to be peace. Peace is a practice not a hope.”

Practice peace inside

Our breath is always available any time we need a ‘re-set’, when emotions threaten to overwhelm us, and when we struggle to focus. We can use the breath to give ourselves a moment of inner peace.

• Take a deep breath

• Fill your body with an inhale you can feel right down to your belly

• On the exhale allow your shoulders to drop and touch in with the feeling of letting go. Notice a softening in the body

• Allow the breath to become slow and steady calming any waves of emotion you may be feeling. Sense the strength in your back, and the softness in your front.

Now carry on with the next moment of your day, a little more calm, composed and at peace.

Practice peace through kind speech

Peace can be cultivated through intentional acts of kindness. But this is not for the faint hearted. As Professor Paul Gilbert says, ‘it is active, it is passionate and it is warrior like’. Although kindness can be misunderstood as an ineffectual or even superficial nicety - it’s neither - it is in fact compelling and transformative. In any given moment, the kindness you offer to yourself or to others can calm anxiety and will affect what happens in the very next moment. So much of our day is spent talking. So why not practice the art of kind speech? 

I have always found these ancient words credited to the 13th-century Persian poet and Islamic scholar Rumi are a simple reminder of how our speech can be an intentional act of kindness.

“Before you speak, let your words pass through three gates:
At the first gate, ask yourself “Is is true?”
At the second gate ask, “Is it necessary?”
At the third gate ask, “Is it kind?”

Try asking yourself these questions next time you prepare to speak. See how they help manifest your intention to be kind through the way you speak and what you say.

 Practice peace with suffering

The Buddhist practice of ‘Tonglen’, which is translated as ‘letting in and sending out’ is a powerful way to find your ground in the midst of suffering.

• Breath in, sensing the pain of another person, (eg grief or sadness)

• With the out breath sense and send out whatever will benefit them (love or hope).

• Allow this in and out breath to bring you a sense of peace and calm in the face of suffering, yours or others, for as long as you wish.

This might seem like a counterintuitive way to find peace, but so much of our stress and anxiety is not from the experience itself, but rather our fear of not being able to hold the experience. Whether you’re actually having an impact on the person receiving your good wishes is an unknown, and it isn’t a substitute for taking action. But as a personal practice, it will change your relationship to what you’re experiencing. Whilst offering calm and ease to ourselves, we also offer it to others.

If you have time to go further, watch this short TED talk from Roshi Joan Halifax, the Abbott of the Upaya Zen Centre in New Mexico. She explores the interdependence of all human life and the power of the practice of peace for ‘without love and compassion, humanity cannot survive’.