When this email goes out, I will be sitting in a conference room at theMcMenamins Kennedy School in Portland, Oregon at the Sacred Moment Seminar with Mark Silver. I have been following Mark's Heart of Business newsletters, mingling Sufi wisdom with practical business advice, for a few years now. I'm very excited to learn from him in person and bring some of that Sufi wisdom back to the East Coast for my clients and colleagues.

My short article this week is about a technique I learned from Mark Silver - connecting with the Heart of your Business. I hope you enjoy it! I'm sure I'll have more interesting things to share when I return from Portland!

If you need something to shift so that you are attracting clients and experiencing your business in a flow of abundance, the Heart-Centered Entrepreneur Apprenticeship is for you. I am now accepting applications for the next Heart-Centered Entrepreneur Apprenticeship starting on April 4th. Spots are limited so get your application in early. Request an application and more details here.

One of the most fascinating, yet helpful, concepts that I learned from Mark Silver in his bookUnveiling the Heart of your Business is the Sufi idea that your business is an entity in and of itself.

Your job as the business owner is to support, guide, direct, and uphold your business through it's different stages of growth. Yes, like a human being, your business grows from being an infant (needing constant care) to a toddler (starting to interact with the world around it) to a child (learning the ways of the world) to a teenager (carving out it's own niche) and hopefully becoming a sustainable, flourishing adult (manages itself).

So here's where it gets even more interesting. According to Mark, you can enlist the Heart of Your Business, this entity, to help you understand where the business is at in it's growth process and what it needs from you at this point in time to move forward.

I've found using this technique to be refreshing and insightful, especially when faced with particularly thorny challenges and roadblocks. It's really helped me understand what kind of support my business needs to thrive, and I'd like to share it with you.

Here's how Mark suggests connecting with the Heart of your Business:

1. Relax

Close your eyes and take a few breaths. Relax into your body. Allow your breath to bring you into your body and out of your mind. Bring your attention to your own heart center, observing your chest rise and fall with the breath. Allow your heart to soften and open.

2. Get in touch with your Core

Invite your Core or Wise self to be present in this moment with you. Trust that all the guidance you need will be provided. Be open to receiving whatever insight pops up, even if it seems silly or totally unrelated at first.

3. Get in touch with your Business

Invite the Heart of your Business to be present with you. Honor this entity in your heart. (What does it mean to honor your business? It means to acknowledge it's existence in a gentle and loving way.)

4. Converse with the Heart of your Business

Ask yourself these questions and jot down your answers:

What is the true essence of my business? And am I aligned with this?

What does my business need from me right now?

What steps do I need to be taking to best support the business right now?

Show me a vision for the next few months to a year

What do I need to be doing to bring this vision to life?

What else do I need to know?

Good luck getting in touch with the Heart of your Business! I look forward to sharing you some pictures and new ideas when I get back on the East Coast next week!

from Unveiling The Heart of your Business by Mark Silver