Just for Today: The Practice of Living

When I think about living in the moment, I remember my Reiki training. In every class I teach, I share the Reiki principles. Each principle begins with the same phrase, Just for today. Students are invited to live from those principles in each moment of everyday. Just for today is a reminder to be mindfully present wherever, whenever, and however you find yourself.

Although it may not be called mindfulness, many traditions invite us to focus on the moment. We are advised to be aware of opportunities that flit in and out of our consciousness. I have heard mindfulness referred to as “focusing your awareness on the Sacred.” What happens when you focus on the moment? I believe we discover that this moment is all we have. 

Our life is comprised of rolling moments one seamlessly flowing into the next. Unaware, we lose focus on our hopes, our dreams. We miss nuances of opportunity. Instead of responding, we react. But, all is not lost. In the next moment, we can regain awareness. Then, mindfully, we reset our intent by focusing on that moment and those moments that roll from it into the next.

Developing a rhythm of moving from one moment into the next takes practice. For me, there are three types of practice:

• Practice is formal. You may meditate, walk, practice tai chi or yoga. These activities empower you to focus your attention in the moment as you connect with the world around you. This practice occurs at regular times throughout your day

• Practice is informal. These are check-in moments. Perhaps you are feeling frustrated or something just doesn’t feel right. You may be distracted. You take a break — focus on your breathing, go for a quick walk, play a game of solitaire. These activities serve as a disconnect from what is distractive and pulls you from the moment. They mindfully reconnect you to present moment. 

• Practice is spontaneous. These are those moments when the extraordinary catches your attention and you mindfully engage it. You hear the laughter of a child and fully engage the joy. You notice the beauty of the sunset and breathe into it. Living in the moment, your senses come alive. You feel the sacred found only in that moment. The resulting energetic boost gives you the power to stay in the here and now for increasingly longer periods of time. 

Using those three powerful words, just for today, decide what actions edge you closer to your hopes, your dreams. Then take those steps knowing that you have the power to realize exactly what you need. That realization happens only in the present moment. 

Vanessa F. Hurst, ms, is an Intuitive-Coach-Catalyst, who uses mindfulness practices and intuition tools to create strategies for personal and relationship transformation. She is a professional speaker & author who weaves inner wisdom into all she touches. Her books are available @ www.wildefyrpress.com. Contact Vanessa for life coaching, intuitive consultations, keynotes, and programs.

Website / LinkedIn Profile / Facebook / Twitter: @fyrserpent / ©2020

A Brief Moment in Time: Experiencing the Pause

Rhythm is found not in musical notes but in the spaces between them. Meaning is found not in the words but in the silence between syllables. Understanding of Tai Chi body/mind/spirit connection is not found in the inhale/exhale but in the space between them. 

The pause is found in every thing we do. It is vitally important to how we respond or react. How often have you missed the meaning within a pause? How often was a trigger being flipped before a pause was identified? I know that I have flipped triggers more often than I comfortably admit. 

Through the pause our intuitive awareness activates. We notice nuances, even patterns, and find meaning within them. Those pauses are the weave that connects the essence of who we are to our intent and action. 

Perhaps one of our greatest challenges is learning to live in the pause. We can only be in that space when we are in the moment. The past no longer pulls us at with its regrets and remorse. The future’s lure of hopes and dreams loses its allure. 

Now, I am not saying that the grief of the past should stay unresolved or that we should never have hopes and dreams. What I am saying is that we cannot afford to be any where other than the present moment. For when we are here now, we find the energy to carefully nurture the seeds of possibility that are found only in the pause.

What I am proposing is that we acknowledge what pulls us from the moment and muddies our connect to the present moment. Part of the acknowledgment is to take opportunities to feel the poignancy of what intrudes and then heal those parts of us wounded by the past.

As for the hopes and dreams, let’s ask our self what we can do, in the moment to nurture the seeds of hopes and dreams. It is not enough to admire our hopes and dreams; we must find way to bring them alive in this moment. 

How we resolve our past and bring fruition to the future are birthed in the pause. For within it, we are able to understand without logically knowing which is the best path on this journey. Using this understanding we discern how to move from each moment while creating the life we are meant to have. 

So, how do you get to a place where you comfortably and actively engage the pause? Here are just some suggestions. Each practice session need only be 90-seconds or so.

• Listen to how the rhythm of music is impacted by the moments of pause.
• Listen to how the pause impacts a conversations.
• Walk and find the pause in your gait.

This practice helps you develop an awareness of how the pause presents itself to you. Through practice your awareness of what opportunity presents itself in the pause increases. Notice:

• In music: how does the pause shift your energy?
• In conversation: what meanings do you grasp within the pause?
• In walking: what does the pause tell you about your physical balance?

Recognizing the pause is a way of welcoming richness into your life. The pause is the home of transformation. Using the information gained in the pause shifts your reactions to an increasingly uncertain world to responses.

Vanessa F. Hurst, ms, is an Intuitive, Coach, Catalyst, who uses mindfulness practices and intuition tools to create strategies for personal and relationship transformation. She is a professional speaker & author who weaves inner wisdom into all she touches. Her books are available @ www.wildefyrpress.com. Contact Vanessa  (vanessa@intentandaction.com) for life coaching, intuitive consultations, keynotes, and programs.

Website / LinkedIn Profile / Facebook / 

Twitter: @fyrserpent / ©2020