Enjoy Life

"He who allows his day to pass by without practicing generosity and enjoying life's pleasures is like a blacksmith's bellows - he breathes but does not live." -- Sanskrit Proverb

After getting a major promotion and a raise at work, you go shopping and buy a gift for yourself. A few hours later you start to feel bad about your purchase and think to yourself, "Was that wasteful? Vain?"

After working overtime for several weeks, you get your first full evening off. You decide to go straight home and put in a DVD you've been waiting a long time to see. Ten minutes into the movie you start checking your watch. You think to yourself, "Shouldn't I be doing something productive?"

After a stressful series of work days the weekend arrives and you decide to spend some quality time in nature to wind down. Saturday you do your laundry and other necessary chores. You tell yourself you'll just send a few emails and then you'll go outside and relax. The next thing you know, the sky is deep blue and you realize that you spent the entire day indoors and that you missed the sunset. Again. But you think to yourself, "Well, yes...but I got so much done."

These scenarios are all too common, particularly for spiritually inclined over-achievers. Somewhere in our years of socialization we have become confused and misinformed about how to lead a successful - and yet still spiritual - life. Thus, when in our extremely busy lives we are given an opportunity to take time for ourselves and relax, inexplicably we feel guilty and lazy. What we miss by giving in to those feelings is an understanding of one of the most spiritual qualities of all: balance.

Why do we become uncomfortable the moment a milestone has been reached, a measure of success achieved? Why is it so hard to take a break and enjoy life? My mentor once told me about a billboard he used to pass every day on the highway on his way to work. It said, in large letters, "Slow down. Enjoy life." It was an ad paid for by the local funeral home.

It seems our world spins at a higher rev every year. We are bound to our jobs, families, exercise needs and errands. We can be reached by phone, cell phone, pager, Blackberry, and multiple email accounts. We have so many areas of access, so many responsibilities. It can be so hard to stop. But where did this idea arise that it is somehow unspiritual, wasteful or unproductive to enjoy life?

In fact, it can be extremely productive to rest, to take care of yourself, to have fun, to play. It's valuable and responsible and conducive to development of the spirit to shut down for a while, even just for a short time. To recharge. If you lose your center, your core strength, your balance, due to overwork or stress, it becomes harder and harder to lead the introspective, spiritually inclined life you may be seeking. The true spiritual life is challenging. The path of self-discovery requires that we expend a certain amount of physical and mental energy in order to one day draw an abundance of energy from the spirit. The Three-Fold Path to Mastery holds as one of its Fundamental Principles the art of service, of dedicating yourself to an organization, goal or ideal. But of course, the more exhausted you become, the fewer of your own needs you are addressing, the harder it becomes to concern yourself with the needs of others.

Taking care of your core needs - which include the need to play, to allow yourself time for personal, even selfish, enjoyment - gives you a much greater capacity for giving to others and for the difficult exercise of exploring the depths of your spirit. This is balance.

Balance is only achieved when you address the needs of the body, mind and spirit in equal measure. It is achieved when you allow yourself the simple, luxurious pleasure of not doing anything at all for a brief time. Over-achievers often find it anathema to spend even five minutes engaged in an activity that fails to deliver obvious returns. They think, "Every second has to count." What they fail to understand is that "not-doing" can be an exceptionally productive activity. Engaging in a seemingly frivolous activity, but one that is purely fun, counts for a lot.

So don't be so hard on yourself! Life is exploding around us in myriad and miraculous forms. Don't miss the show. Give yourself to your work fully. Then, rest. Take the advice of that funeral home and slow down. Enjoy life.

Nicole Grace
August 2006

"Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop." -- Ovid

Satori Sciences is pleased to offer a new, extraordinary workshop that can increase productivity, improve work quality and contribute to a significant decrease in stress.

