living in the present

Come home

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When you feel distraught, take a moment, bring your awareness to your heart and breathe. Let your breath soothe you.

When you feel unsettled, ground yourself by walking barefoot on the Earth, or hugging a tree and come home to nature. Let the sights and sounds, the smells of nature calm you.

When you feel ungrounded, come home to your roots. Plug yourself into Earth energy by hugging a tree or imagining your energetic roots sinking deeply into the Earth.

When you feel exhausted, rest awhile and come home to your inner spirit, the part of you that never tires, that lasts forever, that will never lead you wrong.

When you are worried or anxious, come home to this present moment of your life. Release regrets for the past and worries for the future for several beats of your heart and feel the peace as you breathe in and out.

Come home to your heart and body, to the present moment. In this way, you will live a true and authentic life.

More about living in the present

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Please do not cling to the past with all its delights and pleasures. Remember them fondly. Your job is to create new delights and pleasures in your now and be fully present as they unfold.

Step into your now! This is where your power lies!

Painted Lady butterfly on zinnia

You have come this far in life, balancing on the knife edge of each moment as it comes, lasts, passes into the next and the next.

Remember this: Worry keeps you distracted from your present. Fear of the future keeps you powerless to make needed changes to your life. Guilt keeps you stuck in the past.

Take pleasure in your now. Pay attention: masses of sun colored daylilies, a dramatic sky, your life giving breath as you inhale and exhale, your feet supporting your body so beautifully, your arms swinging in rhythm as you walk, shifting patterns of leafy shade on the grass, the summer landscape…an evening thunder storm…

Wild Lobelia

Make the most of your precious time, your precious life, your present moments. Live them fully!

Let yourself be

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Can you let yourself breathe and feel the breath in your body, entering, filling, and emptying?

Can you let yourself relax, letting go of any tension in your body, letting your chair support you?

Can you let yourself absorb the sounds and sights and smells surrounding you, the sensory reality of this moment?

Can you let yourself be without texting a friend, jumping up to do a chore, remembering an errand you left undone, sending a message, planning the next meal, worrying about your appearance, feeling guilty about something you said…?

Can you let yourself simply be for a few minutes each day?

Can you let yourself be with no agenda, no plan of action, no time filling chores?

Can you let yourself be without judgment, without worry, doubt or guilt, with no anxiety?

Rippling water

Can you allow yourself to simply be in this moment, a living being on this planet one with all things, one with the web of life?

New Beginnings

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Note from Betty:

Dear friends, Grandmother Cottonwood is coming out of retirement.  Since leaving my day job and working through some health issues, I’m feeling a strong pull to begin channeling GCW again and sharing her words with you.

This connection with the magnificent cottonwood tree lights me up and inspires me – so by doing this blog, I am practicing what she preaches! 

May her words inspire and bless you.

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GCW in summer

     On this day, you begin again. You start fresh with a clean slate. You live here and now in this flickering light under my canopy, your heart navigating the journey, your feet bringing you here, step by step.

Now past and future dissolve into this one present moment.  It is the breath, filling and emptying; the breeze stirring my leaves in silver shimmers high above, touching the summer sky.

We are alive!  We have been given the most precious gift of all – Life here on this beloved green planet at this time and in this place.  We each have our place in the ancient circle of life that has sustained our planet for millennia.

If you think your presence here is an accident, a mistake, think again!   A billion or more coincidences, factors, and conditions had to line up perfectly to allow for your creation.

If you think you are helpless, think again! When you align your energy with source, you are a powerful force to be reckoned with

If you think you can’t make a difference in the world, think again!  Every choice you make, every thought you think sends ripples into the universe, creating patterns of energy that interact with others and form what you know as reality.  Choose those thoughts, ideas, feelings, and words that you wish to see made manifest in the world.

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All- that- is desires and needs your presence here, shining your light fully, sharing your unique gifts, your loving energy with clarity, grace and joy!

Be fully embodied

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Do you spend precious moments wishing you were somewhere else, doing something else?

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Grandmother Cottonwood, fall color

Do you tighten the interior of your body as you do this – perhaps your throat or your heart?

Pay attention to the subtle ways you shut down the flow of energy through your body and withdraw your attention from what is while avoiding the present moment. Do not feel singled out, Dear one, for all humans do this.

