Present and Contemplative Friday

Be present in this moment by slowing down your breath, slowing down your thoughts, and focusing on relaxing your body. Close your eyes for a moment and focus on your breathing and the slowing down of your thoughts. Now that your eyes are open and you are reading these words, allow the words to sink in as I guide you to focus on relaxing your body. Allow all tension to simply melt away, beginning at the top of your head; down your face and neck; relax your shoulders; your chest; your arms; relax all the way down your hips, thighs, calves, ankles and feet.

Feel your feet planted on the ground beneath you, grounding you to the earth’s energy. Feel you a part of the earth’s energy; feel the earth as a nurturing presence beneath your feet, holding you up and supporting you. Allow yourself this time to slow down, just for a moment, it only takes a moment. Moments can build over time and for now you only need to take a simple moment.

Allow yourself a precious moment to slow down, to breathe, to feel your body and to relax your body. Allow yourself to be present, and perhaps to even appreciate your presence. See what you can appreciate and have gratitude for in the moment. Even if it is that you are able to see these words and take in breath. Can you appreciate these qualities in this moment? What else can you find to appreciate in this moment?

I send you my appreciation for taking this moment with me and for taking this moment for yourself because as you allow yourself to breathe and relax in appreciation, you are affecting the vibration of everything around you. You are the stone of calm, focus, and appreciation causing more ripples of calm, focus, and appreciation in the whole.

An exercise:

This exercise is similar to the candle exercise. The candle exercise is a beginning attention exercise developer, that can be practiced for several weeks but then needs to be moved on from. This exercise you can come back to whenever you feel a need to reconnect with yourself, almost literally face to face.

The Mirror Exercise

Find a place where you can sit in front of a mirror comfortably for ten minutes. Use a timer to time yourself, then sit in front of a mirror and focus on the point in between your eyebrows, often termed the point of “the third eye”. Continue to bring your focus back to this point each time you feel your eyes and thoughts wonder.

When you begin this exercise, you may “see” some strange things. You may even see your aura. Do not be distracted by what you see, continue to bring your focus back to this point. When you are finished with the exercise, write down what you “saw” or felt or thought. Follow through on ideas or questions and answers that come through as your write about your experience.

Image found here