I’ve been noticing lately that the story I’ve been telling myself and others is one of eagerness to move forward. I want to start learning points and needling, I want to get more hands on experience, to be able to help people heal with Chinese Medicine. Eagerness is great, however the impatient aspect of eagerness can be less good, it can lead to frustration and disinterest in the present.

So I’m practicing a few exercises to continuously bring myself back to the present. I’m using my breath, my senses, and my posture. Throughout the day, I’ll have moment where I catch myself slouching, or holding my shoulders up, and I’ll sit up strait and relax my shoulders. Other times, I realize that I’m so wrapped up in my thoughts (I have a tendency to be up in my head), so I bring my attention down lower in my body, my pelvis and legs, and I breath down into my belly and let myself focus on my breath for a bit. One of my favorite practices is sending my attention to my senses. Once again, I notice all of attention and awareness focused on my thoughts or internal feelings, so I bring my attention outward to my skin, ears, eyes, and nose. It always amazes me how much is going on around me, how beautiful the people and sounds and colors can be, if I only remember to take the moments and appreciate them.

These exercises are particularly appropriate for the Fall. The Fall is associate with the Metal phase (or element) (I plan to discuss the 5 phases/elements and how they fit into Chinese Medicine in the near future), which is related to the Lungs and to our superficial and sensual experience of the world. The Lungs, which are our barrier with the outside world (we breath the outside in) are also responsible for and reflected in the skin and it’s health (many skin ailments are connected to the Lungs which is why often diseases like asthma and eczema go together).

Bringing awareness to the surface of our body, our sensation the outside world, and/or focusing on our breath is a good way to balance where our energy is directed (in our modern world we tend to spend a lot of time in our heads, and not as much time in our bodies).

My hope is that these exercise will help bring me back to appreciating the present. If’ I’m using my energy to appreciate the present I won’t have any time or energy to be impatient. I may still be eager to continue to learn and grow my knowledge and skill-base, but I’ll also be enjoying where I am.

Thoughts? Comments? Try it, let me know if it helps…