As women entrepreneurs, we share one thing in common – a volatile market. Whether we are seasoned professionals, or just starting our journey – navigating the ebbs and flows can feel unsettling or paralyzing, causing us to cope in ways that could sabotage our success. The good news? There is an easy and soft way to shift from sabotage to self-confidence.
The Power of Mindfulness
Mindfulness can support our nervous systems and settle our minds by bringing gentle awareness to the body, mind, and senses. This practice, when done consistently, has the power to transform and support not only our business health but our overall well-being.
A formal mindfulness meditation practice is different from other meditations, such as relaxation, visualizations and manifesting. There are nine attitudinal foundations of mindfulness practice that set it apart and integrate into every aspect of our lives. These foundations of practice can offer a framework for resiliency as we grow our businesses. Instead of avoiding challenges, we cultivate awareness so that we can learn how to adapt and change our relationship to them.
Think of the nine attitudinal foundations as practical attitudes that can shift how you handle a difficult client conversation, make decisions under pressure, or navigate the emotional rollercoaster of entrepreneurship.
The Nine Attitudinal Foundations of Mindfulness
1. Beginner’s Mind – Approaching the practice with an open mind, curiosity and ready to learn. This can help us expand instead of staying stuck.
The practice: Before your next team meeting, consciously set aside an omniscient mindset. Ask genuine questions. Listen for what you haven’t heard before.
2. Non-Judgment – Our inner critic can be loud. Here we give ourselves permission to be perfectly imperfect by simply observing what’s happening.
The practice: Notice when you’re judging yourself at work. Can you simply observe what is happening without making it mean something about your worth or capability?
3. Patience – Growth doesn’t necessarily follow our timeline. Patience gives us the space to trust the process when results aren’t immediate, encouraging our commitment and sustainability.
The practice: When you’re frustrated that something isn’t moving fast enough, pause and ask: “Where are my feet?” Stand still and look down. Pause. Be OK with it. Allow. Notice how this shift feels in your body.
4. Trust – Trust is all about our own judgment, intuition, and capacity, and is the foundation for authentic leadership.
The practice: Before making a decision that feels forced or impulsive, get quiet and check in with yourself first. Take three deep breaths. Notice the sensations in your body. What are they telling you?
5. Non-Striving – This might seem counterintuitive in business, where we naturally focus on outcomes. But non-striving doesn’t mean stopping our efforts – it means releasing the desperate grasping energy that can block progress.
The practice: If anxiety builds during your meditation practice, don’t try to push it away or ignore it. Notice and come back to your breath. Non-striving is learning how to sit with the uncomfortable feelings instead of trying to avoid them.
6. Acceptance – We allow whatever comes up in the mind or body to be just as it is. Acceptance is the solution for restless, irritable and discontented feelings.
The practice: If thoughts arise, which they most likely will, just bring a gentle awareness to them, knowing there is nothing you need to fix or change at this moment. Insights will come later.
7. Letting Go and Letting Be – We all go down rabbit holes. In practice, we learn how to stay unattached which makes it easier for us to let go of what no longer serves us in our businesses and lives.
The practice: What are you holding onto that might need to be released? What would become available if you loosened your grip? Just observe.
8. Gratitude – Embodying gratitude helps us to open our hearts to the goodness that is present without dismissing the difficulties.
The practice: End each workday by noting three things that went well or that you’re grateful for on your business journey. Write it down. Notice how this practice shifts your energy over time.
9. Generosity – Bringing generosity to practice can flip a mindset of scarcity. It’s the attitude that there’s enough for everyone.
The practice: Showing compassion for yourself during a practice helps you hold space for others. Allow your practice to guide you in ways to be generous with leadership, your attention, your encouragement, or your resources, without expecting anything in return.
These nine attitudes don’t eliminate the ups and downs of entrepreneurial life – they help us move through them with ease and grace. They can support us in changing our relationship with uncertainty from something to be feared to something we can work with mindfully.
When we commit to a daily mindfulness practice, transformation in business and life is inevitable because we are infusing the attitudes into other aspects of our lives. The result? Peace, flow, and abundance in every way.
Name: Christina Nylese
Professional Title: Holistic Health And Mindfulness Teacher
Bio: Christina Nylese is a holistic health and mindfulness teacher and best-selling author of Self-Love, Self-Healing: Using the Mind and Body to Get Unstuck, Heal Old Wounds, and Live Abundantly. She helps ambitious women to quit sabotaging their success and live more abundantly.
