De-stressing by being rather than becoming
I am savouring my second cup of Yakult as I am writing this — taking a moment to see and feel myself; asking: what is the one thing which has been occupying my mind the most for the past few weeks?
I decided to share that one thing I have been practicing since I started reading The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle earlier this month — Being in the Now; and I am inviting you to practice it with me.
First of all, let’s see if you still need to de-stress with me by answering these questions:
· Are you feeling restless, but don’t seem understand why it is happening?
· Are you having multiple tabs open inside your mind, thus traveling from one tab to another and to another tab until eventually you come back to the first tab you opened? (or probably your laptop?)
· Are you watching Netflix or scrolling YouTube or Instagram or Twitter or sleeping because you said yes to the two questions above?… then your mind suddenly whispering “You should not be doing this” for a millisecond only to bring you back to square one of being restless?
If all the answers are yes, then read-on! It is because probably you are a little stressed or stressed-stressed and it’s completely okay because you are now one step ahead in understanding your state of Being.
Quoted from the book, stressed is caused by being “here” but wanting to be “there”, or being in the present but wanting to be in the future. It’s a split that tears you apart inside.
Thus, to avoid the split you need to be here in the present, wholly and fully. Focusing on your Being instead of Becoming — because eventually you will be.
Then should — you and I — we don’t think about our goals or the future? Then how can we grow? and….there we go again bringing ourselves into the split.
As I learned and echoed from the book, being present doesn’t mean not being aware of where you want to go, but it is honoring and giving your fullest attention to the step that you are taking at this moment. Then your life journey will be an adventure where you can see or smell the flowers or feel the sea breeze and being aware of the beauty & the miracle of life that unfolds around you.
The next time you are feeling restless or traveling back and forth through your mind-tabs, take action between leaving or changing your situation. If there is truly nothing that you can do to change you are here and now, and you can’t remove yourself from the situation, then accept you are here and now totally by dropping all inner resistance. Embrace Being in the Now.
If there is something you “should” be doing but are not doing it? Get up and do it now. Alternatively, completely accept your inactivity, laziness, or passivity at this moment, if that is your choice. Go into it fully. Enjoy it. Be as lazy or inactive as you can. If you go into it fully and consciously, you will soon come out of it.
So, the next time you find yourself chilling and enjoying things you like, your mind still might say “You should be doing something else. You are wasting your time” — at that moment smile at it and continue whatever you were doing.
Presence is not something we can firmly established over a day or two. It requires practice — having a friend to remind you will be a great help. You can start now.
P.S: I recommend to read the book further for deeper understanding on the state of Being and the concept of Now. I am pretty sure Periplus, Kinokuniya and Books & Beyond are having the book on sale these days & they are one chat away to deliver it to your front door! :)
