Sitting on the floor with my big puppy draped across my legs happily chewing in his bone, I am totally in the moment. Peace and joy. He is always in the moment. Want to go for a walk? He is instantly ready. Rub his ears, he is all in. There is so much to learn from our animal friends.
For months, I have felt like a blindfolded prize fighter swinging at all the injustice of my COVID created world. I’ve tried to use previously built strength in strategy, planning, thinking outside the box, persistence, deep listening, and most days it gets me 85-90% of the way to clear focus and results. But that last 10% is where the anxiety, and the fear live.
How to stop that? Consciously pull myself back to being in the moment. In this moment. Right now.
The hacks to get there have been grindingly small and daily. 2 minutes at a time, over and over, regularly through the day.
Breathing. Closing my eyes and focusing on the air coming in and out from my diaphram- relaxing with each breath. 2 minutes.
Looking deeply at an object and noticing everything about it. Not focusing on anything else. 2 minutes.
Stopping useless thoughts and focusing on a beautiful memory. 2 minutes
Gratitude. 2 minutes
Playing with the puppy. 22 minutes.
Quick exercises like 50 jumping jacks, or 10 pushups or 5 sun salutations. 2 minutes.
That is not in lieu of daily exercise, this is in addition.
So what are the results after 9 months? Interestingly, I feel less anxious. I recognize when my breathing is getting shallower and do a breathing time out. I stop so many useless thoughts now especially about politics. I take objects and just look at them closely for. minute. I list all the things I’m grateful for. I ask myself if there is one thing I can do about my fear or thought in the next minute and if there is, I do it.
Mostly, being in the moment has brought me more peace. I wish you peace and focus in 2020!