A column on presence, mindfulness hints, and practices.
Life is a billion droplets dripping and a trillion ripples rippling. We can only ride one wave at a time. We can only ride the one that is happening now.” – Age of Awareness
Billions of droplets, us and all of life, a trillion ripples, actions, intentions, and their impacts all swirling around. Some droplets combine and form streams, rivers, and the oceans. Some freeze. Some form the vast waves that hold the potential of societal change and progress in their crashing. This is the ebb and flow of life. A web, always interconnected, sometimes in concert, sometimes not, and happening within as well.
Like most of us, my thoughts often wander. I have regrets about the past. I’ve held onto anger and pain caused to me by others, and by me to others. I’ve carried these things like weights hooked into my soul, popping up in the wee hours or when the thunder rumbles and lightning strikes. They are there like shadows waiting. When the earth reminds me that I am small, the past looms like a specter.
And I worry about the future. How will we get by? Can humanity stop its destructive arc? What will the lives of my sons be like? The future can seem like a tunnel bored through a mammoth mountain that is threatening to collapse. It can seem like a lake full of thick tar that must be swum. It can also be enticing. If I can only get to the beach, things will be alright. And they may be — but what about now.
If we walk in the past or dangle in the future we are walking a life of emptiness, of hollowness. To be full, we must become real to ourselves. – Parts of this intro have been re-printed from my article ‘The Art of Here and Now’ in Age of Awareness
I’ve been on a ten-year journey, so to speak, to find this ‘realness’ for myself. It began, as such journey’s do, with a storm. I’d lost my job, and my life was turned on end. What transpired over that period: I moved homes twice, farther from the ‘kinetic energy of competition for competitions’ sake’. I tried, failed, and tried again to reinvent myself in the professional world in a way that was symbiotic with my soul. I spent a lot of time in nature, with music, and in a state of learning that I hadn’t previously known. I’ve called this period my stumbling path of self-growth.
What I believe I’ve found for myself, is a practice that helps me navigate life’s many storms and return to the present in the here and now. The Daily Here and Now is a column presenting those tools, hints really, for your own self-assessment. They consist of time-tested guides, the words of great philosophers, leaders, and musicians, and movements, daily practice that can help us, as Novak Djokovic says, minimize the rebound time. For Novak correctly notes, no one can stay present all the time. What we need is a roadmap for getting back home. Minimizing the rebound time a good concept to keep mindful of when our emotions get the best of us.
But why is presence important? First, There’s a scientific answer that points to benefits like lower blood pressure and better sleep. Studies have shown a mindfulness practice can enhance cognitive flexibility, reduce stress, and help manage depression and chronic pain. [1]
On a personal level, I’ve found this practice allows me to maintain calm and perspective, to reset and see situations more clearly, to cultivate patience and appreciation. Appreciation for the gifts of life and nature. Patience with my kids, myself, and with society that can seem at times to be in constant turmoil and upheaval. On that note, hint one is a mantra, ‘but still, there is beauty.’ I repeat this often to myself and aloud when the world grows teeth.
Hint One, a Mantra: But still, there is beauty – Paraphrased from philosophers far and wide, including the Stoics. No matter how hard the world is, how much tragedy, destruction, and badness, there is great beauty. Somewhere there is a flower opening, somewhere there is beautiful music being played, somewhere a bee has fallen asleep on a petal drunk on pollen. Life is always creating; the sun is always rising somewhere, and the stars are always out. Marvel at the beauty, be inspired by those who create, live, solve, help, heal, and spread joy against the odds. Align with them, become them, go forth and spread joy, recognize beauty, and live!
Breathing really does work. It seems like a cliché thing to say, “Just Breathe!”, but it works. My grounding, breathwork, and tapping is the most enjoyable and palpable of my daily practice. There are many techniques for breath work ranging from simple to complex. I stick to the former and focus on deep full breath while practicing a series of movements and ending with twenty-one still breaths. For a step up, you can explore 4-7-8 breathing, alternate nose breathing and more in the link below. [2]
Move your body. My Daily Here and Now consists of a 30-minute routine of movement: strength, stretching, yoga, qigong, and grounding. Every time I do it, I’m changed or, maybe, I’m back. Back home. Movement takes many shapes and forms and no matter how you do it, just make sure you do it. Sports are great. So is a walk, on many levels. As the great thinker Thich Nhat Hanh said, ‘The Walk is Peace.’ I am a believer.
Make Progress. Even if you are practicing stillness, mindfulness, or meditation, you can make daily progress that pays dividends. My daily practice helps me do this and charges me up for making progress on my medium-term and long-term projects. For me, the short-term project is always self-improvement and this builds a strong foundation for the bigger ticket items of your life’s work, whether it be raising effective kids or building something new. It also helps you accept the pace of life and its requisite setbacks both at home and external to us.
These four hints: a daily mantra, breathwork, movement, and small progress have been helpful for me, and I consider them starting blocks in the walk of life, for they’ve helped me see that life is not a race. We know where this is headed after all, why the rush? But more on impermanence later. For now, slow down, be good to yourself and let me know what works for you.
– Ken
[1] https://newsinhealth.nih.gov/2021/06/mindfulness-your-health#:~:text=Health%20Benefits%20of%20Mindfulness,%2Dcenter”%20from%20such%20thoughts.
[2] https://awcim.arizona.edu/health_hub/awcimagazine/just_breathe_using_breathwork_for_wellbeing.html
The Cultural Easton 