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Exercises supporting

the flips of

The Zen Leader



Chapter 1 Exercises

Flip #1: Coping to Transforming

As every martial artist knows: effective action starts from being grounded and relaxed in one’s physical body.

Aikido makes this explicit with its basic principles: relax completely, keep one point. The latter refers to a

“point” a couple inches below the navel, which is the physical center of effective movement. It also refers to a

sense of centeredness: a state of ready acceptance. These two principles are linked because this state of

acceptance emerges only to the degree that the body relaxes. The first exercise helps you find this relaxed

center using the breath. The second exercise moves from this center, helping you enter and become the “eye

of the storm.”

Centering

1. Stand comfortably, with the weight on the balls of your feet.

Let your eyes soften, using peripheral vision to see 180

degrees around you – all at once and nothing in particular.

2. Picture your torso in the shape of a thermometer bulb, clear

and relaxed in the shoulders and ribcage, with your belly free

to expand with each breath. Place your hands on your lower

belly and breathe slowly in and out through your nose, letting

tension drop away with every exhale until you can feel your

breath move under your hands (Figure 1-1a).

3. On your next inhale, let your hands rise, palms up, to your

solar plexus, allowing the breath to fill your belly from the

bottom (Figure 1-1b).

4. As you exhale, turn your palms to the ground and gently push

them down, along with your breath. At the same time,

imagine tiny rockets firing out of the heels of both feet and

notice how this extends the backs of the legs, bringing the

weight to the balls of the feet (Figure 1-1c).

5. Release and relax on the inhale as hands rise up. Extend

through the balls of the feet on the exhale as hands press

down. (Figure 1-1b and c alternating).

a

b c

Figure 1-1

Ribs soften

Belly free

to expand

with breath

Eyes 180°

Weight on

the balls of

the feet

Keep shoulders down

Inhale

Fill

belly

Exhale

Hands

press

down

Balls of

feet

press down



Entering the Eye of the Storm

1. Stand with feet a bit wider than your hips, feet parallel, using peripheral vision to see 180 degrees around

you – all at once and nothing in particular (Figure 1-2a).

2. Slightly bend your knees. Push your right foot down and twist to the left, keeping your upper body

straight (Figure 1-2b).

3. Transfer weight to the left foot and twist to the right (Figure 1-2c). Keep swinging left and right, your

arms loose like spaghetti and your hands freely hitting your body before you reverse direction. Feel t he

movement come from your feet and belly center. Repeat 10x.

4. Come to rest by cutting the motion in half, half again, etc. Picture a radiant sun at your center. Turn your

palms outward and feel energy extending through your arms, hands, legs, feet and top of your head.

a. Front View b. Side View c. Opposite Side View d. Front View

Figure 1-2

Shoulders relax

Ribs soften

Belly

expands

with breath

Eyes 180°

Weight on

the balls of

the feet

Go back and

forth 10x



Chapter 2 Exercises

Flip #2: Tension to Extension

Tension flips into extension when we have enough awareness and energy to let go of what’s stuck. We can dothis by punctuating work activities with mini-recovery breaks and, once or twice a day, engaging in a physically

renewing practice. You can use the Down, Not Up Mini Break whenever you need to get unstuck from your

head and centered in hara. Other mini-break ideas are also listed, as well as a host of longer term practices

that may become part of your personal prescription for building and sustaining your energy over time.

Down, Not Up Mini Break

a. Stand comfortably, feet shoulder-width apart. Shrug your

shoulders as high up toward your ears as possible, and then

drop them, as in Figure 2-1a. Repeat several times; notice that

you automatically exhale as you drop your shoulders.

b. Loosen up your face. Do this by opening your jaw as wide as

possible and closing it a few times; moving your lower jaw

laterally back and forth a couple times, opening your eyes as

wide as possible and closing them a couple of times; make a

few crazy faces (Figure 2-1b).

c. Loosen up your neck. Stretching your neck long, lay your left

ear over toward your left shoulder. Roll your head forward

and around like a free-swinging pendulum until your right ear

is toward your right shoulder (see Figure 2-1c). Stretch your

neck long, and roll back the other way. Repeat a few times.

d. Shake out any tension in your arms and hands. Standing on

one foot, shake out tension in your legs one at a time.

Retuning to a still position, bring your awareness to your

breath and do several, ever-slower inhales and exhales of the

Centering breath exercise (Figure 2-1 d, or see Chapter 1

exercises if you need a refresher).

e. Stand, breathing naturally to and from your hara (Figure 2-1e).

a

b

c

d e

Figure 2-1

Inhale

Fill

belly

Exhale



Other Ideas for Mini BreaksWhen you need a 2-minute break you might try one of these, or make up your own:

Get outside

Breathe a few sighs of relief

Massage your eyes

Get a drink of water and/or a 100-150 calorie snack

Stretch

Sing, use your voice to make simple vowel sounds: ah, oh, etc., yell!

