Be ‘In the Now’

Here’s me in my Energy 4 Life Wellness Coaching mode strongly recommending that your new years resolution is to stop multi tasking and be mindful.

So the start of 2016 didn’t really go according to plan for me…. Yes my eating calmed down after Christmas and New Year binging, and yes my exercise routine got back on track pretty quickly .. but then wham bam I managed to fracture my nose! Ouch!

Rewind to last Thursday and I was in charge of our fourteen week old German Shepherd puppy for the day, whilst attempting to work from home. I was rushing around trying to do many things at once as we do, particularly us women, and what happened next I’m not sure but my face hit the concrete pavement with a thud.

Snoop Dogg (my son is into rap music) had got under my feet as we ran together to the front door after a walk. I managed to crawl inside the house on my hands and knees dripping blood all the way from my nose. Thankfully help was at hand pretty quickly in the form of a tea towel full of ice, and a bottle of arnica!

Having analysed the incident I know for sure why it happened.

I was not ‘in the now’. I was not concentrating on what I was doing fully. In my head I was running through what else I had to do that day – kids tea, thank you letters for Christmas, food shopping, work, tax returns, friends birthday, dry cleaning pick up, …and the rest.

Being an Energy 4 Life Wellness Coach I should know better! But we all have our off days, and we’re all very capable of giving out advice and not taking it ourselves.

So what do I mean about being mindful.

The definition is this : ‘the practice of mindfulness involves being aware moment to moment, of one’s subjective conscious experience from a first person perspective’. In easier to understand terms, keep things simple and do one thing at once and concentrate on it! Stay in the present moment. This way, accidents are less likely to happen for sure.

With life being so busy for all of us nowadays it’s easy to rush through it, not really being fully ‘aware”. If we pay more attention to the present moment, to our own thoughts, and feelings, and to the world around us, it can significantly improve our mental wellbeing, and keep us physically safe too.

Here’s an exercise to try whilst going about your day – it may seem weird at first, it did for me, but now when I find myself rushing, if I do this it makes me slow things right down.

Stop.

Plant both feet firmly on the ground.

Pay attention to your feet, particularly the soles.

Close your eyes.

Imagine you are breathing from the earth through the soles of your feet.

Take deep and slow breaths and fully focus. If your mind wanders just bring it back to your feet.

Do this for a few minutes to centre yourself, so that you’re fully ‘in the now’.

You can do this at any time (even in the supermarket!) to slow and calm your mind. Great if you feel overwhelmed with your to do list.

There are Mindfulness classes you can join too, and believe me they are worth investigating. You’ll learn how to be truly focused and centred . how to be really ‘in the now’ and ‘in the moment’ so as you’re going about your daily life you can truly appreciate how magnificent your life really is.

My nose at the moment is a constant reminder for me to be mindful, so I’m not regretting the accident happened. After all, everything happens for a reason.

Wishing you a great mindful day.

RX

For all things healthy visit my website www.bebalanced.uk.com