Tis the season for presents/presence and there’s no better time of year to practice both the giving of your heart in addition to the giving of your focus. Maybe you have noticed, I mean really truly noticed that when you give a present to someone you feel as excited or anxious to give as the individual feels to receive?
Anxiety
There’s anxiety: will he/she really like what I decided to give, there’s anticipation: Oh I can not wait for him/her to start my present, there’s heart: I actually paid attention this year to what he stated they desired. If you’re more likely to just hand a present to someone and permit diversion to take you away from the true opening of the present then you’re missing out on all of the magic of the moment. Being at the present with the individual receiving a gift is a gift.
Where in your body do you feel that this anxiety, anticipation or generosity? In what ways is your energy moving to people around you? It’s an wonderful relationship, a coming together second for the giver and receiver, where synchronicity is indeed aligned just the uninterrupted existence of consciousness in the opening of this present, the present, could break the bond. It’s the height of mindfulness or deliberate attention.
Take note
How often a year do we use intentional attention in our everyday lives? The question is how do we provide ourselves the present of existence all the time? It’s a magical feeling to be so engrossed in the moment of committing that we do not pay attention to space or time or what comes next. This deep immersion, this profound immersion of existence is known as flow and scientists think that the pathway toward inner peace and happier human beings is through those stream minutes where we’re so absorbed in the moment we occupy that there’s not any space for future or past.
If you’re ever in a situation where you wish to get a handle on what is going on in this specific moment, breathe. Practicing presence is as straightforward as deep breathing. Your breath is always with you and you may stop at the center of all you’re busy with to take purposeful breaths and calm your mind and your heart and your soul and create attention and intentional attention. There are far more ways to give yourself the present of existence.
What to do?
Turn off your thinking mind and tune in to your mind. The health benefits of being in the here and are now important. You won’t be leaving anything important behind if: You let go of old ideas or let go of what if ideas. You may however be gaining consciousness and color and vibrancy at the moment that you occupy by accepting what’s happening right now and all this instant is giving to you. Give up this Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda mindset: Each new moment that introduces its present to you has the capability to be a present for your soul and heart.
Give in to what’s being supplied by enveloping yourself in the passion, authenticity and vitality of today. By letting go of your anticipation of what the minute could or should or would bring, permit the moment to unfold in all of its natural splendor and direct you. No Restrictions. In helping my clients establish goals and make their own avenues of responsibility we create if/then statements. For example: A customer wants to lose 10 pounds by the end of the month. The if/then statement might say, “If I feel like having a sugary snack after dinner then I’ll drink a hot apple cider or munch on an apple ” In the present or present of existence this could be the one time as soon as your prepared mind could hinder complete stream of enjoyment.
Take into account
Give up the if/then believing and align your head with the here/now thinking. Notice how much more wealthy and psychological the here/now mind perceives life in its raw and real time. If/then changes your path and compels you to control the present of the gift which then has the capacity to control the results. Here/now permits you to just enjoy flow in the moment for what it is without the strain of obstacles or diversion. Sense your way to existence.
Play a brain game with yourself by paying attention to every one of your senses, one at a time. This activity is very good practice for existence and being mindful of the here and now. Focus on your breath, carefully assess how your palms touch things, observe what’s happening right in front of you, focus on the smells around you and see if you can name them, actually dissect the tastes of your next meal, listen carefully when someone is talking to you and attempt to discover the various levels of emotion being used in the dialog.
Final note
Purposefully create daily minutes of existence. Go another route home from work, eat lunch at another place or pack a lunch that’s different than what you normally eat, skip lunch completely and pamper yourself rather, choose your hobby with you wherever you go and work on it at least one time during the day away from home, find something new now and bring it up in conversation. The chance for an awe moment is made in being present with deliberate attention. In the winter time I like washing the dishes, despite dish gloves because I am so comforted by the warm water cuddling my cold hands. It’s a daily, year round chore but at this time of year that the cold is a stark reminder of the blessing of warmth. My appreciation degree for warm water and keeping my family healthy soars. I find myself really looking forward to this chore and rather than washing dishes or 4 times per day to keep up with the mess I let it pile up so I can spend actual time enjoying the warmth. Bizarre, I know, but the existence it generates is magical.