Fix The Past By Living In The Moment Like Horses Do

Thanks to my good friend, Marilyn
for allowing me to use her picture

All to often in our life, we get stuck in all the experiences we have been through in our life. For some people, there is much more to get stuck in than others, but if we stay in the past, we will rob ourselves of the future.  Just like Buck Brannaman said in the movie, Buck, "Horses live in the moment, now there may be some things from their past that give you some trouble in the moment, but you have to fix it going forward, not backward."

Of course, this does not mean that we should not look at our past and unearth the stones that are on our path.  It does not mean, you don't have to heal those old wounds and find the root of what happened.  It does not mean that you have to do any of these things as well by staying stuck in the past.

When you live in the moment, you use the experiences of your past to move yourself forward.  You learn to embrace these things as a way of becoming more authentic.  You learn to use these horrible experiences as a way to discover who you are and become more conscious about your life's role in the universe.

Play Hard And Rest

Every time I start experiencing stressful moments in life where I feel like I've got more to complete in a day than is possible to accomplish, I'm reminded by my cats to play hard and rest. Watching them as they play hard one minute and then they are sprawled out on the floor resting the next is a vivid example that we as humans should consider following.

Ever since we got our two kittens from the cat rescue organization, Candy's Cats, these two have played hard together. They are brother and sister which really does help. We do encourage the playfulness with them and spend much time playing with them as well. We have done this since they were kittens. When they want us to play, we stop and play.

Never does a day go by that they are not running, chasing, pouncing and playing hard with each other. It is fun to watch and sometimes it feels like a herd of tornadoes running through the house. However, if you watch them, they will go at it strong for several minutes and then all of the sudden they get quiet. The next thing they do is lay on their back sprawled out as if nothing is going on. They might actually go from playing hard to cleaning and grooming themselves but most of the time, it is complete rest after a moment of playing hard with each other.

As kids, we most likely did this same thing where we played hard and then we came inside for a rest. It wasn't something we thought about or knew we needed to do these things. It just happened because we were being kids. It was all in the moment living much like our cats live.

As adults, we tend to lose the ways of being a kid. Yes, I know there are responsibilities and jobs and family to take care of in our lives. Often these responsibilities take away from our time to play or relax or just enjoy life. It is all too easy to get caught up in a million activities or causes which may be noble and justified but sometimes they can rob us of our playtime in life.

Playtime is one of the most important things we can do for ourselves. By playtime, I mean finding things that you enjoy doing from crafts or walks in the wood to spending time out in the sun having fun. These are things in life which are just pure enjoyment to you and there is no work or worry or other stress that you need to connect with when you are having play time. If you are not sure what playtime really is, just connect back to when you were a child. What did you do as a child to have fun? What do you enjoy doing now?

Learn to play hard and then after you have played hard, take some time to just rest and live in the moment of now. There should be no expectations of how long this should go or any other thing that may be on your mind. Just be in the moment like cats are where nothing else matters for them. Resting gives you the connection of pushing yourself into enjoyment and fun, then allowing yourself to drop down and connect to the greatest parts within yourself. Observe how your body feels during the rest time and see if there is any change in muscle tension or pains. Most likely, you will notice a sense of relief and less pain.

One of the best ways to release stress is by pushing your nervous system up and then letting it drop down. Taking time to clean out those closets in your body where stress is hiding gives way for you to allow yourself relaxation and a deeper peace. Playing hard helps push your nervous system up, if you really allow yourself to just let loose and have fun. Then by taking time to rest afterward, you are allowing yourself to connect to the deeper peace and relaxation that your body needs. Through the connection between these two things, you will have released much stress in your body and your life.

I'm sure we all know what it means to play hard but some of us may have forgotten to allow ourselves to do this. That is perfectly okay because what you do in today's moment is totally up to you. You can go out and spend some time today playing and having fun, enjoy life to the fullest! You can be creative in how you do that and maybe step outside of your comfort zone, giving yourself permission to just let loose!

If you are not spending regular time playing in life, I urge you to give this a try. Step out of your comfort zone and see what happens. Even if you are extremely busy, an afternoon of playing hard, then resting will most likely give you more focus, clarity, and energy for your day. You may be surprised at just how much more productive you are.

Our bodies are not meant to be pushed constantly or to their limits without a way to release the stress and build up of emotions. Our nervous systems are resilient but the more stress and past trauma we hold against within our body, the less resilient they are. When we overwhelm our bodies in this way, they react through physical messages that try to get our attention so that we can reverse course and become aware of our connection between our mind, body and spirit.

To live in the moment, is one of the greatest gifts of awareness that we can give ourselves. To be mindful in our day will return many rewards back to us. We really are the masters of our health and well being. Through playing hard and resting, we give ourselves the chance to stop, connect and discover a little more about ourselves. It truly does a body good!

(Above Picture taken of Corey And Topanga (our Kittens) - (c) 10/03/10)

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Mindful Of Our Moments

Just as the sky and weather change from one minute to the next, so do our days. We should be mindful of this, so we don't miss one moment.

Look For Change

Sometimes the slightest change we make in our life can open the doors to a new experience. We all wonder at times in our life how we get from point A to point B. It may seem overwhelming and we may say it is too much.

Through confusion and fear, we hunker down in the despair of the moment. Our day looks dark and we are convinced there is no end in sight. Surely this is not what life is about we tell ourselves. Yet, we fail to see just that one small change or one more step may completely show us a different view.

