Swirling, Easing

Today I am grateful for my breath and fresh air to breathe in and out. I appreciate the Insight Timer app that is helping me make daily meditation and relaxation practices a habit.

David Ji is one of my favorite teachers on Insight Timer. He has a wonderful, soothing and nicely-paced voice that invites me to slow down. He shares phrases such as:

Slow the swirl in my mind and the swirl in the rest of my body also slows.

Sacred, precious, present moment. Dialogue with the Universe. Fertile soil of our hearts.

Who am I when I am at my best?

What and who am I grateful for?

Repeat the question. Don’t force an answer.

Who am I when I am at my best? It starts with a mind at peace, not war. Moving my body and being outdoors helps bring out the best. Sitting down to put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard helps me realize my full potential. Staying physically fit has come naturally to me. Most days it isn’t hard to find the motivation to move. It brings so many benefits.

The realms of my mind and thoughts, my heart and emotions, have been much more of a challenge for me. Insight Timer and another app—Healthy Minds—have really helped me form good habits in these areas over the last couple of years. Patience, compassion, surrender, acceptance are key words for me. Living gratefully continues to be key in my daily routine as well. It is what first slowed me down enough to consider that I wasn’t a total loss and that the world wasn’t out to get me.

Maybe this language resonates with you. Maybe it doesn’t. Maybe you would use different practices and terms to describe it. There are so many different ways to practice meditation, mindful awareness, gratefulness. Find what works for you. The key is in pausing enough to slow the swirl, ease the parts and places that need easing in this moment.

Slowing down from time to time each day, either physically or mentally or both, is a key practice to keeping perspective in our busy, bustling days.