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Archive for May, 2009
“There are no ordinary moments.”
This line from the movie The Peaceful Warrior has always stuck with me. In the movie, Dan, a very driven, focused college gymnast, is learning the power of being present from his teacher, Socrates. The main lesson is this. If you are fully focused in the present, you will notice that extraordinary things are always happening.
Many of us miss the magic in the moments of our lives because we are focused on getting something done or getting somewhere else. We turn life into a mental exercise rather than a multi-faceted experience. We block our sensations, experiences and emotions because we see them as distractions. Yet, it is these very things that connect us with, and allow us to have, the full experience of each moment.
So, how do you know if you are fully present? Let’s do a few exercises to see what being present feels like:
Check out your thoughts.
What are you thinking about right now? (Yes, you can be reading this and thinking about something else at the same time.) Write down the gist of your thoughts.
If you wrote down something that has to do with the past or the future, chances are you are not fully present right now.
When your mind is at ease and you are observing, you are being present.
Tip: Take a deep breath, focus on clearing your mind and just look around.
Focus on what you are feeling.
Fill in the blank in the following sentence.
Right now I am feeling ________________.
As soon as you focus on what you are feeling, you are in present time. Emotions are experienced in the NOW.
Tip: Connect with your emotions and you will be present.
Connect with your body.
Get up and move! Stand up and stretch and shake your arms and legs. Now look around and see how things look to you.
Tip: Connecting with and/or moving your body brings you right smack dab into the middle of NOW.
Now that was pretty easy, wasn’t it! Small things can yield big benefits.
When you stay present with what you are doing or observing, and expand your awareness to take in what is around you, there are no ordinary moments.
Just Imagine That!
Tags: Awareness, Awareness Exercise
Yesterday we did a little exercise in awareness that brought to mind the issue of perspective.
We tend to hold on tight to our own perspective of the world - and that’s understandable. We’ve spent a lifetime creating that perspective.
All of our life experiences have contributed to our particular view of the world - what it is, how it works, what we can expect from it, our place in it.
And it’s a natural tendency to come to believe that our perspective is the truth/reality.
Let’s take a minute to examine that.
“It’s not what you look at that matters. It’s what you see.”
~Henry David Thoreau |
We often hear “look at things from a child’s perspective.” And, obviously, that’s different than most adults. “But,” you say, “a child just doesn’t know any better. They don’t have all the facts yet.”
So, let’s think about something closer to home. How about changing your own perspective, including all the things you know.
And let’s go back to the chair we talked about yesterday.
Assuming you’re sitting in a chair as you’re reading this (if you’re not, find one).
Stand up and turn the chair upside down - or on its side.
Now stand back and look at it.
It’s still the same thing, but the perspective from which you see it is different.
Do you notice anything about it that you haven’t seen before?
Can you think of anything you could do with it other than rest your bottom? (As a new grandmother, I’ve discovered that dining room chairs turned on their sides make great baby gates!)
Yes, this is just a small thing, and probably not relevant to your challenges. It does make the point, though, that changing perspective can open new possibilities.
Think of something you know about your business today, and play around with looking at it from a new perspective…you might just come up with a brilliant new idea!
Just Imagine That!
Tags: Awareness, Awareness Exercise
Right now I am sitting in a chair. One of the miracles of spoken and written language is that when things are given names, such as chair, we know what something is just because of its name. Usually, this is great because it allows us to communicate a lot of information easily and quickly.
However, by deciding what something is…we also decide what it is not. We “judge” it to be one thing rather than another. And we may be missing qualities, characteristics and uses that this “something” may have that we haven’t thought of before.
Another thing about describing things. Most adjectives are descriptions that are relative to other things. For instance, if we say that something is small, we mean that it is small in relation to something that is bigger. Heavy indicates that something else is lighter. And these perceptions can vary widely depending upon your perspective. Small to a 5-year old is much different than it is to you. Get the idea?
By naming things and then describing them with adjectives, we categorize them – usually without thought - and we may miss opportunities to be creative with what is around us.
So here is today’s exercise.
Look around you and pick an object. Hint: Try choosing an object that you can hold in your hand or touch. (Remember…using more of our senses gives us access to more information!)
- Describe this object without using words that are relative to other things (i.e. big/small.)
- List the object’s characteristics rather than what it is (the name we give it) or what it is normally used for. (i.e. It has legs. It is white. It is made of wood.)
- See what you come up with! Go for at least ten things.
How did you do? Did you feel yourself being more aware of the parts of the object rather than what it is? Did you think of a use for it that you haven’t thought of before?
By looking at something with new eyes and suspending judgment about what it is or what it can be used for…you become more aware of ways to be creative with things that are around you everyday.
