Have you ever noticed how disconnected from your senses you are when you’re lost in thought?
When we wake up out of the dream-like state of thinking, in order to reacquaint ourselves with where we are and what’s going on, we need to quickly reconnect with what we can see or hear around us. Doing so brings us back into the reality of the present moment.
Our 5 senses are a portal back to the present moment. When we see, hear, feel, smell, taste, or touch something, we are experiencing it in the here and now.
Thinking is different. When we spend time thinking about something, we very often travel to another time and place. It’s a virtual reality of the mind. And you can sense the difference between this virtual reality and the present moment when you notice what your experience is like in each.
Thinking is not a bad thing to spend time doing. Far from it. There is a time for planning and reflecting and that time is very useful as we look to be more intentional with the way we live our lives.
As you may have noticed, though, our thoughts can very easily go from helpful tools for insight to sources of rumination or stories full of anticipated fear or harsh criticism towards ourselves or others.
Because it’s a slippery slope, it can be really helpful to have tools that can bring us out of the imaginary realm of thoughts and back into the present moment.
In The 1-on-1 Spiritual Habits Program, I offer my clients certain Spiritual Habits that they can use to apply spiritual principles to the moments of their daily lives to help them experience the transformational gifts they have to offer.
I’d like to offer one to you now – one that can help you come back to the present moment when you find yourself lost in thoughts that aren’t serving you very well.
This Spiritual Habit practices Grounding in Your Senses.
The trigger or prompt to practice this Spiritual Habit is any time you find yourself lost in thoughts that are causing you suffering.
When this happens, ask yourself, “What are 5 things I can see? What are 5 things I can hear? What are 5 sensations I can feel in my body?
When you answer these questions, you are back in the present moment. From here, you can determine what’s actually happening vs. what stories might have been playing out in your mind through your thoughts.
Remember, you are not your thoughts. You are the thinker of your thoughts and with some support and practice, you can begin to think and relate to your thoughts differently. As a result, the way you experience your life can radically change for the better.
If you’d like to go deeper to explore how working together might be helpful for you, click here to learn more about The 1-on-1 Spiritual Habits Program and for more about The Personal Transformation Program, click here.
I hope to talk with you soon,
Eric
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