Be Here Now.

Oh capitalism and the increasing glorification of being busy. There is always something vying for our attention isn’t there? A ding of a message, the light up of a screen, an email I forgot to send. Just like my phone which remains forever within reach, I’ve almost forgotten how to switch off.

But it’s in those moments that I catch myself. As I feel the adrenalin pulsing through my body from trying to do everything, and be everywhere, simultaneously. A self-confessed perfectionist caught up in the spider web of a fast paced world. All at once planning for the future while analysing the past.

Stop.

A breath. A deep one. A conscious unwinding of my body, relaxing into my shoulders (forever tense from said busy-ness), a roll of my neck and a sigh of relief. It’s all within my reach, if I just remember to stop. BE HERE NOW. A reminder from above.

Be still for a moment. Catch yourself. Remember that this moment right here is all that exists. Life is meant to be lived right? Not chased after, not a hamster wheel of lists and never-ending things to get done. Right now, this is what matters. The past cannot be changed and the future is unknown. Why try and control either of them? But right now, in this moment, I can stop time.

Sometimes I stop time just to breathe. A big belly filling breath and an audible exhale releasing the knot in my stomach that I didn’t even know was there. I close my eyes. I focus on each in and out, one by one stilling my mind, my body, my soul. One by one reminding me that all that really matters is the here and now, is happiness and health and the present.

Sometimes I stop time for movement; a dance, a song, a yoga flow or a walk. No thoughts, no self judgements, no self-consciousness, no wandering mind. Caught up in a beat or the lyrics of a song and shaking my body out of it’s rigid slumber. Leaning in to myself, awakening my primal body, the nuances of each little muscle lit up, feeling into the physicality of my being. A moment in time just for me.

Sometimes I stop time for art, for creating something beautiful; a laugh, a cry, a home-cooked meal, a painting, a poem. No intention or plan, just a flow from my consciousness. It pours out of me, useless to try and hold it back. A pure creation of love, of joy, of exasperation or of relief, something straight from my heart liberated into the world. A release of something heavy, to once again make me feel that lightness.

The lightness of just being. Existing, living, just being me again. The me that I forget exists, that I squash down with my lists, that I ignore when I’m low, the me that needs the nurturing, from that moment and that pause. The stillness of the world as I stop time just for me. To let go of the whizz of my mind. The thoughts that throttle, the noises and lights that grab.

And when I remember, to be here now, and I stop time for the moment to embrace the present, a funny thing occurs. Everything is easier, perspective is put back in place and I realise that there is nothing to rush for. There is nothing to worry about. Everything always works out in the end, so while hold on to the pressure of thinking that it might not. Why try and be in control of something we ultimately have very little control over. Release, flow, trust; just be.