While I was videotaping this vlog in my garden this afternoon, eight squirrels crossed my path, jaws bulging with nuts. One after another, they stopped to sit up on their haunches, and look at me inquisitively, as if to ask “why aren’t you taking care of the business of storing energy for the winter ahead?” Each little animal gifted me with eye contact, a moment of presence. I found myself slowing down, sometimes with a burst of laughter, and always with a sense that these interactions were a precious teaching. Then I would start my video over again.
These moments of what Eckart Tolle calls the Power of Now, of being present with “what is,” feel incredibly valuable to me. So often people tell me they feel so overwhelmed by their lives, whether from an overabundance of “to-do’s” or from a sense of exhaustion, that they feel like life is passing them by. I have certainly experienced both sides of that equation. Either way, the experience is stressful and certainly not an optimal way to live.
I believe that anytime you are able to relax your attention, focus on your breath, lengthen your spine, and take a moment to slow down enough to become present, you are entering a “qigong” state of being that has the capacity of transforming stuck energy into a flow that can serve you much better.
What are some of the ways you reclaim your birthright of being a “baby Buddha”?
Vicki Dello Joio, founder of The Way of Joy: A Spiritual Fitness program, is a teacher, speaker and performing artist. Integrating over 40 years of Chi Kung practice with other martial arts as well as her work in Yoga, Feldenkreis, physical fitness and theater, Vicki has developed a dynamic set of tools to increase awareness, transform obstacles into opportunities and enhance creative potential. Book: The Way of Joy: An Evolutionary Process to Awaken Inspiration, Focus Intention and Manifest Fulfillment, CD: Short Meditations for a Busy Life.