Sunday, May 29, 2011

The Body and The Now

We all know it's by far the best thing to stay in the present.  We've heard Eckhard Tolle espouse The Power of Now and agree, yes - we should do it!  The question is ....... how?

I'm a Gemini.  That means that as an air sign not only am I flying high a lot of the time, I'm also up in my head for a great many hours.  Which in turn means that I am NOT in my body.  When I began to ponder this dilemma of how to stay in the now, I realized that it is my body not my mind that is always in the present.  My body is always here right now.  Therefore one of the things that takes me out of my present reality is my tendency to be out of my body and up in my head.

Thoughts occur now but they are rarely OF the now.  My thoughts are usually about what just happened or what might happen next.  Rarely do I think, oh look, there are my feet, planted on the ground right now!  No, no.  I have to have much more lofty thoughts than that.  What was the meaning of that remark that person just made?  Was it about me?  If not why not?  Why weren't they paying attention to what I was saying?  Didn't I do it right?  How can I get them to notice my important messages? etc., etc., etc.

Perhaps Clue Number 1 for staying in the present is to stay firmly centered in my body?  If I focus on my physical self - how does it feel?  What does it need?  Is it hungry?  Is it tired?  Is it cold?  Warm?  Rested?  Sore?  Then I will truly be in now.

But what if my body isn't great right now?  What if it hurts?  What if it's sick?  Well, maybe I'd better do something to help it feel better.  Take care of it.  Now there's a good thought.  Taking care of myself. 

Taking care of myself and in particular my physical body, keeps me in the now!

Of course, there are times when I need to consider the past or make choices for the future, but not all the time.  Focus on the present brings the benefit of self care and that in turn, makes tomorrow possible.

Bringing myself down from the air, down out of my head, and back into my physical body is something I can do when I get far away from the present moment.  There's always some small task of self-care and maintenance I can focus on.  There is a body to be showered, skin to be pampered, teeth to be cleaned, nails to be groomed, hair to be brushed, a thirst to be satisfied.  I look at my cat.  He spends an enormous amount of time grooming himself and he doesn't seem to be bothered about being self-centered!

If this is Clue Number 1, then there must be others.....watch this space!

Thursday, May 26, 2011

The Now Factor

The answers to the most perplexing dilemmas usually come, it seems, in unexpected ways - quite out of left field, from outside the box, a bolt from the blue.  Maybe that's why they strike and stay.  Maybe that's what is meant to happen.....

A while ago an event occurred in my life.  It was a repetitive situation, one that I had struggled with before many times.  Each time, instead of the experience shedding more light on what to do and how to respond, I felt an increasing confusion as to how to respond and a heavier burden of sorrow.  What to do?  How to handle this?  Instructions please.  A How To manual for getting on top of this thing is what I needed.

This time I responded ...... exactly the same.  I did the one thing I knew from past experience worked - I removed myself - but the feelings were just the same.  I sat for a moment and waited.  I don't know what I was waiting for but something much greater than me did, and it delivered.

Without ceremony, that unexpected thing happened, that out-of-left-field, outside-of-the-box, bolt-from-the-blue (and all those other weary cliches) event.  A thought appeared in my mind.

Now this wasn't a thought that I put there.  I know that for sure.  It was far too profound for my basic mind.  It was planted.  It was downloaded by the Universe completely formed so that I could not ignore it, nor twist it into something it wasn't, nor tear it apart with analysis.  It just was.

It said, "What just happened is now in the past."

I was stunned.  I examined the thought as if it was emblazoned in lights across a neon billboard.  Immediately the vast implications of this statement began to unfold in front of me.  If what happened was now in the past why did I need to be experiencing it right now?  Could I truly leave it in the past?  How would I do that?  Did that mean that I had a choice with this thing?  Was it really that simple?

The effect of that moment is still with me.  That's what this blog is about.  How do I examine a thought that simple and.....that big?  Probably only through rambling around the issues it raises.

I could do it alone in a journal but I decided not.  I'm willing to share.....if you are willing to listen and maybe respond. 

The rest of my life is NOW and I have a choice to make it so.