I use to conduct full-day technology workshops for teachers. Teachers are a lively bunch; they seldom get adult conversation since they spend their days with kids. So putting 25 teachers in a room together and trying to get them to listen can be nerve-racking. One really needs to be “on”.
20 years ago when I first started teaching, I had this feeling that I was on the surface. I wasn’t quite getting my point across, I wasn’t quite connecting on the level I needed to be clear and successful.
Then one day, while trying to explain something to a group, I felt myself going deeper. I took this breath, waited a moment and then drop down to the next level. Thought was clearer there. Time slowed down and I watched myself choosing just the right words, pausing at the right place for effect; it was quiet there. I tapped into the place where extraordinary things happen. This must be the place that athletes call the zone.
Since then I’ve been figuring out how to voluntarily go deeper. It’s such a cool place to hang out. I go there when I draw, garden, mediate, scull, shower and journal. These are all quiet activities but I suspect that they clear the way for me to go deeper in the midst of some busy activity where I need to get smarter and clearer very quickly. I do find I can get there quicker now that I know how it feels and how much more effective I can be.
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