Friday Inspiration—Bringing Ease to Your Present Moment Experience
Our next Coming Home Together online gathering will take place on Wednesday, July 23, 9-10:30am Pacific. We’ll continue to explore trauma-based patterns: Wise Inquiry Into Emotions. Please click here for details and registration. All are warmly welcomed!
“Open your heart to who you are, right now,
Not who you would like to be.
Not the saint you’re striving to become.
But the being right here before you, inside you, around you.”
~John Welwood
If there’s one thing I wish you knew, it is this: it’s possible to bring ease to your present moment experience.
Sure, you can get caught up in fearful stories and go on in your mind about what should have happened but didn't. You can doubt yourself endlessly and analyze every little detail about you and everyone else.
You can judge, compare, and dramatize everything.
And this is what most of us call normal life.
But in any moment, we can shift our perspective. Yes, it’s possible!
We can take a breath…and a timeout from all the thinking;
We can watch thoughts floating through the space of open awareness rather than being drawn into their content;
We can experience life through the aliveness of our senses instead of through the veil of the thinking mind.
We can be caught up in stories…or be with things as they actually are with spaciousness and ease.
We're programmed to resist our experience. Without even realizing it, we're incredibly harsh with ourselves. Have you noticed? We tell ourselves:
You shouldn’t feel like that;
You failed again at finding peace;
You’ll never improve;
You’re worthless and unlovable;
You got stuck with a bad lot in life.
How can we possibly be at ease when we’re feeding thoughts like these?
My friend, Amy, woke up one lovely weekend morning with a strong feeling of agitation. She had a list of things to do, and this feeling was interfering. She tried to push through it in every way possible, only becoming more and more frustrated with herself.
She wasn’t at ease with her present moment experience, and it was stressful for her. Can you relate? I know I can.
What about shifting to a kinder way of being—a way that brings ease to our present moment experience?
Here are some possibilities:
You say, “Oh, hello feeling. Yes, this is what is here right now.” You stop the fight with your own experience;
You focus on the sensations of a conscious inhale and exhale. Why not try it right now?
You expand your attention beyond any thoughts and feelings to the space around them. You’re open like the sky rather than being trapped in clouds;
You invite yourself into being present with what’s here;
And you take action from a place of love and care—and not from fear, expectations, or obligations.
We don’t need to change or fix one single thing to be at ease with our present moment experience. We don’t need to create better thoughts or banish feelings.
We’re only asked to be kind and friendly with whatever we’re experiencing. And that simple shift changes everything.
With much love, 🧡
Gail
All are most welcome to join our next Coming Home Together online gathering on Wednesday, July 23 from 9-10:30am Pacific. We’ll explore Wise Inquiry Into Emotions. Please click here for details and registration.
Great article