I was talking to Brian about how chefs seem to be so intense and focused when in their whites. He said that being a well-trained chef is a practice of intensity. This got me thinking about focus and intention.
It came up again when I was chatting with a colleague about pre-class jitters and that they always seem to be there, regardless of your level of experience. In fact, good teachers should always have that intensity or they lose their focus Then a few hours later these pre-performance jitters occurred for my students when I had them practice job interviewing in front of the class.
Focus and intention mean game-on. I think that the challenge is to keep the intensity positively focused and not let yourself get into the fight or flight mode. It is so easy to step over that line and then intensity turns into aggression from fear.
What I would like to look into is how to keep the body and mind nimble, even when intense. I think that breathing awareness could be one approach Previsualization of success is another. This is the idea of setting an intention and recognizing the indicators of successfuly and effectively moving towards, course correcting and reaching the goal. Otherwise, it is difficult to ride the intensity and you can get lost in the journey.
