Being Present

Sometimes we get so busy making a life, we forget to actually live our lives. We forget about what is important; what has meaning to us. So many times, we are looking into our past, or even our future, and we overlook what we have right in front of us. I am writing this as I believe that being present is so essential to living, right here, and right now. Being present helps keep us grounded, and it allows for greater understanding of self. It allows for us to just breathe, and hone in on our thoughts and feelings.

So often, we tell ourselves stories and build upon those stories.. Rumination starts to kick in, and now we’ve created a whole story in our heads surrounding worry and fear. Worry about the what ifs, or how you could have done something better, or how somebody else may have viewed you, etc. Now, we’ve kick-started our flight or flight response, and perhaps we’re starting to spiral, or that annoying voice in our head just won’t go away. It starts to get uncomfortable, and often, we then start to avoid. We start to build defense mechanisms for ourselves surrounding stories that we don’t even know are true-we just assume. Or, we revisit things that we cannot change. Again, so often we get stuck in living in our pasts, or our future that we forget to live in the present.

I urge you, to take 30 minutes out of your day to just allow yourself to be present. To sit outside, or even inside, and take a look around you. What do you see? What do you feel? What can you smell. I like to sit outside, as I love to hear the sound of wind ruffling the leaves on the trees, and to be able to smell fresh grass. All these beautiful things are right in front of us, and we often overlook them. This is the time that you give to yourself, to relax and to understand. To listen to what is going on inside your head, and to give it loving space without building upon the story. To just listen-what is your body or your thoughts trying to tell you? To listen without judgment, and to just accept that what is is, and that it will pass, just like the wind passing through your hair.

Just breathe. Your body will thank you. Give yourself these moments, to remember what is important and to just live, right here, and right now. When we form gratitude and loving-kindness towards ourselves, the rest becomes easier. We are meant to have highs and lows, as it is apart of living, and when we learn to accept that this is just a natural part of life, we allow ourselves to heal and to grow. We are all important and I just want you to know, that you deserve love and you deserve to be loved. Namaste my friends!