Zen Master in the Hot Seat

Over the years, the more I get into Chan and Continental Zen, the more it helps me with work, family relations, and other aspects of daily life. So now I am full-time sharing the practice with anyone interested, like you all.

Let me start with a story of how it helps me personally.

The Artist’s Dilemma

I am also an artist and have won some awards, internationally and regionally. Beyond creating artwork, a big part of being a creator is presenting my art to potential collectors. Standing in front of a crowd. Explaining the outcome of intimate and personal sources of my inspiration.

Does it sound tough to you?

Well, it is. For that part of being an artist, I often need elephant foundations to thicken my skin.

Many artists consider it the worst part of their job. The racing heart and sweaty palms get in the way of properly articulating the inspiration and skill that goes into the artwork. It’s easy to confuse the potential clients, lose them, and regret the presentation.

And set the next interaction off to a worse start.

Breaking the Cycle

I decided I didn’t want the work to be like this. So I chose to bring Zen into the process and let it untangle the cycle.

Mindfulness of the body helps catch the first signs of a nervous attack. It usually appears as a quickening in breath and a tightness in the belly.

Noticing. Accepting. Breathing into whatever shows up.

That brings deeper awareness of my subconscious insecurities and defensiveness, which feed the downward cycle. Instead of going with knee-jerk reactions that push these states away and create an emotional pressure cooker, I can now practice another round of noticing, accepting, and not being led by them.

This practice gives me the choice to bring my full awareness to what the clients have to say. To catch the next round of triggers if they appear. To respond with skill.

This way, the conversation becomes a practice moment, full of potential. And much more productive.

This is me during a street fair. My older artworks are in the background.

What Are You Practicing?

If you think about it, Zen or not, we are constantly practicing and living something.

Each moment, we can choose to practice discipline, mindfulness, and wisdom. Or we can habitually live our old habits, often coming from craving, aversion, and confusion.

Knowing the choice, it makes sense to pick the good ones, right?

The problem is that life happens fast. So it’s challenging to be aware that we even have the choices.

That is where meditation practice comes in. By practicing meditation, we train ourselves to clearly understand the arising, evolution, and dissolution of each internal state. We see how they interact with external circumstances.

So that we can choose to live our lives effectively.

Your Turn

The next time you face your own racing heart—in a presentation, a difficult conversation, or any moment of stress—you’ll know: you have a choice.

You can notice the quickening breath or the tightness in your body. You can choose to meet it with awareness instead of resistance.

And in that choice—between the knee-jerk reaction and the skillful response—you find your freedom.

Time after time, I take refuge in my practice when confronted with the unknown, the stressful, or the fearful. It’s there for all of us.

If I could shift my relationship with performance anxiety as an introverted artist/author, you can work with whatever patterns show up in your life.

We’re all practicing and living something. Let’s live wisely.