Wendy Soderman of Shift Happens, Modern Mindfulness Meditation, spoke at a luncheon hosted by the Wellington Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, Jan. 25 at the Wanderers Club.
“Anyone ever feel like they’re the most inexperienced tightrope walker in the circus called life?” she asked. “I do. I did. And I didn’t plan on that happening. My name is Wendy, and I really thought I had it going on. I thought if you study, you get the As. I did that. I thought if you ran, did CrossFit, I did that. As long as I was cute and bubbly, I’d get my Prince Charming. And I did.”
Except, on the tightrope of life, you worry about the past, the present, the movement forward and the crowd. “Something wasn’t working,” she said.
Even though there was adversity, Soderman continued on her tightrope. She is married to her best friend for 32 years, runs a successful local school and has a great life.
When she turned 50 — she’s 53 now — she went on an unplugged introspective trip to learn about the “aha” moments in life.
She realized the event that changed her life — having twins. One son is a nonverbal quadriplegic, who spent a great deal of time in the hospital as a newborn.
Making the decision to accept her son as is was an “aha” moment, where she found something and had the courage to follow the inner wisdom.
“I wanted to walk my life, my rope,” she said.
Moving forward, Soderman chose to live in the moment and become a certified meditation teacher. “I know the power of going within,” she said.
At her school, the Ideal School in Royal Palm Beach, the children and staff meditate daily.
Everyone has 60,000 thoughts a day, Soderman explained. Adding phones, driving and other stimuli can be overwhelming, she said, explaining that people need to “monotask” rather than multitask.
The problem with all of the thoughts is that they come with emotions as well as reactions. “We’re wired for the circus crowd. You can change. You just aren’t doing this yet,” she said.
The thoughts and emotions lead to stress. When she asked chamber members what causes stress, they replied work, homework, children, family, money and more.
Being in the moment reduces stress, she said. As humans, we don’t shake off stress, but absorb it instead. Human bodies under stress react the same way as if a saber-toothed tiger was running after you, Soderman said.
“All of our illnesses start from stress,” she said.
Adrenaline floods the body, and cortisol builds up from stress.
“I’m asking you to have a better quality of life by doing nothing for 10 minutes a day,” Soderman said.
She likened the accumulation of stress to dust collecting, where it is unnoticeable until something happens, or you go to clean.
“You don’t want buildup,” she said, explaining that people brush their teeth, shower and worry about the roots of their hair, yet they forget about the internal.
“I want you to wipe off the stress,” she said.
A desired intent is necessary before taking action, Soderman said, adding that the mental benefits of change can bring a better immune system.
“If you see people at work getting sick, it’s not a germ, it’s stress,” she said, stressing the importance of stress relief. “You’re going to look younger.”
Meditation, she said, is a technique to quiet the system and bring people to a state of calm.
“Your breath is your anchor,” she said, directing the chamber members to focus on their breath and push other thoughts away when their minds wander.
Soderman directed the audience to sit with their feet on the floor, close their eyes and focus on their breathing, dismissing distracting thoughts. She suggested starting with 10 minutes a day for a week.
To learn more about Soderman’s techniques and how she brings them to the workplace, visit www.shifthappens.today.
Next up for the Wellington Chamber of Commerce is the second annual ColorFest 5K on Sunday, Feb. 19 at Village Park, with an anticipated 600 runners, and the 14th annual Flavors of Wellington on Friday, April 7 at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center. For more information, visit www.wellingtonchamber.com.
ABOVE: Wendy Soderman speaks to Wellington Chamber members.