Shake out tension

Kick off your shoes and massage your feet, pressing on the soles with your thumbs, and opening the

bridge of the foot like a fan

Take a brief walk

Listen to a piece of music, move to a piece of music, play a piece of music if you can

Splash warm or cool water on your face

Move away from your desk, go talk to someone

Ideas for PracticeDepending on what you enjoy or need, work some of these into your day or week, or come up with similar

ideas of your own. In chapter 5, you’ll see each column of ideas relates to a specific energy pattern.

To speed up or sharply

focus your energy:

Running

Karate

Weightlifting

Cardio machine (hard

and fast)

Kendo, sword work

Bicycling (hard and fast)

Aggressive sports

Skiing (hard and fast)

Tennis

Things done with

cutting, sharp motions

To slow down or

stabilize your energy:

Walking

Ballet, formal dance

Yoga

Meditation

Dressage

Ceramics

Housecleaning

Organizing a space

Woodworking

Needlepoint

Things done step-by-

step

To brighten or lighten

up your energy

Latin, Swing-era

ballroom dance

Aikido

Golf (the swing)

Skating, rollerblading

Swimming

Bicycling (slow and

easy)

Skiing (slow and easy)

Weaving

Juggling

Team sports (more fun

than competitive)

To open up or be more

present in your energy

Tai Chi, Chi Kung

Meditation (flow state,

Samadhi)

Sailing

Hangliding

Scuba diving

Snorkeling

Photography (in the

moment)

Being out in nature

Things that stimulate

the senses



Chapter 4 Exercises

Flip #4: From Out There to In Here

Our ability to see into the mirror and find our root fears can be systemically accelerated by practices that build

awareness and relaxation in the body. Why? Because psychological fears are also manifest as held tension and

stuckness in the body. Once that tension releases, it’s as if the fear loses its hiding place. The more free and

clear we are in our body, the fewer hot buttons we have, the fewer “hooks” we have to take things personally.

Two excellent ways to build awareness and relaxation in the body are through meditation and deep bodywork.

Deep bodywork includes various traditions of bodytherapy (e.g., Zentherapy®, Integral Bodywork®, Rolfing)

and deep tissue massage. As the bodytherapist works “outside in,” finding stuck points where we’re carrying

our pain, we can work “inside out” to release those tight muscles, whereupon the pain decreases, and

eventually dissipates as that part of the body clears. We might not know exactly what fear that pain was tied

to. But ask any bodyworker, and he or she can tell you countless stories of clients who have vibrant memories

and emotions that surface when a muscle releases. Deep bodywork is priceless practice for conditioning our

body to release its fears.

In meditation, we stop the body and, sitting still with all senses open, we can cultivate a condition of

complete relaxation and complete awareness inside-and-out all at the same time. After about 20 minutes of

this practice, people commonly experience an abrupt drop in tension (“dropping into the hara” it’s called in my

Zen tradition). This is not something we can consciously will, because this tension is not conscious in the first

place. But when it falls away, it feels like, “Ah-h-h, why was I carrying all that?” And yet we do. We all do.

The best way to learn meditation is with the guidance of a skilled teacher. Seek one, and you will almost

certainly find one. But if you’d like to get started on your own, or refresh what you already know about

meditation, the following practice will help.



a

Front View: on Chair

b

Side View: on cushion

c d

Figure 4-1

Posture for Sitting Meditation

1

o-o-o-o-o

2

“set”

exhale inhale

relax

Sitting Meditation

1. Loosen up your neck and shoulders, shaking out any superficial

tension. Sit on a cushion or chair, with your spine as naturally

straight as it would be if you were standing. Your hip joints should

be slightly higher than your knees (see Figure 4-1) Eyes take in

180 vision, with your gaze splashing off the floor a few feet in

front of you.

2. Arc your arms into letter “C’s”, with your shoulders relaxed and

the blades of your hands on your center (i.e., hara), palms up, one

hand on top of the other, slightly below your navel. Here, your

hands can feel the breath move to and from your hara. Fold in the

thumb of your lower hand and close your upper hand around it.

Breathe quietly in and out through your nose. As you start to

exhale imagine two things: first, a slight current of energy

extending through the balls of your feet (or through your knees, if

on a cushion) down into the earth. With this slight extension,

you’ll notice a “thereness” or set feeling in your hara, and a sense

of extension through your spine and out the top of your head

(Figure 4-1c).

