I want to touch again on breathing because it’s the quickest and (as far as I’m concerned) only way to get into your ZEN mood. Yup – it’s all about the breath. Slowing it down immediately relaxes you and allows you to focus and live in the moment.
Remember, the only time that exists is the NOW. The past can’t be recreated and the future hasn’t been created yet. The only thing REAL is happening to you.
Right.
Now.
Take a moment to process that. It’s okay…I’ll wait.
How many times have you existed on autopilot, not paying attention to anything around you? Think about the last time you drove home from work or the grocery store. I’m going to bet that there were large stretches of road where you don’t even remember driving. You were daydreaming or talking on the phone (hopefully hands-free) or thinking about your day and suddenly –
BAM. You’re pulling into your parking spot and you can’t remember half of the drive.
Sound familiar?
We all do it. Wouldn’t it be nice if we were able to be present? Wouldn’t it be a little safer if we paid attention and really focused on every moment? I mean, our body was there and our soul was there but somehow or other we switched our brain into auto-mode and went somewhere else.
Meditation or…being Mindful, can help. It’s all about training yourself to relax into the now and really BE HERE – not remembering all the things you did wrong or worrying about the stuff you might forget in an hour.
I do a little exercise every once in a while. I put some music on and just listen to one instrument, shutting the others out. Say you’re partial to the piano or drums. Try and tune out everything else and just lean back into those major seven chords or zero in on that snare drum.
Do this a few times and you’ll find it easier to quiet the constant chatter of your Ego so that you can listen to your higher self. And that’s the key.
Listening. Listening to the sound of your breath, listening to the rain on the patio – whatever works for you. It brings you full on into the here and now and suddenly you’ll realize what I’m talking about because you’ll be a lot more aware.
“Aware of what?” said the annoying voice in your head.
Well, everything.
Self-aware, emotionally aware, aware that you’re part of everything around you and aware that you’re not alone and never have been.
We’re all connected, we always have been and we always will be.
It’s only in the quite and in the stillness, that it’s easiest to realize who we really are, and from there, the only way to go is up.
Meditation isn’t just a relaxation technique, it’s oh so much more than that. It’s a doorway into the inner YOU. It’s the entrance to self-discovery (or at least one of them). There is so much you can do, once you get the hang of it.
I’ll get into that more, next post.
Stay tuned and don’t touch that dial.
