Where are you?

The greatest way to live the best of lives is to spend as much time in the same place as your body as you can. That may sound funny, but humans are the best time travellers. We are anywhere but here in this moment, we are always in the past or future. We live everywhere but in our bodies, we spend an awesome amount of time in our heads.

That is the reason why you enjoy what you enjoy so much, whether it is golf or knitting, climbing rocks or making music, exercising or just sitting, watching.

When you do these things you become very present. You get out of your head, your senses broaden, you become aware.

You become absorbed in the task, and in this moment. It captivates you, invigorates you, you become alive.

But this experience isn’t task or situation specific. I always thought that kayaking brought me so much joy because it was being in nature, it was exciting and it was physically challenging.

It is all these things, but critically I enjoyed it was because it was an escape, and being an escape I let go of my life. My life was somewhere else, but now was now. This was ‘me’ time!

It wasn’t because I was up a river, it was because I let go and focussed on the here and now.

It is the same with everything - It isn’t about what you do, it is always about how you do it.

I realise now that I am better at being present I can have the same buzz from washing the dishes. Being in the outdoors may give me an extra sparkle, but the sense of being alive and absorbed, completely and utterly present to this moment is available no matter what I do.

Letting go of what has been and what will be is the key.

Just now - be awake. Be here. Notice. Be involved in now.

You may live the busiest of lives but you can only do one thing at a time - do that one thing. Be totally absorbed in it. Don’t half-arse do it whilst thinking about what you have to do next.

You will find you become much more efficient, and perhaps more importantly, enjoy yourself much more.

Be alive!

What meditation has given me

My life has changed immeasurably since I came to learn a simple, easy meditation technique, and actually used it every day. It still surprises me, the power of sitting down every day and closing my eyes.

I really feel like I have become the person I always knew I was, but just couldn’t guarantee I could be.

In the past I would get stuck in these mental loops of thinking and worrying. I knew all about the worries and the fears, it was just that I couldn’t get out of them. They seemed to possess me. I would wake up worrying about something I said the previous day or worrying about what would happen in the upcoming, or about my bank balance.

I was constantly saying one thing to one person and another thing to another person. I was trying to be all things to all people. I would get stressed, so easily. I would lose my cool over the smallest things.

In no way was I a basket case, there was just plenty of room for more enjoyment and ease. Which I now have, which continues to grow.

I also seem to have found my purpose. I had a wonderful life, I had ticked all the boxes on my “to do and to have” list, and yet I was not content. It was a confusing time - my tick list said I should be happy and yet there was a growing unease which said I wasn’t.

The small act of closing my eyes every day and becoming more and more present has meant everything that I do is based in a satisfaction or a sense of wholeness and fulfilment.

There is no more idea that there is something else, that I’m missing out on something, the question “what am I doing here?” doesn’t appear. There is no worry, no fear, no unease.

In many ways, nothing has changed. I literally have gotten nothing from meditation - but everything that is not me has fallen away.  In one word, meditation has given me authenticity… and freedom from worry and fear… and purpose, meaning and satisfaction… and real enjoyment of life… and a million other things

It’s the smallest thing, to become present, to learn to meditate, to actually practice but it gives you so much.

Why not? What have you got to lose?

Who's the boss?

Do you feel like you are wrestling with a constantly active mind? Do you feel like you have been given to your mind, as opposed to your mind being given to you?

Your mind never rests, it is never content. It is always active - that's what it does. You find a bit of happiness and calm, and then your mind is gone, searching for the next thing. Your mind can never be content because its always on the hunt, but that's its job.

We have a problem with over-thinking because through habit we have let the mind become the boss. We've let it into the driving seat and its gotten away, going for it, predicting, guessing, checking, comparing, the whole works. Its not relaxing because the mind is constantly busy doubting and worrying. Its inefficient too. Because the mind is never present, we rarely can meet the true need of this moment. We rarely show up for life.

In all ways, for the fullest life possible we have to learn to again be the boss of the mind.

Being the boss of the mind doesn't mean closing it down or shutting it up. It means realising what the mind is, and having a different perspective, a bigger perspective.

We are awareness. We are what we notice. For the longest time all we have noticed is the same old loops of thought that are floating around inside our skulls. We're so involved in the detail we don't see anything else. We notice the content but rarely the context. We notice the fish swimming, but rarely the water. We notice the words, but rarely who is reading. The universe is a big place, a wondrous place, but we just don't notice much of it.

Being clear, calm and content does not require force. It involves relaxing, taking a step back. When you stop and become presence, even just for a moment, everything changes. By becoming aware of the bigger picture the mind becomes smaller, quieter in comparison. You become content. Not that you weren't contentment already, its just that you were distracted, listening to your mind trying to be helpful by telling you everything that was wrong.

You also become ready. Ready for anything. All possibilities. You can meet the need of this moment because you're not absorbed in the mind talk about the last moment or the next one. You can direct your considerable attention to anything you wish, not just what your mind believes is important.

If you become the boss of your mind, you are free. Free to put your attention on anything you wish. Free to follow what is most important to you, your highest desire. Free to finally show up for life, to participate fully in it. Yet most importantly, you are free to realise who you really are.