I was delivering my first webinar on Monday and found myself to be quite nervous. As it was about ‘Understanding the Mindfulness Revolution” I felt it was ok to mention how I felt at that particular moment in time.

I admitted to being nervous, and said how I could feel my heart pounding away in my chest.  By practicing mindfulness then, I  was able to get back in touch with being grounded in the moment, to slow down my breathing and become less anxious.

Towards the end of the webinar I asked for any questions. Seconds passed. They seemed like hours (especially as there were no visual clues to go on) and then a question came in. Hooray!! Unfortunately the question was inappropriate. It was addressing me assuming I was a human resources professional (I was delivering the webinar for a National Human Resources Body). The question was written in HR speak and covered a number of complex issues.

My reaction at first was annoyance as it felt like the question was posed to unnerve me. Had they really been listening to the content delivery? Then I realized that they were quite likely feeling under pressure somehow. Perhaps they had been told they must attend the webinar but they didn’t want to.  Perhaps they were stressed or tired…. I had no way of knowing.

I told them the question was too complex to answer in the remaining time, and if they would like to email it to me I could address it later. I guess that what I am saying is that rather than being angry with them as I was to start off with, I stopped, took a moment, and thought ‘this person is desperately trying to find a quick fix to a problem and they see the possibility that I might have the answer.

At any rate I am still waiting for their email. I actually think it will not happen. That their anxious state of mind will have dissipated. All I can hope is that they take on board some of the information I provided in the webinar and start taking meditation classes and practicing mindfulness. That’s the best thing I can offer them!