Making the Body/Mind Connection Part 3
I am trying hard to follow my own advice and be more mindful, but too often, I find that I am not.
I find myself preoccupied with work problems and issues. It’s high season for my seasonal work, and the demands on me are almost unbearably heavy right now.
I do not wish for my days to be entirely consumed with work. There is so much more that I want to do!
I live on the usually rainy west coast of BC, but when it is unseasonably sunny out, I need to bask in that sun for at least half an hour, just to remind myself that there’s a rewarding and joyful life available and waiting for me.
I like to both read and least listen to books, but I am reduced to only listening to audio books in the car on my way to the gym.
Lately, I find I am not even making time to phone and chat with my friends or keep in touch with my distant cousins and relatives, some of whom count on me for support and encouragement.
I am incredibly fortunate in that I have a caring partner who plans and prepares our meals, and takes care of the light housekeeping and gardening.
So really, my complaint, when I stop to think about it, is not about my situation, it’s about how I am dealing with it, which is a result of what’s going on in my head.
This reminds me of an article I once read, by an esteemed author named Ekhart Tolle. He said something that really caught my interest.
He said our minds are busy clogging up our thoughts with the past and the future. This keeps us from noticing and fully living the possibilities and the pleasure of the moment we are in.
Tolle believes that even when we feel that being in the present moment is painful, unpleasant or even unacceptable, that feeling is a judgement we are making about that moment. And just thinking in those terms, Tolle warns us, works against our best interests.
These assessments of our situation are pronounced as unalterable facts by our mind, and Tolle posits that it is this judgement which causes us pain and unhappiness.
Tolle’s wise advice? “Whatever the present moment brings, accept it as if you had chosen it.” He cautions us to always work with the present and never against it.
“Make the present moment your friend and not your enemy, and you will transform your life.”
This advice sounds powerful. Also very difficult to initiate and sustain.
Reflecting on this article, which I’ve found in my files, I realize that accepting the reality of the present moment requires practice.
To do so without adding mental predictions of where it is taking me, or how it has affected me, or labelling it a positive or negative moment, to simply accept the moment whatever it may bring, could be the next step in my journey to mindfulness.
I must learn to live in the present moment. To recognize what I am doing. To be fully cognizant of my immediate situation, my environment and my body, as I am moving into the next moment. And that the next moment is always an unknown.
I am working on it.
Margaret Jean 