To say that today’s business environment is stressful would be a) a reiteration and b) an understatement. Long working hours, less time for physical activities and terrible eating habits are bad enough. And if they are coupled with stress, running a business can seem like the worst option ever.
Jaishree Sellamuthu
Carina Benninga
BLoC spoke to Jaishree (who did her under-graduation in business management, majoring in marketing and finance. She then did an MSc in Hotel and Foodservice Management, and went on to do an MA in East-West Psychology in San Francisco) to know more about this workshop and how it would help business. Here’s what she said:
Answers from within
I was doing my masters in San Francisco, and was going through a bad phase, personally. Looking for answers, I stumbled across Byron Katie’s (writer and speaker) video on YouTube, where she was facilitating people using ‘The Work’. I was impressed by how simple, effective and rational her process was. I read up more about her and saw on her website that she had a nine-day intensive programme for The Work, which I signed up for.
So what is The Work?
Think of it as an inquiry — as a set of questions you ask yourself. There are four questions that you must ask yourself when you believe a thought that is bothering you.
Is it true? If the answer is yes, then ask the next question.
Can you absolutely know that it is true?
What happens when you believe that thought? Examine your reactions when you hold on to that particular belief.
Who would you be without that thought? Imagine what you would be if you weren’t attached to that thought.
This exercise allows answers from within to rise up. Next, you go for a turnaround, which is turning your thoughts and beliefs on their head. Let’s take the example of the thought ‘he hurt me’.
1) You turn it around to yourself: In this scenario, the turnaround would become I hurt myself. Find specific examples from your stressful situation.
2) Turn around to the other: Here, it becomes I hurt him.
3) Turn around to the opposite: This becomes he didn’t hurt me.
How does this help businesses?
Business is a highly stressful environment. My father is a businessman and I have seen him go through a lot of stress. It is a very emotional journey. All kinds of issues come up.
What The Work does is clearing the mind. Whatever obstacles are usually projected, especially in the case of an entrepreneur, it depends on their personal pre-conditioning.
Let me give you an example of how The Work helped a businessman I worked with. He was in the oil industry in Canada and had a lot of trouble getting calls and orders. We sat down and tried to figure out what exactly was stopping him from working well. We uncovered issues that went back to his childhood. Oftentimes, you’ll be surprised how much personal conditioning can impact professional life.
All about the present
The whole idea is to function from the present and be free from past conditioning. If you just do what is required of you in the present, there’s less stress. The other thing that The Work facilitates is clear communication. When you are more aware of thoughts, and play it out in the world, communication is more effective.
The idea is to become a more functional person through personal awareness, which will in turn make you a better worker.
What the workshop will entail
We will take real-life business challenges, like getting customers, problems with training and suppliers. And work through them, using worksheets. We will examine the situation in more detail, and apply The Work to them.
Apart from this, in the workshop, we will focus on money and finances, love, appreciation and approval seeking at workplace, and criticism and receiving feedback, considering how closed a lot of us are to feedback.
Why ‘Heart of Business’?
Most of the times, we think from our mind, and all thoughts are learnt, conditioned. But the more we connect to the heart, the more authentic and aligned you will be with your true nature.
It is basically teaching present moment awareness. Like Byron Katie says, “Peace is exciting”.
The event:
When : October 10 and 11
Where : Cholamandal Artists Village, Injambakkam, Chennai
Contact : Click here to know more details.