Physician Healer

Issue 15 Right Now

Right Now

”Get over here right now!” “I need that right now!” “We have to go right now!” “You stop that right now!” “Put that down right now!”

Sound familiar? I must have heard or said every one of those a million times or more and yet, it is only in the last several years that I truly comprehend the meaning of those words. They are 2 words that are used a lot but elusive to grasp. Most of us don’t really know the meaning of “right now,” or the present moment. We are so hung up about yesterday and so worried about tomorrow that we squander the time we actually have—right now.

I am by no means being judgy; it’s just what I’ve observed and I, too, am guilty of this. How do we pay more attention to the present moment and why is it that important? These are not easy things to do. For me, it is practicing everyday sitting quietly by myself and allowing all sorts of stuff to come out of my mind so that it can be released. So much of how we feel day to day is dependent on our egoic mind chattering about everything at both ends except for what’s happening right this second.

Sometimes, it’s about something that bothered me earlier in the day or something that happened last week or even last year. At other times, it’s being obsessively worried about whether or not something we hoped for pans out. It is random what comes up. Like many others I used to think that the memories and thoughts that reveal themselves were things coming into my head because I was quiet, but it is actually the opposite—stuff is being released.

Whenever we embrace the silence in meditation, we are clearing the noise and clutter that are already stored there. Nothing new is coming in. My patients and clients ask me how long they would have to do this—a few days, a couple months or until they feel better and then stop? My best explanation is let’s say you were learning to play the piano, so in the beginning, you could learn how to read the notes and be able to say that you knew how to play, but you wouldn’t be able to master Chopin or Bach and advance further if you didn’t practice everyday. This is why meditation is called a practice. Meditation also means “to become familiar with.”

The reason why keeping our focus on the present moment is so important is that much of our unhappiness and stress comes from our mind living in the regrettable past for too long and then extrapolating those events to the present or to the dreaded future. Whenever our mind stays aware of whatever’s happening right now, we are unable to brood about the past; the 2 thoughts cannot co-exist. And, likewise when our mind is dialed into what’s going on at the present time, the thoughts of the future are blocked from coming into our mind.

A very easy experiment you can do is to close your eyes and say,

“I wonder what my mind will show me next.”

You will find that suddenly whatever you were thinking about disappears and nothing shows up for a time. This is because you’ve got everyone’s attention on what will show up. Eventually, the mind picks up where it left off and chatters away. It would be curious to see how long your mind stays silent before your thoughts are at it again.

Visiting the past is not always a bad thing, as long as you don’t stay long. It’s also a great place to retrieve favorite times of your life and favorite places you’ve been to. At times, our mind can drift to a past event that proved pivotal in our growth. I usually encourage individuals to draw from their past and envision their perfect life scenarios during the second part of their meditative sessions, after they have completely relaxed their entire bodies from head to toe. These steps will bring the mind into the meditative alpha wave state, which allows the old negative program to be overwritten by a new positive one.

Caution is also given to over celebrating some specific event or events in the past. Just as undesirable as continually mulling over doom and gloom is obsessing over these woebegone times of your glory days. Both make the past more important than the present. I find that when I’m spending too much time reliving and talking about the past, I can become consumed with some kind of emotion, which serves to pull me away from the present moment. By the same token, when we have a habit of wishing for Friday to arrive, we are saying that the future holds more value than right now, yet the future depends on what kind of action you take right now.

As I understand it, our states of being—love, peace and joy—exist in the unconscious present moment and when we are in this place, we live and behave from the heart and body. On the contrary, when we are consciously thinking about the past or the future, we act out from the mind, persistently strategizing. This is where the phrase, “over-thinking it” comes from.

It was difficult for me at first to accept the fact that we control nothing about our lives except how we choose to feel and our ability to feel grateful without a reason because the universe doesn’t care about the why. And then to top it all off, I am to understand that my goals in life have to align with those of the universe’s or else they won’t happen. And in order to know what steps to take each day, my answers will come to me when I need them not when I want them, with daily meditation facilitating this. Sometimes it feels as if what is supposed to make me more grounded is making me more uncertain. Yet, much has been written that the uncertainty itself is the mind’s construct and that we are back to the ego controlling things.

