La Parroquia in San Miguel de Allende

In part 1 of the Living in the Flow of the Now Moment Series, I gave a simple, yet powerful technique for living in the now called savoring. Most all techniques on a personal growth path or spiritual path are meant to be simple. This doesn’t mean they are always easy, but when you find yourself confused or if things seem complicated, there is a good chance that your mind has run away with you and it is time to come back to self. Here is another simple, yet powerful tool you can use to stay in the precious now moment.

I am writing this in the beautiful colonial town of San Miguel de Allende in Mexico where I have been living for two months. The first day I was here I was awestruck by all the bright colored doors and quaint cobble stone streets. Everywhere I looked I saw a picture I wanted to take with my camera. However, my camera wasn’t working. I was a little disappointed because I knew that the shear exquisiteness of the town would not impact me the way it did this first day. I knew that once I had become accustomed to what I was seeing, I would not notice it like I was now. This is because once the mind knows something, it has a tendency to not notice it like it did the first time. There is less awareness of it.

The problem with this is that when doing the same routine people tend to become mind-less instead of mind-full. How many of us have arrived at work after commuting the same streets a hundred times realizing that we don’t even remember that morning’s drive to the office? The mind is so familiar with the route it has taken many times over that it simply checks out. This checking out is another way you put yourself out of the now moment. You are simply not present. You must be present in the now moment to experience it.

After a time I decided to buy a new camera. I found one I liked and went out to the streets of San Miguel to take photos. With the help of the new camera, I consciously chose to see San Miguel anew. I again saw the many beautiful wooden doors, each with their own style and color. I saw the reflections of the light as it danced off the coble stone streets of the City after a rain. I felt a sense of excitement and appreciation for the splendor of this place so full of history and hundreds of years of creative expression from its inhabitants. I was in the Flow of the now moment.

A wonderful technique that puts you in the now moment is to find what is new in each moment. This is similar to what Buddhists call the beginner mind. In any given moment you can always find something that is new and fresh. Even if it is the same commute you have taken every day, you can find a way the light plays on the side of a building you hadn’t noticed before.

Looking at things anew, puts you in the now moment. As you focus your awareness you become alert. You become present in the moment. The more you are present in the now, the more you enter the State of Flow.

In part 1 of the Living in the Flow of the Now Moment Series, I gave a simple, yet powerful technique for living in the now called savoring. Most all techniques on a personal growth path or spiritual path are meant to be simple. This doesn’t mean they are always easy, but when you find yourself confused or if things seem complicated, there is a good chance that your mind has run away with you and it is time to come back to self. Here is another simple, yet powerful tool you can use to stay in the precious now moment.

I am writing this in the beautiful colonial town of San Miguel de Allende in Mexico where I have been living for two months. The first day I was here I was awestruck by all the bright colored doors and quaint cobble stone streets. Everywhere I looked I saw a picture I wanted to take with my camera. However, my camera wasn’t working. I was a little disappointed because I knew that the shear exquisiteness of the town would not impact me the way it did this first day. I knew that once I had become accustomed to what I was seeing, I would not notice it like I was now. This is because once the mind knows something, it has a tendency to not notice it like it did the first time. There is less awareness of it.

The problem with this is that when doing the same routine people tend to become mind-less instead of mind-full. How many of us have arrived at work after commuting the same streets a hundred times realizing that we don’t even remember that morning’s drive to the office? The mind is so familiar with the route it has taken many times over that it simply checks out. This checking out is another way you put yourself out of the now moment. You are simply not present. You must be present in the now moment to experience it.

After a time I decided to buy a new camera. I found one I liked and went out to the streets of San Miguel to take photos. With the help of the new camera, I consciously chose to see San Miguel anew. I again saw the many beautiful wooden doors, each with their own style and color. I saw the reflections of the light as it danced off the coble stone streets of the City after a rain. I felt a sense of excitement and appreciation for the splendor of this place so full of history and hundreds of years of creative expression from its inhabitants. I was in the Flow of the now moment.

A wonderful technique that puts you in the now moment is to find what is new in each moment. This is similar to what Buddhists call the beginner mind. In any given moment you can always find something that is new and fresh. Even if it is the same commute you have taken every day, you can find a way the light plays on the side of a building you hadn’t noticed before.

