By Nancy Rynes, author of Awakenings from the Light
Do you sometimes have a sense that life is happening to you and that you’re just along for the ride? Do you feel hobbled by your past, or so troubled by anxiety about your future that you can’t fully live in the present? Do you allow others’ opinions of how you should live your life, dictate your decisions? Are you feeling as if you are just going through the motions of life, as if you have no great purpose, meaning, or joy?
Do you sometimes have a sense that life is happening to you and that you’re just along for the ride? Do you feel hobbled by your past, or so troubled by anxiety about your future that you can’t fully live in the present? Do you allow others’ opinions of how you should live your life, dictate your decisions? Are you feeling as if you are just going through the motions of life, as if you have no great purpose, meaning, or joy?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you are definitely not alone. There was a time not all that long ago when I would have answered yes to all of those questions. But my life has shifted. As a result of an NDE and a lot of emotional and spiritual work done since then, my life has evolved to one of peace, presence, joy, creativity, freedom, and love. I want to share my learnings with you in a way that can help you outwardly manifest the glorious person you are inside, deep under those layers of inauthenticity heaped on you by society, family dynamics, hurts, and past trauma.
One of the main ways I achieved a more peaceful, centered life was by learning how to stay truly aware, attentive, and awake in the present moment, without regrets about the past or worries about the future. This was a gradual process for me after my NDE, driven by the desire to recreate the peace and love I felt in the afterlife here in my life on earth. Over time and with practice, my awareness gradually shifted into being more peace-filled, joyous, and loving on a daily basis.
Then the magic really happened.
Several months after I began this journey, I realized that I felt true freedom for the first time in my life. I came to know that it was part of my purpose to live the truth of my deepest self, as it is for everyone on this planet: to live from a place of loving and peaceful strength, to be a victor rather than a victim, and to live fully and with love in the here and now.
That’s the nature of real mindfulness, and that is one of the core teachings I was given during my NDE.
I was finally living it every day and it felt amazing!
Living in love and truth is freedom, and learning how to be mindful was one of the tools I used in order to achieve this.
Mindfulness, or present moment awareness, simply means focusing your attention squarely on what is happening right now. You tune in fully to the person with whom you are interacting, or on a task you are doing. You are not trying to have a conversation and at the same time plan out your day tomorrow, or wonder what outfit you’re going to wear to that party next week, or worry about how you can grow your business. Instead, your entire awareness is focused on what is happening now.
It’s easy to exist on what I call “consciousness autopilot.” You go about your day not really paying much attention to what is happening in the current moment. Instead, your awareness often drifts back and forth between mulling over the past and worrying about the future. Have you ever driven somewhere and once you arrived, had no memory of the actual drive itself? That's an example of consciousness autopilot. Barring alien abduction, what has happened is that your full awareness was not on the activity of driving.
Scary, isn’t it?
Living in the light, or living consciously in an “awake and aware” state, is completely different from the disconnected state of semi-consciousness in which many people find themselves. The good news is that you don’t have to have a life-altering spiritual experience in order to live this way. You can make the choice to walk this path right now, no visit to the afterlife required.
Let's start with a relatively easy and enjoyable practice: mindful walks.
Practice: Mindful Walks
Mindful walks is an easy and enjoyable way to practice focusing on the present moment, and also demonstrates to you that you can choose the focus of your awareness.
First, select a safe location. You can walk in a natural setting out in the country as long as you feel safe there. Or maybe your preference is a quiet city park, botanic garden, waterfront, or even shopping mall. If you’d rather sit, choose a spot that is safe. Make sure you pick a location where you are safe. Alternatively, you can choose to have a partner with you who doesn't participate in the exercise but is responsible for keeping track of your surroundings.
Next, select a physical sense on which you wish to focus for this walk: sight, sound, or smell. Choosing one of these is an easy and safe way to get started. For the first time out, I suggest you try using your most dominant sense. For many, this will be sight.
Walk for any length of time you want but when you are new to this exercise, I suggest you start with five minutes of active focusing. This will give you enough opportunity to experience the benefits of this practice without taxing your attention span too much. As you repeat this exercise, increase the length of your focused time so that you build up to 30 minutes, or even more.
Mindful walking is easy. Start off on your walk a bit slower than your usual pace, placing your awareness on your chosen sense. Let’s assume you use sight. As you walk, you would pick something in your field of view on which to focus with your eyes. This could be anything really, although I would recommend avoiding focusing on people. Most strangers will feel offended if you stare at them.
I recommend choosing an animal, plant, or an inanimate object like a rock, ocean wave, building, auto, a sculpture in a park, a mountain peak, a waterfall, even a fence. Really look at it without judgement. By that I mean just observe, avoid labeling it as “pretty” or “ugly” or “good” or “bad” or “love it” or “hate it”. Just view. What catches your eye? Why? You might need to stop walking for a few moments so that you can focus on it safely. Is there something you can appreciate about it? Does it have a color or form that is particularly eye-catching? Does the light strike it in a way that catches your attention? Is the color vibrant or muted? Just observe, and appreciate for a few moments, perhaps even feeling gratitude that you have the sense of sight in order to see this object.
After a few moments, search for the next object on which to focus. This time it might be a tree that is bursting into bloom, or a squirrel gathering food. Again, observe without internal judgement. Simply observe.
If you are walking with a partner, avoid conversation for the time you are practicing mindful focusing.
Continue your walk and this mindful observation practice for at least five minutes. If you’re still feeling energized, continue on for 10 minutes or more. But if you feel any attention fatigue, stop. Continue walking if you’d like, but discontinue focusing your awareness.
This practice is a gentle way to teach you:
- that you can focus your awareness, even if for just a few minutes at a time
- that you have control over how and where you focus your awareness
- that you can shift the focus of your awareness
- that you can observe and experience, without judgement
Try mindful walks daily for at least 3 weeks before you decide how well it works for you.
Stuff You Might Have Missed
Archive: Past Newsletter Issues
TODAY Show: Nancy's Interview on NBC TV's TODAY
Article: Seven Lessons That Dying Taught Me About Truly Living (Aspire Magazine)
Article: Lives Changed by NDEs (Boulder Daily Camera)
Article: Awakening to Life(Pages 6-10, Journal of Exceptional Experiences and Psychology, Summer 2016)
Article: The Meaning of Life (Excellence Reporter)
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