Day 32: June 22, 2012 ~ "It is Now"

Day 32: June 22, 2012 ~ "It is Now"

"The living moment is everything."

~D.H. Lawrence

"Life is available only in the present moment. If you abandon the present moment you cannot live the moments of your daily life deeply."

~Thich Nhat Hanh

"Don't let yesterday use up too much of today."

~Cherokee Proverb

It seems to be universally acknowledged and understood...the value and importance of living in the present moment...yet how challenging it is to actually do that! That's why I schedule in time during the week to practice "being here now". Like my wonderful yoga class. In yoga it's all about focusing on the breath, moving the body into poses designed to open up and create space in the cells and tissues and to free the mind of its busy chatter. What if we lived more moments in that place between the thoughts, in that place of spacious awareness, where all truly is well? We allow our bodies to do what they are designed to do, regeneration and healing. We experience peace and serenity, and open to the flow of higher consciousness, clarity of thought, allowing for perspectives and solutions previously beyond our grasp.

 

Simply remembering to breathe more often would be helpful...I mean breathing deeply and slowly, receiving life giving oxygen into our bodies and consciously breathing out whatever no longer serves, as in tension or any kind of toxic energy. I often forget to breathe :-) so I put reminders around where I can see them randomly throughout the day, like the sign that hangs in my office next to my computer-- a lovely laminated sign with the word Breathe written in beautiful calligraphy. When I remember to breathe, immediately my body relaxes and clear thinking returns.

My son Brett was one of my first teachers in the art of being here now. When he was about 16 years old he went through a very interesting phase. "Interesting" is probably not the word I would have used back then, as this very active schedule-driven working Mom was less interested in philosophical musings about the nature of time and consciousness then she was in getting various family members fed and driven to soccer practices, music lessons, karate classes, meetings, and choir practices on time. After all, when you have that many plates spinning, time is of the essence. Brett, however was less interested in being a slave to time, and was more into the concept of being fully in the present moment. When I would ask him, "What time is it, Brett?" he would frequently answer, 

"It is now."

At which point I would become a little exasperated. Now I am amused in thinking about it. He was right...I could have used some lightening up. He's in his thirty's now and commutes to work and has places to be and schedules to keep. I have to say I love it when he asks me what time it is. Of course I say, "It is now, Brett"...and smile.

 

In gratitude for the precious present, and remembering to be in it more often!