Live in the Moment

Now that the love fest of Valentine’s Day has come and gone, let’s chat about how to keep some of that sparkle alive.

Consider what it is like when you go on vacation. We are literally transported to another place, with none of our usual entrapments. No, work, no mail, no bills, no responsibilities. With all of that set aside, we are able to feel the aliveness of our surroundings and the moment.

Focus and Engage
We attempt to do this in a small way on Valentine’s Day. We set aside distraction in order to be present with each other. We turn toward each other and focus and engage in an accessible and responsive way.
So how do we land back in our lives, when the night is over, and stay in the goodness that comes from living in the moment?

Create a New Normal
Well, it does take a little effort, but that’s all it takes, nothing additional needed. We have all we need within us already.

When you consider that most of what causes us tension and stress is actually set in the past or the future, we can appreciate the carefree goodness of the present. Additionally, as we come to understand that we are not our thoughts nor our feelings, but instead the self that sees our thoughts and feelings, we gain freedom and access to this true self and the moment.

It is with this awareness and by making this choice to shift that we create change. And then, by making this choice over and over again, we create our new normal.

Here are the steps with which to create this change.

1. Pause & step back from the thoughts & feelings you are immersed in.
2. Notice and take in your surroundings without judgement.
3. Be curious about your thoughts and feelings from your loving self.
4. Decide, by asking yourself, if these feelings and thoughts serve you. Do they offer the state of being you want to inhabit? If not, who do you want to be in this moment? How do you want to show up?
5. Experiment with what state is preferred. 
6. Shift to allow the feeling of the desired state in.

Michele Greco, CPC
Director, Portland Coaching Collective

Tip of the Month: Taking Stock in Your Resources 

Our resources can be very powerful tools and helpful in reconnecting us to the moment. Resources can be activities, relationships, or beliefs, to name a few. They are anything at all that help you to feel like yourself.
 
My resources include things like a walk in the park, sitting on the coach with my dog, and wearing my favorite soft hat.
 
Check in with yourself about what your resources may be, then draw upon them when a moment of needing to shift shows up. Insert a resource right at the point where you need a little help and allow the energy of that resource do some shifting. Sometimes just thinking of the resource alone can help you to shift.