Looking at things anew, puts you in the now moment. As you focus your awareness you become alert. You become present in the moment. The more you are present in the now, the more you enter the State of Flow.

© Kristopher for Inspiration From Kristopher Raphael, 2010. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us Who is linking?
Post tags: flow state, golden flow, Growth Path, in the flow, living in the now, now moment, personal growth, San Miguel De Allende, Spiritual Path, The Flow

Make certain to check out The Golden Flow and The Law of Attraction

The other evening I decided to stay up and watch some television. There was a stand up comedian on stage turning his backside towards a woman in the front row telling her he would let her touch his stuff. His whole act was talking about how he was so beautiful and hot, and how he was the shit. I didn’t think he was that funny but as often happens, Source had a message for me.

The message was in the comic’s line, ‘I am so hot that I get up an hour early every morning so I can spend more time with ME.’ Okay, it isn’t that I am so hot that I can’t resist spending time with myself. But, I realized then that I wasn’t spending enough quality time with self. What does it mean to spend time with self, and why is it important?

This morning I chose to make of point to spend more time with self, and got up a little earlier to take a run in the colorful New Mexican high desert. For me running is quality time for self. As I was running, I could hear crickets on my right. It was a beautiful morning. Soon my inner guidance began to open up to me and began to speak about the importance of ‘self time’. I love when my guidance opens to me this way, and I realized then that the more often I take time for self, the more my guidance and inspiration come to me.

I remember Scott Peck, M.D., author of The Road Less Travelled, speaking about how he would take time each day alone in his guest house to write. He needed this alone time for his inspiration. I then remembered earlier this year, when I was sitting on the beautiful veranda of The Hotel Posada Carmina in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, over looking the inner courtyard full of birds chirping and bright colorful flowers blooming. I felt very inspired as I wrote down my thoughts for that day. I thought, ‘no wonder writers often travel abroad to write’. What I didn’t realize at the time was I was truly spending time with self.

The Crazy Rabbit

When you spend time with self, you nurture the Soul. Spending time with self revitalizes and reconnects you with Who you are. If you are a writer, spending time with self fills you with inspiration. If you have challenges in life, spending time with self puts you back into the flow and solutions appear. If you need ideas for your business, spend a little time with self and watch what happens. When people have relationship problems arise, sometimes they need a little ‘alone time’ to sort things out.

Before we talk about what spending time with self is, let’s talk a little about what it is not.

Spending time with self is not:
•    Being lonely
•    Being a hermit or a recluse
•    Being alone, but busy doing ‘things’
•    Habitually watching TV
•    Commuting to work while worrying about what you have to do that day

Some examples of spending time with self are:
•    Taking a walk or a hike in nature while pondering your life
•    Going to a movie that moves you deeply
•    Reading a good book that inspires you
•    Travelling at a leisurely pace – enjoying life
•    Meditating
•    Going to a Hot Tub or Spa
•    Getting a massage

To spend time with self, means you consciously create the time to be with self. It means you spend time in your inner world. Deep thinking, meditation, pondering, slow deliberate thoughts, mindfulness are all ways to spend time with self. This is very different than being alone, bored; or spacing out being a couch potato in front of the tube.

Spending time with self puts you into the flow of life and increases your state of well being. As you give yourself the gift of time and attention, you connect with the bigger Source that you are and live life from your depth. Living life from your depth gives life meaning. Living life with meaning leads to true fulfillment.

So, create the time to spend with the most important person in the world, you. You will be thankful you did.

© Kristopher for Inspiration From Kristopher Raphael, 2009. | Permalink | 7 comments | Add to del.icio.us Who is linking?
Post tags: Backside, Beautiful Morning, Birds Chirping, Carmina, Colorful Flowers, Crickets, golden flow, Guest House, High Desert, Hotel Posada, Important Person, in the flow, Inner Courtyard, Inner Guidance, Quality Time, S Line, San Miguel De Allende, San Miguel De Allende Mexico, Scott Peck, Spending Time, Stand Up Comedian, Veranda

Make certain to check out The Golden Flow and The Law of Attraction