Spirituality in the Workplace – Part 3

This article will be our final installment on the workplace series.

With the recent events regarding civil unrest, it is now more important than ever to learn how to get along with people of all different colors and backgrounds and settle differences. Understand that when we interact with another person, we bring with us all of our unresolved issues and they do as well which can sometimes lead to conflict.

Center Yourself In Your Loving Heart

Take in a breath, exhale, and center yourself in your loving heart. From this place you are safe. What is important to understand is how you are emotional will be mirrored by others. If you are down people will kick you but when you are up people will love you. This is called the Law of Attraction. This law of attraction is a big counseling tool used by professionals which we call “Containment”. As therapists surround themselves with a feeling of calm, clients will follow suit. This is why it is so important for therapists to work on their own wellbeing in order to aid others in theirs.

In the last article, we discussed how relationships mirror the relationship we have with ourselves. Therefore put your best foot forward as you interact with others. Show them your kindness and warmth. Often the workplace is focused on pointing out the faults in others, in doing so you are leading with your negativity. We do this because of our own negativity. And here lays the impasse. Do we want to focus on the problem or the solution?

Basis Of Anxiety Disorders

In order for this world to move forward, we need to have a clear picture of how we want things to be. The Law of Attraction can also be achieved through a mindset. Try this on for size – imagine you are in a happy workplace where everybody gets along, communicates well, has a good time, and the compensation is incredible. How would this make you feel? In holding these visualizations in your mind, we can attract it. On the flip side, if we focus on the worst thing that can happen, we will attract that too. Unfortunately, this mindset is what has been ingrained into us. What is the worst thing? Then we imagine it happening, suffer panic, and are grumpy. These “Future Negative Fantasies” are the basis of anxiety disorders. Why not focus on the best thing that can happen? Hey, it’s your fantasies, why not win in them and feel great?

In dealing with problem people or people from other ethnicities it is important to remain centered in your loving heart. It will ease the tension and help you realize that even if they look different, down deep we are all the same. So, in a sense, the person that is standing in front of you is basically you with a different covering. Then the real issue is, how are you with you?

Spiritual Psychology

This is the true philosophy of Spiritual Psychology. It is based on the belief that we are all spiritual beings having a human experience. There is no ABCs to being spiritual, we already are. And as a Spiritual person, you are here for a special reason. Do you want to spend your lifetime focusing on negativity? Being right? Getting revenge? Or do you want to continually improve yourself, work through your issues, and connect with others in a more joyful way?

At Basic Steps Mental Health, we help people create Ideal Scenes. Ideal Scenes are basically a vision of what would be perfect in their future at home, in relationships, at work, with their health, and in other areas of their life. One thing in common with all Ideal Scene work is getting in touch with the emotions you imagine you would have if something you wanted came true. They are mapped out like a wheel with spokes and each spoke pertains to the subject. For example, with an Ideal Work Scene, one of the spokes may read – “I am joyfully engaging with my coworkers. We are having the time of our lives!” The keyword here is “joyfully”. The interesting thing about Ideal Scene work is having us open up to the possibility of something actually taking place. It is as if all the blocks to that thing taking place are simply removed and suddenly we find ourselves feeling joyful at work.

We have been trained to attract negative things. Have you feared that the riots are going to get worse and soon they will be in your neighborhood and you will need to get a gun and protect yourself and your loved ones? This negative focus is Medieval and the mindset of our distant past. I believe that the world is evolving and changing for the better. This period of rioting is just a hiccup and can be used to elevate us as a society. Lord knows that there have been incredible changes since the 1950s with Civil Rights. We can focus on being right and getting the bad guys, or simply listening to a person just like us that has unresolved issues like us and has chosen extreme means to deal with them.

Person-Centered Therapy

I believe we have the ability to step out of our shoes and see an issue through another person’s eyes. If you were them, how would you see the issue? A lot of these issues run deep. Sometimes they go back generations and sometimes millennia. Dr. Carl Rogers who invented Person-Centered Therapy was known for his Encounter Groups. He would bring together groups from opposing affiliations and help them resolve their problems. If you are familiar with the Camp David Accord, Carl Rogers worked with officials from Egypt and Israel to resolve their differences. He reported that when people realized they were all the same, cared for their family, shared the same heartaches, they were more apt to see the similarities and the humanity within.

Bottom line we have a choice to make as we reenter this new world, do we let our fears lead us or do we lead by our heart? Are you fear-based? If so, it is time to work that through because that can become habitual. Fear unfortunately is a feeling that can feed upon itself and lead to panic attacks. Many resort to substance use in order to calm themselves. Joy can also feed on itself. Which path do you choose?

It is an interesting endeavor to keep ourselves happy. Yes, there are a lot of reasons that can bring you down. Regardless, you have a choice.

Compassionate Care is Always Available

There are many more tools and strategies you can use in your pursuit of happiness. Here is where we come in. Contact us at Basic Steps Mental Health and let us support and educate you on this journey back to your loving heart center. Imagine living a heart-centered life, regardless of what is happening externally. We’d love to be of help.

For 25 years, Dr. Scott Alpert, the clinical director of Basic Steps Mental Health, has treated over 7,000 people with mental health and addiction problems, using a Psychological approach that mixes and matches ten of the top approaches used in the industry.  We are here virtually and in-person to help you get through this COVID-19 pandemic and many other difficulties you may be experiencing.

May you have good mental health.