How we gather is how we live

It’s one of the most difficult things: to be fully present in the moment. Especially at work. To live in the moment means we have to not think about the meeting we just left. Or ponder about the meeting we will have in 10 minutes.

When a meeting starts we often feel the urge to dive right into the subject matter. Or we try to do several things at the same time. We are in the call but we are secretly checking messages. We know it’s not right, but software like Teams hasn’t exactly made mono-tasking any easier. Focus is hard.

But today I had a nice experience with a meeting in which I was able to be present. Not right away though. I was 2 minutes too late, because my previous meeting ran late. Virtually, I was in the meeting, but my mind hadn’t made the switch yet. It was also the first day at the office in months, so I was still adapting to that as well.

We did a quick check-in by sharing in the chat what our state of mind was. The facilitator sensed that the group wasn’t. fully present yet. So he shared a quote:

“How we gather is how we live”

If we start meetings rushed and distracted, it becomes how we work. But if we take a moment to calm down, we can better connect with each other. If we pause other troubles for a moment, we can focus on this meeting, not the previous or next ones. Or on what’s happening on the other side of the world, however distracting it may be.

So he guided a short breathing exercise. We took a minute to close our eyes and followed his voice as we slowly breathed in through our nose and out through our mouth. We sat up straight with our feet firmly planted on the ground. It worked. We were more grounded and ready to have a good meeting. And it was a good meeting.

I learned being present doesn’t happen by itself. We have to help each other.