Second, in your mind’s voice link your exhale with a deep vowel

sound, starting with “ah-h-h,” and working through “ay,” “ee,”

“oh,” and “uu” on successive breaths. Let the imagined sound

penetrate all the way through your exhale, making it as long and

slow as you comfortably can. After “uu,” or if you lose your place,

go back to “ah”.

3. At the end of your exhale, relax completely (i.e., quit extending

energy) and allow the inhale to happen on its own, from the

bottom up (Figure 4-1d). Continue in this way, alternating slight

extension as you exhale and relax as you inhale. As thoughts or

impulses arise, simply watch them without getting lost in them,

and blend them with your breath and voiceless vowel sound. It is

this bringing the mind back to the breath that builds awareness

and trains the mind. Sit for 20 minutes.



Chapter 6 Exercises

Flip #6: Controlling to Connecting

An Invitation to Samadhi

Samadhi is a state of complete connectedness, in which thought is suspended, as no “I” stands apart to think.

This connectedness is not an exotic condition, but a natural state that arises when we’re absorbed into our

setting. For example, in a thrilling baseball game when the pitch is thrown, the bat is swung, a moment of

collective Samadhi arises in the absorbed tracking of the ball. Or at the end of a momentous symphony, in a

brilliant performance that has captured the audience, the quiet of Samadhi rides on the end of the closing note

before thunderous applause erupts.

As these examples illustrate, Samadhi arises on its own. It cannot be willfully entered, because that which

would “will” it is none other than the stand-apart “I.” That said, the body and breath can be developed in ways

that become conducive to this condition arising. And the exercises themselves are relaxing and rejuvenating.

Without trying to make anything happen, invite your body and breath into the exercises that follow. Let thequiet of Samadhi come to you.

The breathing series that follows is adapted from hara development exercises taught at Chozen-ji and from Lisa

Sarasohn’s exercises in The Woman’s Belly Book (Novato, CA , New World Library, 2006), used with permission.

I gratefully acknowledge these sources.



a b

Inhale: Gather Exhale: Release

Figure 6-2

a-h-h-h

Second, Release What’s Holding

1. Stand with feet in a wide, but comfortable horse stance.

Inhaling through your nose, and hunkering down slightly,

gather your forearms together in the middle of your

chest, as if to metaphorically gather any worry, concern,

or thought of any kind (Figure 6-2a).

2. Exhaling through your mouth, make the sound of “ah-h-

h” as you straighten your legs, open your arms, and

release any and all holding. Let the sound of ah-h-h

resonate through your entire being, with nothing held

back or bound. As your arms open, let your eyes also drift

to 180 degrees, and “see” with your ears. At the end of

your exhale, pause for a moment to hang in this open-

ended Now. (Figure 6-2b). Draw in your arms and inhale

for the next cycle; repeat for 5-10 breath cycles.

First, Establish the Center

1. Stand with feet hip-width apart, arms at side (Figure 6-1a). Beginning a long, slow inhale through your

nose, let your arms drift straight up in front of you (Figure 6-1b). When they’re parallel to the floor,

moving ever-so-slowly, open the arms 180 degrees, letting your vision expand at the same time (Figure 6 -

1c). Continue to inhale, and lift your arms overhead, palms to the sky. Stretch slightly toward the sky at

the end of your inhale, slightly lifting your heels, shifting your weight toward the balls of the feet (Figure

6-1d).

2. Set, meaning set down your heels, maintaining a slight pressure from the balls of your feet into the earth,

and feel a connection to the base of your hara. Exhaling slowly through your mouth, make the sound of

“a-a-ay” (i.e., long ā) as if from the hara itself. Through the base of both palms, extend outward, turning

the wrists back 90 degrees, and slowly arc your arms back to center (Figure 6-1e). At the end of your

exhale, relax completely and begin again. Repeat for 5-10 breath cycles.

a b c d e

a-a-a-y



a b

c

d e

Figure 6-3

Third, Hear/Feel Your Entire Body All At Once

1. Stand with feet in a wide, but comfortable horse stance,

shoulders relaxed, eyes 180 degrees. Lightly press your palms

together at your hara, fingers pointing downward (Figure 6-

3a). Breathe in and out quietly through your nose. As you

begin each exhale, slightly extend the balls of your feet into

the earth, and maintain this extension through a long, slow

exhale. Relax on the inhale, and let it happen on its own.

Repeat several breath cycles.

