Start with where you are
All journeys begin with where you are. If you don’t know where you are, it’s hard to proceed.
Developing wisdom is like that too. You must start with your current reality. This is the only place from which we can move toward wisdom.
I created a framework called the Five Doorways of Mindfulness to help. It shows how our “current reality” in any moment is a cycle made of five components: physical sensations, emotions, thoughts, actions, and underlying beliefs.
My clients use the Five Doorways to quickly identify the cycle they are experiencing in any moment. They can then adjust from an adverse cycle to a beneficial cycle if needed.
Each of the Five Doorways is an access point where an adverse cycle can be interrupted.
Below are some generic examples of interventions for each of the Five Doorways:
Shifting focus from agitating physical sensations to pleasant or neutral sensations in the body.
Releasing or reinterpreting unsettling emotions.
Replacing negative thoughts with a series of gratitude statements.
Taking actions that disprove a limiting underlying belief.
Using inquiry methods to self-examine the accuracy of an underlying belief.
Patterns emerge
Over time, the Five Doorways reveal themes. You realize that the moment-to-moment cycles you experience point to larger, long-term patterns of behavior. (They are examples of fractals: patterns that repeat across scales.)
As we proceed through life, short-term patterns can become entrenched personality traits.
The good news is, these patterns are changeable, not static. We can learn to deconstruct our patterns and replace them with new ones. This is a step forward toward wisdom. Reactive patterns are replaced with skillful responses.
Changing patterns does not require extensive meditation experience. I teach everyday mindfulness: practical, targeted techniques suited for real-world, in-the-moment situations.
Most of us don’t have time to become a “world class” meditator like Tibetan Buddhist Mattieu Ricard, who is known as the “happiest person on Earth.” (Brain scans reveal his default state of consciousness reflects a deep equanimity, developed over a lifetime committed to meditation.)
Most of us may never reach this sublime state. But we can learn to shift our patterns of behavior "in the moment" by applying mindfulness-inspired techniques.
Getting results
As a coach, I’m interested in results. I want to see my clients take action that they really want for themselves…but have felt is unlikely. I’ve found that practices like the Five Doorways of Mindfulness can be profound difference-maker. It helps you view life from a broader, clearer perspective. New options come into focus where before you felt muddled. You begin to see underlying patterns of behavior in yourself and others, and how to change them.
You operate with more flow, authenticity, and open-heartedness, even in especially challenging circumstances. In short: you make better choices and follow-through on them.
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