Morning Tea: How do you want to spend the last year of your life?

I notice it’s easy to get stuck in mental loops. In the head that is. Going round and round I find it easy to get on a track of thinking the same thing. What if this? What if that? How am I going to do this, or that, and will this be enough. The thinking gets on a deeper and deeper groove, going faster and faster until...I realize I’m just stuck. There’s no escape, down and down it goes. Until…

I remember to get out of the head. Especially in this Covid-era I find it easy to live in the head. Reading. Writing. Watching. Talking. Reading. Talking. Watching. Watching. Talking. Thinking. On and on in it goes all in the head. And yet, we are so much more than heads. Our head is the controller, generally, but is not the majority of our essence. And yet we are so much more than a head. We are a heart. A body. And so when I’m able to remember to get into my body, I find it an outstanding medicine that supports me and everyone I am in contact with, in person and virtually. 

How to get into the body and out of the head? Our body is a physical thing, and to focus on the senses of the body is the first step. The tools are there at our fingertips, nose, mouth, and eyes if only we remember to use them. 

To get out of the head and into the body, don’t move, just inhale through the nose, and notice.

What do you smell? Notice the very first thing that comes to mind. Just name it. Sit with it. Feel that smell. And then look for another smell. Just one more smell. Don’t move. Don’t adjust. Don’t flinch. Just notice a second smell and label it. Sit with that smell. Feel that smell. Don’t judge it. Don’t attach to it. There is something there so look for it. Is it your partners’s burning toast? Is it the smell of your clean, or sweaty shirt? Is it the smell of toothpaste? Of green tea? Of black coffee? Of old books or a laptop keyboard? What do you smell?

Let the nose be your guide. 

Search for 3 more smells. Close your eyes and look for a smell. Feel it enter your nostrils, extend up into your nasal cavity, and into your olfactory epithelium. That’s the place where the smell meets your brain enabling you to actually identify it. Notice the temperature of the inhalation. Is it cool, or warm? How does the moving air feel? Is it moist? Is it dry? 

Notice the sensation of the air moving through your nose.

You are now in your body.

What happens when we embody the body? We get into this precise moment. We become fully present of the here and now and we are less agitated, nicer, more patient, and better decision makers. When we are present we can assess the current reality, and without fear or anxiety we can move forward with more peace and efficacy. And it’s a practice. Never done, always improving. So give it a try.

What do you smell now?