Ten Zen Seconds: Twelve Incantations for Purpose, Power and Calm

255 Pages·2007·0.78 MB·English

by  Eric Maisel

Ten seconds
Zen
Twelve incantations for purpose,
power and calm
Eric Maisel
Copyright©2007byEricMaisel
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LibraryofCongressinPublication
Maisel,Eric
TenZenseconds:twelveincantationsforpurpose,powerandcalm/EricMaisel.
p.cm.
ISBN-13:978-1-4022-0853-9
ISBN-10:1-4022-0853-7
1. Stressmanagement.2. Breathingexercises. I.Title.
RA785.M342007
613’.192—dc22
2006100789
PrintedandboundintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
VP10987654
For Ann, as always

Table of Contents
Introducing Ten Zen Seconds ......................1
ONE.
Breathing and Thinking .........................10
TWO.
The Twelve Incantations .......................19
THREE.
Incantation 1: I Am Completely Stopping ...........29
FOUR.
Incantation 2: I Expect Nothing ...................38
FIVE.
Incantation 3: I Am Doing My Work ................47
SIX.
Incantation 4: I Trust My Resources .............56
SEVEN.
Incantation 5: I Feel Supported ..................65
EIGHT.
Incantation 6: I Embrace This Moment .............73
NINE.
Incantation 7: I Am Free of the Past ................82
TEN.
Incantation 8: I Make My Meaning .............90
ELEVEN.
Incantation 9: I Am Open to Joy ...............99
TWELVE.
Incantation 10: I Am Equal to This Challenge ..108
THIRTEEN.
Incantation 11: I Am Taking Action .........117
FOURTEEN.
Incantation 12: I Return with Strength .........126
FIFTEEN.
Ten zen Seconds
Using the Twelve Incantations................135
SIXTEEN.
Choosing Incantations ..................142
SEVENTEEN.
Combining, Customizing,
EIGHTEEN.
and Creating Incantations .................149
Bookends ..............................157
NINETEEN.
Ten Zen Seconds Centering Exercises ...........165
TWENTY.
Introducing the Centering Sequence ......174
TWENTY-ONE.
Practicing the Centering Sequence ........183
TWENTY-TWO.
Customizing the Centering Sequence ....192
TWENTY-THREE.
Centering in Public ..................200
TWENTY-FOUR.
Centering and Healing .................211
TWENTY-FIVE.
Centering for Performance ...............221
TWENTY-SIX.
In the Vanguard ....................230
TWENTY-SEVEN.
Your Centering Practice ..............239
TWENTY-EIGHT.
About the Author ..................................246
[vi]
Chapter One
Introducing Ten Zen Seconds
I am going to teach you a centering technique that verges on the
miraculous. You can dramatically improve your ability to center,
become more calm and more powerful, and radically improve
your life by taking ten-second pauses of the sort that I’m about
to describe. You’ll be amazed to learn that such a life-altering
strategy can come in a span as small as ten seconds, but it can!
Hundreds of my clients, and hundreds of volunteers, have used
this technique to center, calm, and ground themselves while
waiting in traffic, sitting in the dentist’s office, preparing to
record a new album, or readying themselves to talk to their
teenager. They know firsthand that this technique works.
Thisten-secondtechniquehastwocomponents:abreathingpart
and a thinking part. The basis of Ten Zen Seconds is using a single
deep breath as a container for a specific thought. First you practice
Ten zen Seconds
deep breathing until you can produce a breath that lasts about five
seconds on the inhale and five seconds on the exhale. Learning to
dothiswilltakeyouonlyafewminutes.Thenyouinsertathought
intothebreath,silentlythinkinghalfthethoughtontheinhaleand
halfthethoughtontheexhale.This,too,willtakeyouonlyashort
time to learn. In an afternoon you can familiarize yourself with the
program outlined in this book.
If this ten-second centering technique sounds very simple, it’s
becauseitis:Itissimpletograsp,simpletopractice,simpletouse,and
simpletomaster.It’sneverthelessprofoundinitsbenefits.Youwillbe
able to do things that previously felt too painful or too difficult to
attempt.Youwillbeabletocalmandcenteryourselfbeforeanimpor-
tant meeting or conversation. You will change your basic attitudes
about life—moving from pessimism to optimism, procrastination to
effort,andworrytocalm.Thesearethebenefitsthatawaityou.
I’m adapting a word from the world of magic—incantation—to
describe these breath-and-thought bundles. An incantation is a rit-
ual recitation of a verbal charm meant to produce a magical effect.
Those are exactly our methods and our aims. The magical effects
are instant centering and instant calm. The ritual we use is breath-
ing a certain way and thinking a certain thought for ten seconds at
a time. The verbal charms are the specific thoughts that I’ll teach
you, with twelve incantations in all.
[2]
Introducing Ten Zen Seconds
Ihopethatyou’realittleskepticalaboutthepromisesI’mmaking.
By all means hold on to your skepticism! Then, when you see that
ten-secondcenteringworks,it’llstrikeyouasallthemoremagical.
Marrying East and West
We know from Eastern practices like yoga and meditation the
importance of the twin concepts of breath awareness and mind-
fulness. Breath awareness is simply paying attention to the way
we breathe while reminding ourselves to breathe more deeply and
morefullythanweusuallydo.Aswerushthroughlifewebreathe
shallowly, as our mind chatter propels us forward. Burdened by
what Buddhists call “monkey mind”—that worried, needy, grasp-
ing, anxious, unaware mind of the everyday person—we fall into
the habit of automatic shallow breathing.
Aviciouscycleevolveswherewemaintainthisshallowbreathingasa
defenseagainstknowingourownthoughts.Inacornerofconsciousness
we know that if we were to slow down and breathe deeply we would
become fully aware of our thoughts and learn too much about what
we’reactuallythinking.Outofafearthatacquiringsuchanunderstand-
ingwouldupsetus,wemakesurenottoengageindeepbreathing.
If we were willing to engage in conscious deep breathing, we
wouldbecomemoremindful.Wewouldbegintoseeourowntricks;
how what we hold as facts are mere opinions, how our usual ways
of operating often sabotage us, and how pain, resentment, and
[3]