Be Here

 Happy Monday! I hope you are all doing well. Chris and I were out of town this weekend and got home last night so this newsletter is a little late this morning. I am giving myself grace for that because I really tried to deploy my practice (and my message for my students last week) while I was away. It is both simple and impossible; to BE HERE. 

I was finding in my own mind over the last couple of weeks a slip back to the loud and distracting whirring of an internal fan; a constant blowing of thoughts that were not serving me and were taking me away from the present moment.

When that happens, I often come back to a very simple mantra for myself, BE HERE. The repetition paired with the breath– inhale BE, exhale HERE helps me turn the fan speed down and find the present moment. 

So that is what I offered to students to practice on the mat (and hopefully off as well). When we add the body into the equation it can be easier to practice the mantra. A movement, a breath and a word at the same time keeps our brain “busy enough” to stay focused. The more practice the brain gets, the better it becomes at staying in the moment even without the help of the body or breath; the simple but impossible task of BEING HERE. 

And, I can say with confidence that we do get better at BEING HERE with practice and practice is exactly what I did this weekend. I stayed in the moment and enjoyed the amazing gifts of New Orleans; the food, the architecture, the music, the old friends, family and memories as well. I soaked in all of it with a simple mantra; BE HERE.