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Taking Time – An Attitude of Gratitude

Congratulations! If you’re reading this article, you still have a computer, you’re not begging on the street, and you’ll most likely eat at least one meal today. Somehow, despite Bernard Madoff, Goldman Sachs, Washington Mutual, AIG, all the doom and gloom, all the betrayals and disappointments, we are still checking email, still wearing clothes, and still able to greet the morning sun. However, we still sometimes succumb to the feeling that we don’t have enough, that we will never catch up, that the rat race has gotten faster and the rats are winning.

In those moments when there seems to be no time and everything is overwhelming, I would like to offer a paradoxical suggestion: take a moment to do nothing. There seems to be no time when I’m running into the future. When I am in the present moment, time does not exist. Many people struggle with the idea of ​​”doing nothing.” It seems against everything the United States stands for. But as someone recently pointed out to me, they don’t call us human “doings,” they call us human “beings.”

There is a Zen saying: “Don’t just do something, sit there!” However, if just sitting there gives you the creeps, here’s a short exploration that can help you remember to be grateful for the present moment.

Sit comfortably in a chair and slowly bring your palms together in front of your chest. Barely touch them and then slowly pull them apart a few times. Feel how sensitive your fingers become. Now bring them together so that everything has solid contact. Start raising your hands, still palm to palm, toward the ceiling and back down in front of your chest. Notice your breath. Where do your eyes go? Your head? Repeat this several times, taking in any information that comes up. Then rest.

Once again, bring your palms together. This time, as she raises her hands and arms, raise her head and eyes. When her hands return, bring her head and eyes back to the neutral position. Does this feel different? Is this what you were doing before? What do you feel on your face? In your belly? Rest.

After resting, try the same thing, but this time, each time you raise your hands, lower your head and eyes.. Feel what happens to your back. Is there an image that comes to mind? Rest again.

If you wish, you can repeat this, alternating the direction of your head. Allow yourself to exhale each time you raise your arms. Feel how this movement of the arms connects with your back and chest.

Whenever you feel insecure or lacking, take a moment to pause with your hands in front of your chest. When you’re about to go to a meeting, need to make that call, be afraid that it’s inappropriate, take a moment. When things get too pressing, or you’re short on time, put your hands together and do some of these movements, feeling your breath. You can do it completely or use very small movements; it is not the size of the move that counts, but the attention given to the move. As the movement centers you, perhaps gratitude will replace the feeling of lack that inhibits your possibility.

If you enjoyed this exploration of movement, you may want to learn more about awareness through movement. These lessons were developed by Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais after forty years of research on movement and learning.

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