Have you ever been walking along a trail in the woods? As you take step after step, you may see the terrain change. The view may go from a covered one to something that gives your eyes a totally different lookout point. And all it takes is that one step into the next step, changing where you are on your path.

What about how the view changes as the sun rises in the day. It often changes by the minute. Shadows that were once at a point which cast a certain shape are gone in the next. The thing that changed was going from one minute to the next minute. Each minute went by without notice but together they bought about change from the morning sunrise.

Even when things seem so confusing in life that it doesn't appear there is a way forward, look for a slight change. What is possible and real that you could change in this moment? It doesn't have to be big or great, just one simple change. Maybe it could be as simple as thinking a new thought, repeating a small phrase or allowing your body to feel something new. It could be that for the first time you allow your body to connect with an emotion that you often avoid. It could be deciding that you are going to follow your heart and intuition even if the path ahead was unclear.

As I have said many times before, we all have much more power than we realize. Yes, sometimes life beats us down and convinces us otherwise. We can and we do choose how we think about things for our day. While there are times that we need to find our way through the forest, we don't have to remain there. We will find our way to the other side of the woods.

It all boils down to allowing ourselves the moment to be in life where we need to be. When we do this, we connect with our minds and our bodies to all that is possible for our lives. Being in the moment will lead us to that simple change we long for in life. We need not stress about finding it, as all we need for our lives is located within us.

May we learn to allow that which we seek to come into our life. May we notice it when it shows up. Let us find the courage and strength to be patient for its arrival. At that moment, we will realize that one simple change gave the spark we needed to find what we were looking for in life.

(Above Picture taken by Don Shetterly: Morning Sunrise in the Yard - (c) 08/21/10)



*Read other articles on Mind Body Thoughts Blog

Cats Live In The Moment

Have you ever noticed how a cat lives in the moment? They don’t necessarily worry about where they are going to find food tomorrow or the next day or what activities they will do. There are no long term planned out goals and no events they have to attend. There aren’t made up to do lists and deadlines. They just live in the moment.

While we as humans maybe cannot live our lives completely as if a cat does, there are many things we can do to live in the moment. Often as humans, we put so many demands upon ourselves and we create more work and stress for ourselves than in all reality is needed. Consider for a moment everything you do in a day. What is the purpose of it? Is it all necessary? Yes, there is the shopping, the taking care of a family, performing your career duties and interacting with friends. That is all true.

However, again I ask, is it all necessary? And if it is, could there be another way to do things? What about a way with more ease, simplicity and focus? What if you stopped for a moment and considered all you had to do, letting the full breadth of your creativity and analytical abilities ponder what was before you? Perhaps, this would be a better way to make it through your day.

We often react to situations as they come at us and in those moments, the stress and tension is higher than if we were in a relaxed state. What if we just paused for a moment and looked at the situation? Where might that get us? I would suggest that the outcome of taking a pause in the moment would get us further than just reacting to what was going on and trying to solve the situation immediately. Sure, there are times, when time is of the essence and so as we think about this, let us keep that in perspective.

As I go back to watching a cat, I see just how they live in the moment. When they feel like eating, they eat. When they want to play, they play. When they want to sleep, they sleep. It is purely in the moment. They are for the most part, tuned into what their body needs. While we as humans cannot live like cats do, we can take pauses in our own life and focus on living in the moment every chance we get. We could experience life from living in the moment if we allowed ourselves to do this.

Living in the moment can come in all forms no matter how busy you are in a day. There can be the step outside the office door for two minutes, to take a deep breath of fresh air and allow yourself to feel it as it fills every cell of your body. There can be the 30 seconds sitting at your desk just allowing yourself to focus on your breathing and feel how all of it fills every sense of your being. Maybe a stand up and stretch during your day in a busy office can allow you to connect with that body you live in all 24 hours of the day. Of course these are just examples in a busy day for you to stop, pause and enjoy a moment of living in life.

For me, I try to mix in my day many different ways of pausing. To each person, the many possibilities will be different from person to person. I can be at home with myself as I’m working in a garden, feeling every grain of soil as I connect with the earth which to me is a source of strength and grounding. As the sun warms my body, I can feel revived again throughout every functioning cell of my body. It may be just a stroll down the street in the evening air or a ride through the country. It might be stopping at listening or observing the birds flying around me or seeing the ripples through the trees and lake of my favorite local park. Sometimes it is sitting by the window with my cat in my arms observing the wind moving the trees through the air without effort. It could even be a simple moment listening to some beautiful music that takes my mind away from the busy moments in my day. There are so many examples that I could give and I’m sure in your own life, you will be able to find those simple things. Treat it as a treasure hunt and see all of the great gifts we have waiting just waiting for us to accept them.

I remember when I was going to massage school at Educating Hands and working full time. School was 3 nights a week plus often one of the weekend days and work was at least 8 hours a day. Between school and studying along with daily life activities, there was not much time left for anything else. One of the things I did was to take Yoga on Saturday mornings. Sure, it took a couple of hours or so by the time I traveled there and took the yoga class. Often I would wonder if I was making good use of my time until the class was over and I would see the benefits. Yoga would give me a time of just stopping, clearing my mind and connecting with my body. The rest of the day, I would be much more productive than I would have been if I had not gone to yoga. Just stopping and taking a pause offers us so much. Indeed it offers us life!

I hope you will join me in finding pauses and moments of stillness in our days. Whether it is something elaborate or something very simple, may we all find a way to stop, clear our mind and just connect to the bodies we inhabit 24 hours a day. For if we all do this, we will have given our days, our bodies and our lives so much life!