Developing an Instant Resilience Practice - Wisdom4Humanity with Patrick Mosher

I raced out of my physics class. Professor Clance just gave us our tests back. As I scurried across campus to my next class, my mind raced. How am I going to recover my semester grade from this D? I really didn't understand much from the class. The professor taught so fast, he could have literally taught in Greek and I would have understood just as much. And the book wasn't much help either. I read and reread each chapter with little comprehension. I slowed down every study group I joined. I'm such a doofus. Why can't I get this? And why did I schedule my next class so far away from the physics building? Only 10 minutes between classes. Stress mounts as I pick up the pace. I get to the building. Race upstairs to the locker room, change clothes, and enter the classroom. My mind's still fixated on that D. My chemical engineering degree in jeopardy. The instructor walks in and says, "Shall we begin?" Zap! As I put my hand on the bar, all worries drain from my body. Feet together, first position, and Plié. Ballet One class begins. To do a perfect plié requires absolute attention. Every part of my body turns on. The energy flows. Whatever happened before disappears. What happens next? It's irrelevant. 100% concentration requires 100% presence. In this moment there's only this perfect plié. When I put my hand on the bar, it's like touching a fully charged electric cable, a magical transition each time. Doing pliés in my dance classes saved my chemical engineering degree. 3 times a week my brain took a break from the relentless flailing and occasional failing. I left ballet class with the same question as it began: "Shall we begin?" But this time I felt refreshed and charged, and that was 40 years ago. I can still put my hand on a table or a chair with the same intention. Zap! I'm there. Feet together, first position, chin up, back straight, shoulders relaxed and down, 100% concentration and the perfect plié. The plié remains an invaluable resilience tool for me. It allows me to escape one world for a moment and then return refreshed and renewed. Do you have a resilience tool? A meditation? A mantra? A movement? No? Well, the good news is you don't have to learn how to do a plié to find your resilience tool. Although that might be exactly what you need. 10,000 pliés from now, you might feel that charge. Shall we begin?