The subtle art of arriving.
Did you spend your yesterday on the go or did you enjoy moments of arrival during your day-long journey? Before you read any further ARRIVE in this moment and allow your mind to truly understand what you’re reading. Now, read on :)
Every single day offers us countless possibilities to arrive. You don’t need to wait until bedtime to enjoy the relieving feeling of arriving. Laying on your bed after a busy day feels quite blissful but taking short pauses during the day to enjoy the moment allows you to travel through your day without ending up exhausted in your bed in the evening. I even dare to claim that you will remember your day much better when you have taken conscious breaks to acknowledge the present moment because those breaks give your mind a chance to be freed from that constant chaos of your mental activity. Your mind can recharge. And, you will not only remember your day better but you will go to bed feeling more content and satisfied with your day because you’ve had moments of peace, calmness, and focus.
So what is this ‘arriving’ all about? Arriving means ‘I am here’. I have physically and mentally arrived in a certain place or situation. My body, my mind, my senses, and my awareness are in the present moment. What happened before I got here doesn’t pull me back into the past and what should or will happen afterward doesn’t draw me into the future. I am fully present, free of the past and future distractions. I am in the now.
Too often we let those small important moments slip through our fingers just because we are too restless to be still and observe the beauty of the present moment. Oftentimes we live our daily life constantly running physically and mentally from one place or thought to another. Everything else except the present moment seems to be more important even tho past cannot be changed and the future cannot be predicted. What truly matters is the now, what is happening in the now, and how you feel right now. Here’s one example from my own life:
I have made a conscious decision to be fully present when my kids return from school. Instead of playing with my phone, cooking, cleaning, or working I stop whatever I was doing and dedicate my full attention to them for a moment because I really care about how their day at school went. If I continue cleaning or working I will remember that moment as a stressful one because I felt interrupted from what I was doing. If I decide to stop whatever I was doing and for five minutes fully listen to what my kids have to say I will remember that moment being peaceful and pleasant.
Here are a few examples of when to take a mindful moment:
When you wake up in the morning allow yourself to arrive at the new day before jumping off the bed and starting your daily activities. Check-in with yourself before allowing outer input to flow into your mind.
When it’s time for lunch arrive at the table and enjoy the moment of nurturing yourself through healthy food without using devices to distract yourself from what matters at that moment = enjoying food
When the workday is over take a minute to separate work from free time. Mentally depart from work and arrive at me-time.
When you sit on your yoga mat leave your day behind and fully connect with your mind, body, breath, and heart. Arrive.
When the day comes to an end arrive for the last time before closing your eyes and entering into the dreamland. In the morning start the cycle again.
It’s the journey that matters, not the destination.
If you’re always on the go you’ll never be able to live in the moment. In the end, it’s the mindful moments that will define the outcome of your journey and the meaningfulness of your destination.
Do you take moments to arrive during your day? Any specific moments when you usually stop and pause to arrive? Share in the comments
