How To Physically ‘Be Here Now’
I walked into my first yoga class almost twenty years ago. I had no idea what I was in for. As the wise and skillful teacher placed her hands on me she gently spoke,
“Breathe in through your nose allowing your belly to expand … Gooooood … Loooongggg slow exhale now… Ahhhhhhh.”
I’d been breathing wrong all these years!
The class progressed; strange words echoed. Several times she said,
“Be here now.”
Wait, what? I am here.
For the longest time I thought it was a silly statement, new age-y, woo-woo, a little out there.
But as time passed and I’ve grown in my practice and teaching, I finally get it.
Being here now is not a metaphorical statement. It is physical. And mental. It’s an actual state one can achieve. Sort of.
Words rob us of the richness and depth that life offers. They’re tricky.
Being here now isn’t an act. It’s an undoing.
Most of us are not ‘here’ at all. Most of us are someplace else entirely — most of the time.
I teach yoga to undergrads, almost all beginners on three Ohio University regional campuses each semester. They enroll for a credit and expect an easy ‘A.’ My intention is different.
Students on regional campuses lead full lives — full-time jobs, marriages, children, households, full-time academic loads. Over the last ten years I’ve honed my voice to meet them where they are and to give them tools they’ll be able to use for the rest of their lives.
I teach breath (pranayama), many yoga poses (asanas) and lots of ‘being here now.’
I teach them to slow down. Observe. I teach them to work with their minds via their breath and their bodies.
The process of “being here now” begins by recognizing the times they aren’t here. When they are …
- Lost in thought
- Caught up in emotion
- Attached to an outcome
- Making mental lists while attempting to ‘be here’ in class
- Carrying (and physically feeling) the emotional baggage of the past
- Worrying about the future
Yoga teachers have lots of tools to guide you into present moment. There are many lineages and methodologies. The two I practice, teach and preach are breath and embodiment.
Each of us has a body, but we rarely inhabit it. We are mostly living in our minds.
Being here now, to me, is about BEing in my body. Completely. And attempting to quiet my mind.
It’s not easy. It’s a practice. Thank goodness I have the rest of my life to keep learning, growing, leaning into this life. Here are a few short practices you can work with:
- Take a full deep breath and feel it fully. Savor it.
- Go outside and walk barefoot. Feel your feet upon the earth.
- Lie belly-down on your living room floor. Feel your skin and bones against its surface.
- Lie on your back in bed and observe whether you are giving your full weight to the bed or holding back in some way. This is a great exercise in awareness that can actually help you fall asleep at night.
There are lots of other embodiment practices that teach us to be in our bodies more fully. Those listed above are meant to prime you. Do them every day and see what comes up. I’ll be sharing more here and in my online journal in the coming days.
I don’t know how I got so lucky to stumble upon yoga, and the other practices that evolved out of that, but I’m sure thankful.
There is no better gift to give to yourself and others than the gift of being here now.
Thanks for reading. Did you enjoy? Please tap the 💚 to recommend it to others. Namaste, Heather
Heather is a holistic health writer and yoga educator. She shares here daily as part of her personal writing practice — mostly lessons about embodied living, yoga and personal development. Cheers to a life well lived!
