Here. Here. Here.

Thank you for your well wishes on our NYC apartment hunt last week. We found some options and are hoping to wrap up paperwork in the next few days. We now have a whole new level of education and a great team helping us. Thank you to those who sent me your contacts in the city, I love having an ever expanding network of good humans so we can all help each other navigate life. 

In the stress of the week, I have been using a practice to return to the present moment that I want to share with you today. 

When my mind would be running miles ahead with what-ifs, I would gently pull myself back with the words: here here here.

It is so strange how returning to the present moment actually gives me an instant sense of relief. A literal wave of calm comes when I do this practice earnestly. It feels like the burdens lift and I can slide back into the moment that is right here right now. 

There is an old saying in psychology that anxiety is an obsession with the future and depression is an obsession with the past.

It isn’t a fair generalization, but it does help us recognize our human tendency to live most of our lives in the past or the future. 

Notice your thoughts throughout the day today, consider if it is a thought about the future or the past. Most of our thoughts are about something that has already occurred or fear of what might occur.  

Last week, I noticed my anxiety rising so I doubled down on this present moment practice and could feel more than ever how helpful it was. 

Many spiritual traditions have recognized this for centuries.

Jesus said, "Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself."

Buddhist teachers teach that suffering often grows when we cling to how life should be instead of opening ourselves to how it is.

The Jewish practice of kavanah calls us to bring our full attention to this moment.

Thich Nhat Hanh often encouraged people to return to their breathing because "the present moment is the only moment available to us."

In The Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle said, "Wherever you are, be there totally."

Different traditions. The same invitation. Be here. 

Next time you notice your thoughts of future worries or past regrets, quietly say to yourself:

Here.

Then again.

Here.

And once more.

Here.

The first here calls our attention back to our body. The second here reminds us of what's actually true in this moment. The third here invites us to be fully present.

The problem may still exist. The uncertainty hasn't disappeared. But for one small moment, we feel the relief of returning to the present. And what we will remember when we do this, is that this moment right here is pretty great, but we might have missed it by thinking too far ahead. 

Try it for yourself and see if you feel the wave of relief from realizing right here right now, in this moment, we are okay. 

I’m glad I’m here with you,