Do you sometimes find that days, weeks and even months go by and you think to yourself “Where did that time go?” I think especially when you have kids or a hectic work schedule, time goes by without us even knowing it. Some call this “the grind”, others might just call it life – I call it “not being present”.
Being present is all about the here and now. It’s about enjoying and celebrating the small things in life and experiencing each life moment. Now this might sound a little too idealistic to some but just try it.
In a yoga/meditation retreat that I ran a few years back, we did a silent, walking meditation. We had worked up to this moment of being present, silent and walking through nature – just be – over the previous 2 days. The feedback from the walking meditation was amazing. People saw colours in nature they had never seen before. Some heard sounds they had never heard. I find this interesting because the walk was the same walk we had completed on the previous 2 days. On the third day however we walked in silence, focusing our awareness on the breathe and each step that was taken. Moments in life are different when we are present.
Sometimes being present is hard. Life gets in the way. Or so we say. There’s a million excuses why we choose not to be present. Maybe it’s not a choice, we just forget and the routine tasks of daily life just happen without us even knowing. But if you can take the time to close the eyes, pause, breathe, reset – when you open your eyes, what you see will be different. You’ll notice small things like a stunning flower in your immediate sight that you’ve never seen before. Maybe you’ll see 20 different shades of green in nature or how lush the garden is. Whatever small experiences you have, the more you practice being present the bigger and bolder the experiences.
Being present isn’t a religion, a cult or even a belief. It’s a way to connect with yourself. You allow yourself to pause, tune in with your body, your emotions and your thoughts. To take note of the positives or negatives and to acknowledge – not judge – just acknowledge. You might pause for a moment and realise your shoulders are up nearly to your ears. A sure sign of stress or tension. So all you do is lower the shoulders, close the eyes, take 3 deep breaths and reset. Let that tension melt away – a simple winning strategy but crazy how often we resist.
Allowing yourself a few moments each day to be present can be life changing – if this sounds a little dramatic just give it a shot. And let me know the outcome.
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