2. Continue breathing the same way as above. Leaving your left

hand where it is, rotate your right elbow so that your right

hand points upward, thumb side touching your chest. As you

feel the contact of your hand, release any tension in your

chest, so that the touch can be “felt” all the way to your spine

(Figure 6-3b). Repeat several breath cycles in this posture.


hand where it is, extend your right hand just over your head,

pointing upward, near the back of your skull, where your

spine would extend if you had a few more vertebrae (Figure

6-3c). As you exhale, feel both the groundedness of hara

under your left hand, and the extension of your spinal energy

through your right hand. Repeat several breath cycles in this

posture, opening your senses and feeling/hearing everything

within you and around you.


hand on the hara, rotate it so that the palm faces up. Drawyour right hand back down to chest level, fingers pointing

upward, as in the 2nd

posture (Figure 6-3d). Again, as you

make contact with the chest, empty any tension that has

accumulated, feeling the contact all the way to your spine.

Repeat several breath cycles in this posture, feeling/hearing

your entire body all at once.


hand on the hara, palm up, rotate your right elbow so that

your right hand, also palm up, comes to rest on your left.

Fold in the thumb of your left hand and gently cup it in the

right; this is the same hand position as for sitting meditation(Figure 6-3e). Repeat several breath cycles in this posture,

feeling/hearing your entire body, your entire world, all at

once.



Chapter 7 Exercises

Flip #7: From Driving Results to Attracting the Future

Hopefully, you’ve already experienced all four energy patterns, and have a sense about how each of them playsdifferently through you. The more easily and instantly you can move between any of them, the more all of

them are simultaneously available to you right Now. These two exercises help you experience all 4 patterns at

once, and then create a driving rhythm without losing the connected state. They are simple, but subtle, and

deepen with practice.

All Patterns At Once

1. Establish the Center and Extension. We start with the same breathing exercise you did at the end of

Chapter 6, also depicted below (Figure 7-1). This time, as you press the balls of your feet into the earth

and palms upward (Figure 7-1d), pay particular attention to the base of the abdomen. This is the Driver

center and you can feel it firing whenever you push. As you open your arms on the exhale (Figure 7-1e),

notice energy out the top of your spine through the top of your head. This is the Visionary “center,” whichis not fixed in the body, but extends outward. Notice both solid foundation (Driver) and extension

(Visionary) at the same time. Repeat several times until you can feel both patterns at once.

a b c d e

Figure 7-1

a-a-a-y



All Patterns At Once – cont.

2. Add Rhythm and Stillness. Breathing in and out through your nose, start shifting your weight from foot to

foot, feeling a gentle rhythm come up from the earth through your entire body. Let your head move as

well, and your hands make figure-8’s (Figure 7-2b). Pay particular attention to your belly as the center of

this Collaborator swinging (Figure 7-2c). Keep “listening” to that belly center as you cut the motion by half,and half, and half again, like a string damping out, but still capable of vibration. In this dynamic stillness,

touch your palms together just above your solar plexus (don’t press), forearms making a straight line from

elbow-to-elbow (Figure 7-2d). Notice the uprightness and calm of this Organizer center coming to life. Feel

both the rhythmic potential of the Collaborator and the stillness of the Organizer at the same time.

a b c d e f

Figure 7-2

3. All At Once. Breathe out through your nose, extend through the balls of your feet into the earth, open

your arms wide and feel your eyes, ears and all senses open (Figure 7-2e). Relax on the inhale and continue

breathing in this rhythm. Let your arms drift down and stand in stillness (Figure 7-2f). Feel the Driver’s

power, the Collaborator’s rhythm, the Organizer’s calm and the Visionary’s extension all at once.



Driving Rhythm

1. Starting from feeling your entire body and all patterns at once (Figure 7-3a), open the palm of your left

hand and very slowly start chopping it with the blade of your right hand. Keep your hand soft and feel

each plodding chop like a heavy step (Figure 7-3b).

2. Now sharpen your hands a bit by extending energy through your fingers and pick up the pace of your

chopping until it matches a brisk walk (Figure 7-3c). Feel into your body for anything that tightened when

you picked up the pace and relax it, returning to your all-at-once state, even as you continue chopping.

Keep going back and forth between focusing on your chopping and feeling your entire body all at once.

Play with different rhythms; see if you can pick out the rhythm of the day (hint: it’s around a walking pace

and feels slightly easier to maintain than other rhythm). A driving rhythm is neither fast nor slow; rather it

matches conditions and stays just half a beat ahead – riding the crest of the wave.

a b c

Figure 7-3

©2012, Ginny Whitelaw. Selected exercises in chapters 2, 4, 6 and 7 are reprinted, with permission of the

publisher, from THE ZEN LEADER: 10 WAYS TO GO FROM BARELY MANAGING TO LEADING FEARLESSLY

Published by Career Press, Pompton Plains, NJ. www.focusleadership.com ● to learn more about our programs, contact [email protected]

http://www.focusleadership.com/



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