Just Imagine That!
Tags: Awareness, Awareness Exercise
All day, every day, our minds are busy serving up thoughts. Sometimes we can’t sleep because it doesn’t want to take a break. And clearing our minds of all thought can be a challenge – as you well know if you’ve ever tried it.
Depending upon whose numbers you use, there are anywhere from 12,000 to 50,000 thoughts running through your head every single day. That’s a lot of thinking!
And most of it is repetitive.
The same thoughts play over and over in your head. (Not to mention the songs that get stuck there - but that’s another story.)
Anyway, today, let’s observe those thoughts. Let’s find out what’s on your mind.
As you go about your day, stop every now and then and notice the thoughts that are repeating themselves. Which ones keep coming up again and again?
Write them down.
At the end of the day, you’ll have a good overview of what’s on your mind…and perhaps some insights into what you’re focusing on.
How can this information help you? That depends upon what you want to do with it. Are there recurring thoughts that seem like worry about the future, or regret over the past? Are you going over and over your to-do list?
First, by writing them down, you have given them attention, and this act alone may slow or stop some of them.
You might also gain some insight into where your mental energy is being focused, which can be quite different from where you focus your actions.
We’ll get more into using / modifying your thoughts later.
For now, just pay attention, and see what you can see.
Just Imagine That!
Tags: Awareness, Awareness Exercise, Possibility
When was the last time you had one of those moments when your senses were on high alert? Do you remember what that felt like? Suddenly everything around you seemed crisp, clear and closer. You were aware that something significant and/or unfamiliar was afoot. You picked up details that you would generally overlook. Your senses were working at full tilt, supplying your brain with lots of information so that you could understand and use what is happening around you.
When I think of times I have had this heightened awareness, whether it was because I was frightened, excited, feeling very connected to my surroundings or breathing deeply at the end of a yoga class, I always remember how alive I felt! And how easily I remember the details of the scene or circumstances. Most importantly, I remember seeing things I have never seen before – even in familiar surroundings.
What if we could engage our senses at will without having to be startled, afraid or surprised? Can you imagine the wealth of information we would have at our fingertips?
Here’s an exercise you can try right now – wherever you are – to engage your senses and see what they are picking up
First, take a few deep breaths.
Now, look around you. When something in your field of vision attracts your attention, focus on it for a second. Just notice what attracted you.
Now close your eyes and run down your other senses:
- What is your nose noticing?
- What are your ears hearing?
- Do you taste anything?
- Are you aware of any texture or feeling at this moment?
That’s it! Well done. You have just raised your awareness of your surroundings!
By taking just a few seconds to check in with each of your senses, you will be surprised and amazed by how rich and full the world around you really is…
Just Imagine That!
Tags: Add new tag, Awareness, Awareness Exercise
This week we’re expanding our awareness…Seeing new things in old places.
Here’s the first challenge:
- Pick a place you spend a lot of time. (your living room, office, back yard, etc.)
- Note what time it is.
- Now, look around very consciously until you see something you’ve never noticed before.
- How long did it take?
Chances are, if you do it again in another familiar place, it won’t take as long.
This simple exercise, done regularly, can actually train your senses to be more open and accepting…and you just never know what you’ll “see!”
Just Imagine That!
“The world is so full of a number of things, I think we should all be as rich as kings.” ~ Robert Louis Stevenson
This world is certainly full of many things – so many that sometimes it takes a conscious effort not to be overwhelmed.
Most of the time, however, we handle all this information overload very efficiently. Our senses provide a filter and classification system that processes most of the input automatically.
We see a tree, and, without conscious thought, file it under “trees.” We know what it is. We have no immediate need for what it has to offer, it presents no immediate concern, so we reserve our conscious thought for something more pertinent.
And, we do this literally millions of times a day. We actually “see” very little of what’s around us.
Want proof? Well, here’s just one example of something we’ve all seen hundreds of times, yet many of us have never seen all that’s there. A FedEx logo.
What do you see? A logo for a shipping company. Nice and neat, recognizable, you instantly know what it represents. What else? Two colors, block letters…
Do you see the arrow? If you have “seen” it before, did you notice it yourself, or did someone show it to you the first time?
(If you’re still having trouble, look at the white space between the “E” and the “x”.)
Interesting, but what does this mean to us?
Most of us are actively looking for things we don’t yet possess, or answers we haven’t yet found.
What if they were right in front of us, and we just hadn’t noticed them yet?
This week we’re going to offer some suggestions on how to expand our awareness of what we already have, as the first step to finding what we’re looking for.
Take a few moments each day, suspend your judgment, and really look around you. You just might be surprised at what you see!
Just Imagine That!
Tags: Awareness
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