A bit about Presence and Setting the Magical Mood for the Week

Sometimes Monday's can be a drag. Especially when those said Monday's mean heading back for another fun filled week at work.  Wait...did I just say fun filled? (Know that sarcasm was used in the formulation of those words in my head) 

I don't know about you, but many Monday's make me feel sick to my stomach, or at least they did.  I would almost ruin my entire weekend worrying about how quickly Monday was going to return.  Sunday nights would be filled with:

• anxiety
• false fears finagled and projected into the near future
• sometimes stress eating (think brownie sundaes)
• occasionally a pair of red, watery, tear stained eyes

My pity parties were getting out of hand.  This was my life and crying about the current  predictable patterns in it were certainly not creating any kind of real relief.

So how else was I suppose to get it? 
How else could I be free of these feelings without eating them down or drowning them out?

Here are a few practices I started to integrate into my life which have helped immensely.

The first practice I picked up was Presence: 
Being in the Now. Living in the Moment. Letting go to just be. 
Through Meditation and Living FULLY

These are all very popular phrases and practices surrounding the act of being present that I always thought sounded great but I always kind of felt annoyed by their vagueness. 

I mean, how exactly am I suppose to BE in the NOW?
I didn't realize I was holding on to anything, so What exactly should I be letting go of? 
Aren't these current moments considered to be me LIVING IN them...after all, I'm not dead...

I have since learned they appear vague and frustrating because the steps to being present or letting go to allow yourself to just be in the moment are as simple as they sound in a different kind of way than we are use to.  Also that there is no actual certain formula that works for everyone.

We are use to being given intricate formulas and steps with massive amounts of information that we need to learn in order to become somebody, do something, or even be validated as someone who knows what they are doing. So many of us were and are, consistently and continuously, taught things using such a rigorous regimen while the media persistently portrays to us all the things we need or should be doing to "be somebody who is desirable"; this has allowed us to create the subconscious thoughts that formulate the frazzled feelings and the idea that there are certain ways in which we are suppose to be living or should be acting, feeling, doing, etc.

Being present, living in the moment, and letting go requires us to drop all of that and to trust in our own deep rooted knowledge and acquired abilities to move through our day. It requires us to shush the voice that repetitively regurgitates the what if's, shoulds, and the false fears our minds have turned into torturous truths.

Being present is about focusing our awareness on what is going on in the only moment we truly have...right now. It's about releasing the poisoned perceptions picked up and projected into the insanely absurd formula for the probability of events that "could" unfold into our lives; especially the ones related to other peoples perspectives and judgements surrounding our own course of actions.

Being present is almost like a throwback to our younger days.  When we were learning with bright eyes, and open minds about all that surrounded us.  When we were innocent and naive to the negative nuances society was sneakily submerging into our consciousness.

We think we always need to be striving and moving forward; that we need to be always evolving into "better" forms of ourselves.  We need to remember though that life is a journey with no clear cut path; that sometimes backwards is actually forwards; that sometimes less is more.  We need to acknowledge what we feel within before we can process what we are getting from outside ourselves.  We need to allow room for ourselves to BE IN the Moment and to LET GO of all the SUPPOSED WAYS life is to be lived TO BE SUCCESSFUL.

The best way to do all of those, is to start practicing presence

When I started practicing presence(completely immersing myself into the moment at hand) my feelings of feared future moments were no longer relevant because there simply was not enough space for them to exist in.  Placing all of my awareness on what was before me, there was no part of me left to linger and lament on pieces of my life I wasn't head over heels in love with.  Practicing presence isn't, and wasn't for me, something that came all at once; it was something that took practice.  The more I practiced, the better I got, and the better I felt.

The second life rejuvenator for me has been: Intentioned Thoughts
Precisely and purposefully placing thoughts within oneself to help create a particular mindset or occurrence to develop itself into our reality

Some examples include: Affirmations, Positive Perception, Mantras, Creative Visualization
(I will include some more juicy details on these in an upcoming post)

Until then, I will leave you with a magical mood manifester for this Monday:

I am flowing freely through the whimsical wind that enters through my breath and makes it's way to the deep depths of my soul;
Through its journey to and from my soul, this rhythmic dancing air has been taught all the merry motions I am to surrender into.
For when I let go and allow the magical music of my heart to sway in time with the soul infused amorous air that has touched the very core of who I am and re-entered this reality...
I find that everything effortlessly envelops the space and flawlessly forms into all my heart desires and my soul had ever meant it to.