I’m looking for my phone and it’s in my back pocket. I can’t remember if I got a glass of water, so I fill one up and then find the other one on the table behind me. I’m driving to work and realize I left the book where I strategically placed it so I wouldn’t forget it!
The Trance! It’s an old friend, or should I say foe. We all have a version of it. This is why our 21st century culture is so obsessed with tips, tricks and tools for becoming mindful or tuned in to the present moment.
In that light, here’s one more of those tools for waking up to the here and now, that this “trance-champ” has found helpful.
I think of this as an “awareness trigger practice.”
Start your day with an intention to practice this practice.
Pick a very common activity in your life. Maybe getting into the car, using your phone, going through a doorway.
Make a commitment to use this common moment to trigger an awareness shift.
This awareness shift can be a body sensation, an emotion, or a thought. For example:
You get into your car and you take an intentional deep breath and relax your body into the car seat. You use this body moment to help you drive in this relaxed state. You feel grateful for your car and your ease.
As you look through your mail, you hold each person or organization in your heart. You send them a brief blessing of peace. You get that phone bill that you normally stress about? You send gratitude that you are supporting the worker who processes that bill.
As you wash your hands or do anything with running water, you shift your thinking: you enter into “big mind”. You think of yourself out in the universe looking down on this beautiful ball of the Earth. You then zero in on your home and the dear soul who is running water (that’s you!). You feel a deep appreciation for this life and this earth.
This is a simple practice with profound results. Each of these practices ends with a shift into some kind of gratefulness. That’s what happens when we break the trance and come into the simple moment that is here and now.
May you have many of these moments in the days ahead.