During one of my recent battles with anxiety, the same healing idea was echoed collectively through EMDR therapy sessions, a church sermon, and again with Renewal Day session leader Tabatha Marden.
Every source pointed back to the same solution… find the present moment.
It’s so much easier said than done, especially if you have a busy or anxious brain!
So how do we find the moment?
At therapy, I was given a list of sensory activities to “play.” When we play we are in the here and now! One look at our kids in play and we know that’s true. We forget how to play as adults, so I was given homework to play outside with my kids, feeling the grass, sensing the wind on my skin, smelling the plants, and getting dirty!
The church sermon taught me that looking back is the root of depression, and looking ahead was the root of anxiety… but looking around was the root of peace. When I would catch my mind drifting to hard parts of my past or worries about the future, I would physically, “look around” and literally count my blessings.
Then I met the beautiful Tabatha who is leading one of our mind breakout sessions at Renewal Day, and she taught me (and the rest of the New Girls group) a simple way to be mindful in the present moment. All you have to do is check in on each of your senses intentionally by naming…
5 things you see
4 things you feel
3 things you hear
2 things you smell
1 thing you taste
This is an especially great way to ease your fight-or-flight response to difficult situations.
So how do we stay in the moment?
Practice.
Keep brining yourself back the present, by DOING instead of thinking.
Maybe one of the ideas above really resonated with you… start with that!
Life Practice
- Notice where most of your thoughts live… are they in the past or the future?
- Bring yourself to the present through action. Instead of thinking about something, fully experience life through action by doing any of the ideas listed above or creating your own healing experience.
All we have is now and I’m SO here for it! Are you?
