Everyone has an “Inner Zone of Excellence”… do you use it?

Do you step into your zone of excellence before you step into your day?

Does life happen to you? Or do you create how life happens?

Before you start your day, your sports game, present to your team members or enter into any situation that may create a state of fear or anxiety take a moment to re-connect into your “Inner Zone of Excellence”

Rather than being unprepared and kicking into your “survival strategies” of attack and regression, step into your “human-excellence strategies” and create, re-energise and perform.

Following is a simple exercise that can help you to find your “Inner Zone of Excellence”. This exercise can be done on your own or with your team or anyone you may be coaching;

1. Sit or stand in a comfortable position with both feet flat on the floor and your spine erect but relaxed (i.e., “in your axis”). Check that your breathing is regular and flows deep into your belly. (Shallow, short or rapid breathing from the chest would indicate that you are in a stressed mode.)
2. Bring your attention to the soles of your feet (i.e., put your “mind” into your feet.). Become aware of the universe of sensations in the bottoms of your feet. Feel the surface of your heels, toes, arches and the balls of your feet.
3. Begin to expand your awareness to include the physical reality (the 3-dimensional space) of your feet and then move up through your lower legs, knees, thighs, pelvis and hips. Become aware of your belly centre and say to yourself, “I am here.”
4. Continuing to stay aware of your lower body, move your awareness up through your solar plexus, spine, lungs, rib cage and chest. Focus on your heart centre and say to yourself, “I am open.”
5. Expand your attention to move up through your shoulders, upper arms, elbows, lower arms, wrists, hands and fingers, and up through your neck, throat, face, skull and brain. Bring your awareness to the space between the centre and fore-front of your head, just behind your eyes, and say to yourself, “I am awake and focused.”
6. Staying in contact with the ongoing physical sensations in your body and the three centres, become aware of all the space above you, reaching into the sky; all of the space below you, going into the centre of the Earth; all of the space to your left; all of the space to your right; all of the space behind you; all of the space in front of you. Say to yourself, “I am ready.”

Now take your first step.