Your impatience with what is has distracted you from your beautiful life, made up of moments just like this. This is your life!  Life provides you with many chances to shift your focus and come into the power of your present moment each day.

Remedy this shutting down of your energy by giving attention to your inner world of feeling, sensation, muscle bone and blood, the subtle opening and closing, the inhale and exhale, pain and ease, contraction, expansion, warmth and coolness. The sensations of your body create a window for you to experience this present moment, to slow down, to be here now.

Will you reach the moment of your death and know that you were too impatient to be fully present for yourself and your beloved ones? Or will you choose to live fully embodied? Bring your awareness down into your body and live in this moment!

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Access your power!

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Does your mind outpace your body? Do you feel spacey and disconnected?

If your mind races ahead and leaves your body behind, you are living in the future and forgetting the present; neglecting your grounding in the here and now, your need for earth energy, for your full and complete presence in this time and place. Don’t jump or skip ahead!

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Red wing blackbird on a breezy day

If your body rushes ahead and leaves your mind in the dust, you are living in the past ; disembodied, perhaps getting yourself into situations that do not serve you well. Perhaps you feel stuck.

Can you bring your body mind and heart together and concentrate all your focus in this moment? Can you keep it together?

The present is where your power lies! When all of you is in the present.  This is the state of flow, where you are plugged into your power supply – All that is – and you have access to boundless energy.

Here’s a practice for you to help you pay attention to what is now. Choose one of the 5 senses: feel, taste, touch, smell, sight. Focus for a few minutes on only that information coming into your body and mind through that sense.

Can you narrow your focus that much, aligning body and mind and balancing your consciousness in this point in time? Can you gather all of yourself, your scattered energy, thoughts, feelings, physical sensations and know your wholeness?

In this way, you train yourself to be wholly present, to empower yourself and tap in to amazing energy!

Worried?

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Worry is like a thick gray cloud around your mind and heart; a self-generated fog machine.

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Storm clouds

 

Dear ones, worry wears you down, ages you dims your clarity and light, weakens you.

If you are worried, you are not living in the present. You are living in your head projecting scenarios and events which will most likely never occur, which you most likely have no power over!

In short, you are wasting your time and energy when you worry! You are scaring yourself with self manufactured drama for no good reason.

If you are worried about the future, get the facts you need to solve your problems and face them head on! Take informed action within your locus of control. Make plans based on the facts. Set boundaries within your circle of influence. Live in the here and now.

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Thistle flowers

Inhabit your body, place awareness on your feelings, sensations, your senses, the flow of life through your body, the natural world around you. Come into the here and now where your power lies!

Tree meditation

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We trees are expert meditators, living in the here and now, observing what is without judgment; inhabiting ourselves fully from deepest roots to sunlit crown.

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Crab apple tree in blossom

We have an awareness of the breath of the earth, the waves and tides moving in and out, the winds, the seasons, the arc of the sun throughout the day, the brilliance and power of its light, the rising of life giving water through our roots, the magnetic pull of the earth, the many life forms we support and shelter, the moon phases and starlight that bathe us at night; the exquisite nuances of air, vibrating with thunder, soft with breezes, or high winds, roiling clouds thick with moisture.

We feel and know and observe it all.

We are rooted here now in this moment we have no need to question or analyze this fact or second guess or regret anything!

We simply take our place in the web of all that is, weaving a container for all beings on the earth with our branches and roots, crowning our beloved earth with our love.

Live in the here and now

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My beloved, do not waste your precious moments worrying about the future or feeling bad about the past. Live in your body, in the here and now.

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Sunlit grass

Each breath you take is an opportunity to choose a new way of thinking, a better feeling, a more compassionate outlook, and to drop those tired beliefs that keep you stuck.

You have power to create your life, to change as a caterpillar changes into a butterfly, and heal those aspects of your life that aren’t working. Do not blame yourself or others. Love yourself, be kind to yourself and support yourself fully in what you want to accomplish, the person you intend to become.

You create the blueprint of your future life through your thoughts and feelings, expectations and beliefs. You grow into the dimensions, the possibilities you envision for yourself. You create your future from this present moment.

Do you dream a small dream for yourself? I ask you to begin to allow yourself to expand your dream. Find clarity within your mind. Expect the best!