"When I was working on Wall Street, I would often head over to Trinity Church at lunchtime and, after munching a quick bite on the way there, would spend 30 - 45 minutes sitting quietly in one of the small wooden chairs of their tiny meditation room. This tranquil time, however brief, gave me a tremendous respite from the intensity of my day. Leaving the darkened, hushed interior of the church, I would make my way back to the office, replenished and ready to take on the challenges of the office with a renewed energy, balance and enthusiasm. I know many others that have found unique ways to renew their energy during their lunch break, some who found a quiet place to visit, as I did. With layoffs, threat warnings and increased pressure to break productivity records, it is an appropriate time for us to offer this very special new training for corporations and individuals: Peace Meal." - Nicole Grace

Peace Meal is a 45 minute-long meditation seminar, designed to accommodate busy workers on a tight schedule! During the workshop period, one of our exceptional master instructors, each with over 12 years experience of enthusiastic discipline, will teach participants stress-release exercises and non-denominational meditation techniques, as well as provide one or two guided meditation sessions. Held in your corporate offices, or in an outside location provided by Satori Sciences, the workshops will begin promptly at 12:10 p.m. or 1:10 p.m. and will conclude promptly at five minutes before the hour, ensuring attendees have time to return to their offices after their lunch hour has ended.

The only limit on participation is the size of the room provided. We recommend scheduling a series of four consecutive, weekly meetings at minimum to ensure that the participants have time to practice the techniques on their own, while learning how to integrate the material into their daily lives.

For more information about these sessions, or to schedule a meeting at your location, please contact our sales headquarters: info@satorisciences.com or 800-384-8815.

This unique half-day workshop provides attendees with a powerful introduction to meditation and mindfulness, taught by instructors with a minimum of 12 years of training and discipline in this art. The regular practice of quieting the mind has been proven to significantly reduce stress and feelings of negativity, as well as increase intellectual capacity and problem-solving abilities. The Art of Meditation offers a practical, non-denominational approach. (The Art of Meditation can also be combined with our Three-Fold Path to Mastery seminar for a transformational 1 1/2 day experience.)

During the powerful 4-hour session, attendees will learn:

• Several extremely effective techniques for quieting the mind
• Mindfulness
• Avoiding The Passion Reaction
• How to incorporate meditative practice into each day

Read new press and reviews about Mastery At Work!

New Connexions Magazine - "Editor's Picks"
"Combining spiritual techniques with business practices, Nicole Grace recognizes that leading an impeccable working life helps us to achieve personal growth. Her secret key to success—work as a spiritual practice and spiritual practice as work. Whether you work on Wall Street or as a street vendor, Grace’s techniques of 'acting as if,' detachment, and focusing like a warrior will help you to create a fulfilling work and personal life."

USA Book News
Mastery At Work is an enlightening and informative new book that is transforming the way people think about life and work. Drawn from proven business strategies and ancient spiritual teachings, Mastery At Work presents practical techniques anyone can embrace and use to work more productively and with greater skill, as well as to lead an uncommonly joyful life, regardless of daily circumstances. Based on The Three-Fold Path to Mastery philosophy created by the author, Mastery At Work describes the pathways that can lead to a life of success, expertise, balance and fulfillment. ["USA Book News covers unique books from both the mainstream and independent press. We look beyond the best-seller lists to find fantastic books that are worthy of attention."]

Balanced Living Magazine
Nicole Grace is one extraordinary woman: a former Wall Street executive and an ordained Buddhist monk and a black belt in karate and a former symphony orchestra violinist! More important, however, is the fact that her accomplishments are demonstrations of the program she proffers in her first book, Mastery At Work. Drawn from her experience in multiple spiritual disciplines, including martial arts, Grace distills her impressive 18 Keys into a Three-Fold Path (Soft Skills, Professional Skills and Continuous Improvement). Taken together, they comprise a powerful life-way, as appropriate for the longtime seeker as it is for the spiritual novice.

Almost all of us work, and work (especially nowadays) can be fraught with difficulties: lack of meaning, lack of security and frustrating relationships, to name a few. Grace, through this prism of work, is providing the public at large a process into deeper experience and understanding. This is a book you can give to anyone as an ultimate, self-guided, personal-growth method, whether or not they’ve ever uttered the word spirituality. To the degree that they embody and express the 18 Keys, they will open inner doors, and what they learn and experience will find its outer reflection. Mastery At Work is a book about mastery of life. It belongs on every bookshelf.
- David Langer

For more information about our life-changing, career-inspiring seminars, click here: http://www.satorisciences.com/seminars/index.html