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Living and Working
in the Zone
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. I wrote about what I found in a
book called THE WAY OF HARMONY (Avon). Many who have
read it tell me that it has profoundly impacted their
lives. 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.
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?
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?
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.
©
Copyright May 2002 Jim Dreaver. All Rights Reserved.
Jim Dreaver is the
author of The Way of Harmony, The Ultimate
Cure, and Somatic Technique. He lives in
Northern California and coaches professionals and others
in how to live and work in the Zone. For more information visit www.jimdreaver.com
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