Reflections on the Here and Now
Where I have a freaky line of thinking.
Being in the “here and now” may feel a little obvious and yet I am hearing from so many friends and clients that they can hardly wait for the weekend, the vacation, or their retirement so that they can “live life in the moment”.
Not being in the moment means that we are looking back to a time that no longer exists or forward to a time that doesn’t yet, and really won’t ever exist. Meaning, that a substantial part of our lives are spent in times that do not exist.
Even for me that’s a bit of a freaky line of thinking.
But, the number of work hours outside of those weekends, vacations, and retirement is just way too much to exchange for reliving the glories and regrets of the past and romanticizing or worrying about the future.
What would it look like if we approached our work (and life) with a “here and now” mindset?
Would we start to recognize and really feel the beauty, the pain, and the courageous possibilities of our day to day lives?
Would we be more purposeful in aligning our daily intentions and actions with what we say is important?
Would we better see and understand the challenges and opportunities of the day?
Would we be able to meet those challenges and opportunities in a way that cultivates healthy and wise relationships and systems in our workplaces, families, and communities?
I think so.
One of the ways to move our mindset to “here and now” is to increase our awareness of our immediate surroundings, of how we are holding our body, and of the stories we are telling ourselves.
I’m just throwing this out there, and as with all things I say take what works for you and leave the rest. But what have you got to lose by giving it a try?
Even taking just a few minutes a few times a day to close your eyes or soften your gaze, and to focus on the smells and the sounds around you, the feelings in your body, how your body connects to where you are standing, sitting, or lying will begin to raise an awareness of the here and now.
As your practice of awareness grows you may want to add in gentle body scans where you bring attention and kindness to where in your body you might be holding tension or other feelings of unease or holding contentment, joy, or other feelings of ease.
As you do this, I invite you to pay attention to your breath and as you feel the air move in and out say what feels good, maybe something like “hey I’m here right now and I am perfectly enough”. Be loving. Gently open or raise your eyes and notice the surroundings, right here and right now.
Get out a pen (markers, fancy pencils, stylus ..) and write down what you notice, how and where you are feeling in your body, whatever is arising for you.
With this awareness we can start to build habits of self-care and celebration that are not about shopping or other forms of consumption (I’m looking at me as I write this) but are about nourishing, relaxing, and building strength in our body, nervous system, and that place that we commonly refer to as the heart (not the one that pumps blood, the other one).
The more we ground ourselves in the in the reality of the here and now, the better we can tackle the work before us from writing reports and managing budgets through to meaningful interactions with the people and the world around us.
Photo by Fallon Michael on Unsplash
In Reflections I encourage us to take time to generously and kindly contemplate how we are showing up and to compassionately cultivate and nurture our internal growth. Reflect your way and use what is available and feels good to you. Get out the coloured markers, sing or dance, go outside and take in the sky, breathe deep, and know that you are not alone as a courageous leader.