Perform in the storm

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Mind Your Mind

A former Artificial Intelligence graduate and IT executive, Amaranatho Robey, turned to Buddhism and became a monk for 15 years. This unique experience gave him a different perspective on life, and on the workings of the mind. These days he helps leaders and teams unleash their full potential by staying calm and connected in times of complexity and uncertainty.

Former Buddhist monk, Amaranatho Robey, on staying still when your mind sways

Key insights

  • Step out of your mind to gain a new perspective: When you train yourself to observe how your mind works, you realize just how much the mind can lead you astray. Stop for a moment to pay attention to where the mind is leading you. Minding your mind is a source of resilience and strength.   

  • Adopt a different point of view to gain a new perspective: When standing as a monk in the streets of London, Amaranatho thought of himself as a piece of art in  a museum. This way he could observe people’s reactions to him from an emotional distance, without taking their comments, positive or negative, personally.

  • Goodness and joy are the basis of calm: Human beings are designed to give; in times such as these it becomes even more obvious. Giving fills you with joy and allows you to reflect on your own innate goodness. Conversely, when you open up to receiving, you allow others the joy of giving.  
  • Awakening to one’s true potential is an on-going shift that will only increase in future, catalysed by the current crisis: The split between those who are awakening to their inner truth and those who aren’t is increasingly clear. Hopefully more people will be inspired to self-reflect for better personal clarity. This is where it all begins.

Dive deeper

Can you do what Martin can?

To help you keep your energy levels high and stay positive throughout your day it is essential to take breaks regularly. To help you get more out of your downtime, Martin Pet, a seasoned sport and performance psychologist and physiologist, will challenge you to perform a wide range of exercises that will do just that.

This exercise seems easy, but it isn’t. Follow Martin Pet’s instructions for this balance exercise.
Find out how he does it and why
Simple or hard, that’s the question. But if you know Martin just a little bit by now, you know the answer already. If you are sure you have a strong stabilizing core, this is the way to test it. How hard can it be lifting a left hand and left leg at the same time from this position? Actually, supporting only on either your left hand or right hand side, your body loses half of it’s supporting surface and that’s quite a lot. So how do you stay balanced in an unbalanced situation? Moreover, apart from this exercise, shouldn’t we all answer ourselves this question in this Corona crisis?

About the crew member

Amaranatho Robey • Former Buddhist monk
Amaranatho Robey

Amaranatho was a Buddhist monk for 15 years and has spent long periods of time alone, in isolation and dealing with uncertainty. He has a degree in AI, been a world explorer and now a mindfulness-based executive and agile mindset coach, where he supports executives, leaders, and teams to stay calm and connected in complex situation. He developed the PlayfulMonk approach to awaken people and organization to their true potential.

Your journey until now

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Mind Your Mind

Former Buddhist monk Amaranatho Robey on staying still when your mind sways

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