Be Here Now - Stop Missing out on Precious Moments
As humans we alway seem to be craving the next thing or what we don’t have. We waste time in regret. We overthink what we could have done differently. Our minds always taking us away from the moment.
Currently I am away from my family in a gorgeous, little beach town in Mexico. There are blue skies and soft sand. I am free to dip in the ocean and walk the beach at sunset. I wake to the soft colours of the sunrise and have time to drink my coffee and write.
I notice my mind drifting back home. I wonder how my children are. I am even craving the cool weather of the Pacific Northwest. I laugh to myself at what a challenge it is to be here now.
So I roll out my mat and do my practice. I feel my feet root down. I allow my breath to lift me up. I let my head rest on my spine and I settle into my body. I move through a series of postures and pay attention to what I feel and it grounds me into the here and now.
After my mindful movement I sit and watch my breath. In these quiet, conscious moments I am conscious of the way my thoughts jump from one thing to another. And I bring my attention back to the inhale and exhale. My mind wonders and I bring it back to the sensations in the body; the top of my head, my hands, my feet. I find moments where I am actually here, now.
And I remember that is all there is. I am grateful for these practices that remind me life is happening in the present moment. We all get caught in thinking about the future or replaying what has happened in the past, but we lose our precious time doing that.
It is normal to get caught in the trap of thinking, but what I want to share with you is: there is a way out. It takes practice. It isn’t that with mindfulness practices the thoughts stop. They go on. They exist. But we learn to let them come and go and we find ways to anchor ourselves in being present.
Becoming present allows us the gift to really drink life in. We begin to be able to appreciate what is right in front of us. We find ways to detach from the incessant thoughts and land in the feeling of what is happening right before us.
It is cliche to say be here now, but truly that is all there really is. Life passes us by so quickly and we waste so much time worrying about things that are never going to happen and we regret things we cannot change.
I catch myself in these common patterns, but then I turn to my daily practice to find my centre. It has been such a gift to be able to greet each day aware of the beauty that is all around me. I am grateful that I can jump in the sea and drink in the bubbles of the crashing waves around me. I allow myself to lay on the warm shore and let the sun brown my skin knowing in a few days I will be putting on my raincoat to protect me from the rain and cool weather at home.
My mind still drifts towards my family and friends at home, but I also say yes to new friends and soak up fresh conversations over lunch or dinner while I am here. I am appreciating these new experiences and learning from new connections.
It is so easy to lose time and opportunities when our minds wander to the past or jump to the future. It is normal. It is common to waste our lives in these habits. But, there is a way to practice being here now. I can attest to it working.
I am human and see that habit in myself. But I practice each morning being in my body and being with my breath and it gives me the ability to reset. To land in the moment. I head out into my day remembering that today is all I have. Consistently, I get a new chance to land exactly where I am in my life and really take it in.
This practice has given me so many benefits and I am always hopeful that others will find it and enjoy in the benefits too. If you want to be more present in your life, please reach out. I love sharing these practices that have helped me.
