Sometimes when I am feeling detached from the NOW I go barefoot in nature. Today I went out to play with mother nature in the yard. I trimmed some plants, pulled some weeds, watered ~ and most importantly I walked barefoot in the grass.
One way to gently tug yourself out of the past and draw yourself out of the future - in order to bring yourself to a state of current consciousness and awareness, is to FEEL your way into the NOW.
Just as focusing on thoughts can indeed bring us present, just as thoughts can easily take us away to the past or future pulling us mentally away from what is into what was or what could be.
When my mind is racing and that feeling of anxiety is creeping in, I know I need to escape my racing thoughts for awhile and quiet my mind. I find a great way to bring myself into the NOW is to get grounded in nature. One of the ways I do this is to go barefoot, literally body to ground.
Today I took my shoes off and started feeling my way through the yard. I felt the softness of the carpet transition to the coolness of the hard concrete porch in the shade, which then became warmness of the rougher concrete that had been warmed by the sun. As I walked down the sidewalk I felt the delicate prickles of little leaves that had fallen from the tree.
I paid attention to every step and felt the world around me through my feet...
Soon I was walking on the grass, I could feel crunchy spots and dry soil, the grass was telling me it needed water there. I could feel soft spots with damp soil, the grass was happy. While trimming some flowers I gently stepped into a mass of baby tears, such tiny and delicate leaves, absorbing the impression of my foot, and bouncing back when I stepped away.
While Dead Heading my mop-head hydrangea blooms, carefully to ensure an abundant bloom next spring I was noticing the colors of the flowers. Fresh new flowers starting white to light purple. Larger flowers lighter purple to a deeper purple. Older flowers fading from purple to lavender to pink.
Smiling and feeling garden bliss, I started to become aware of the sounds around me. While feeling the grass between my toes, I also heard the buzzing of bees, I watched their dangling legs as they danced in and out of flower blossoms, admiring their tiny, fuzzy striped bodies. I heard the rustling of lizards sneaking through the underbrush and even saw a tiny baby lizard, I wondered how tiny the egg was he hatched out of. Then very loudly a humming in my ear, I froze and looked to see a hummingbird pause and look at me as if saying "yes, you are NOW, enjoy!" The little fairy bird zipped up into a tree and silently sat.
In this very moment my mind was absolutely silent...
I was totally in the NOW. No other thoughts were in my head, I just felt bliss and happiness. I was not 'thinking' and that is what being, that is what be-ing, in the NOW is all about.
The Universe Says : "If you are not in the NOW, you may achieve NOW-ness by getting barefoot in the grass. Walk silently and feel the sensations of nature, envelope the sounds, smells and feelings around you until your mind is silent. Enjoy the bliss. Feel the NOW"
Speaking of the Universe
