Sense the Presence
Post written by Rachel Arnot Rockwell
It’s May! The weather is shifting. The cool mornings yield warm days ending with cool evenings, infusing many of us with an energized excitement for the activities ahead. But, May is sneaky. We often have so many activities in May that it is hard to slow down enough to enjoy them. Don’t let May turn into June without noticing!
The past couple of weeks you may have tried some of the activities and noticed a sense of comfort and connection through the creative process. Noticing any emotions means you are present in what you are doing. Without knowing it, you have been practicing presence through the creative process. When life gets busy and you’re moving from one activity to the next without enough time to breathe, we usually use up a lot of energy worrying about what’s coming next or what we just did. When we focus on what we are doing NOW, our energy can last much longer. Having some tricks to reinstate your sense of presence is very helpful. You will appreciate the awareness you bring into your day to day when you find yourself able to laugh more, play more, and be in the moment even when your schedule is very demanding.
Bring on the May flowers! Staying present during these busy days will help you and those around you bloom with excitement and energy that can last all month long.
Resources:
TRY THIS: Color Meditation – Color Meditation
Before you head out for a busy day, pick a color in your mind. Close your eyes and take three deep breaths as you focus only on this color. As you go through your day notice those moments when you are overwhelmed, about to transition, getting tired, or getting snappy- at those moments, look around the room. Can you find the color anywhere? If so, stare at it and take one or two deep breaths to help you refocus. If you can’t find the color, just close your eyes and take a deep breath with the color in your mind. When you return to your activity, assess whether this quick shift to focusing on a color, on something abstract, helped you maintain your focus on the activity you are doing with a greater sense of presence.
TRY THIS: Color Meditation – May Flowers
Find a collection of crayons, markers, colored pencils. Close your eyes and pick three colors at random. Set the others aside and place the three colors on top of a blank sheet of paper. Set a timer for one, two or three minutes. Close your eyes and breathe in and out slowly, completely inhale and completely exhale over and over again for the allotted time keeping your focus on the three colors you randomly chose at the beginning of the exercise. When the timer goes off, begin drawing flowers using only the colors you chose for your meditation.