From this, the other day I jokingly envisioned the universe sending out assistants flying around with gratitude meters reporting back to headquarters whether we were diligent about feeling grateful and gifting those of us who were grateful more to be grateful for.

A few days ago, I heard a great story told by Jay Shetty who lived as a monk for 3 years. This story illustrates the power and necessity of letting go of the past, avoiding the premature jump into the future and thriving in the present. He states it is a story Buddha told. Once there was this man who needed to cross the river. The river currents were treacherous and if he tried to swim it, he would surely die. He looked around and found there were materials from which he could build himself a raft and so he did and crosses the river safely. He then decided to strap the raft onto his back and proceeded on his journey only to find that it was difficult to walk through the forest of dense trees as the raft was rather in the way.

“I can’t possibly leave this raft behind. After all, it saved my life back there with the river,” he said.

But, no matter how hard he persisted, he just could not move through the trees. Exhausted, he decided to remove the raft from his back and left it behind. He realized that although the raft had helped save his life in the past, it was hindering him now. He had to let go of the past to move forward in the present time, figuring he had learned the lesson of how to make a raft should he need to do so in the future.

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When I get up in the morning, I do find myself reaching for the phone first thing but I stop myself. Instead, I say a few salient gratitudes and thank you’s to start the day and then recently I started adding “that I didn’t notice before” questions. Some instructors have termed these “lofty” or “intentional” questions, which resemble rhetorical questions.

1. Why am I always so fit and healthy that I didn’t notice before?

2. Why is there so much magic in my life that I didn’t notice before?

3. Why am I so lucky everyday that I didn’t notice before?

4. Why do my days play out so smoothly that I didn’t notice before?

5. Why am I so filled with peace and happiness that I didn’t notice before?

And, you can continue on and compose as many as you can think of and make it personal. I find that tagging on the phrase “that I didn’t notice before” implies that the condition was there all along and that you didn’t lack it but just didn’t notice until now. Also, using the question format avoids an uncomfortable statement that you may not be ready to accept at the moment but also a good question triggers good answers from the mind.

Another method is to write them down on sticky notes the night before and place them where you can see them first thing in the morning to prep and set up the day. This is analogous to setting your morning alarm and that you don’t set it in the morning but at bedtime the night before. By gearing your day upward before it’s even started, you set forth an intention that still allows you room to drop; so even if you had some undesirable events during the day, you still end up at the top of your own game.

For some time now, I’ve encouraged you to buy a journal and write in it your goals, gratitudes, dreams, wins, next steps or actions to take. Your journal is also a place to draw out your plans and pose questions, such as what you wish to do, your passion list (bucket list), actions and learning required to accomplish your to-do list, and how you would give back to your community, locally or globally.

My list consists of living by or close to the beach. Growing up, it was something I longed for but my parents didn’t care for the water much. My mom used to say that the ocean gave her a feeling of isolation and desolation. Instead, I find it peaceful. One of the things I learned was that being close to water means increased ionization of the air, which is good for longevity. I would also be able to meditate to the sunsets over the ocean. My goal each day is to exist in a place where I can reach the most people and where I can best serve others.

The hardest thing after my vision is crafted is to forget about it after I set sail and that the only thing I can allow to navigate the ship is what is contained in the day’s journey.

After sitting in meditation, it is hard not to expect an outcome of answers and solutions ASAP and wondering if I did it right.

It is hard to know if actions I take daily to further my journey are the correct ones. And, if the results of one action came about without a hitch while the other seemed to struggle within itself, am I to believe that the first scenario is “aligned” with the universe?

It is hard not to use my mind to find an answer but typically I start to feel flustered so that is my cue to stop thinking about it and wait.

It is hard to achieve a certain level of expected health when you’re not in a good place. But, I’ve learned that you have to first envision feeling healed before it happens. And, it isn’t easy. Whatever is felt at this moment was based on a cumulative effect of all the decisions made up to that point. So, if you drag out your past as a reason why you don’t think you will get better, you won’t.

A couple days ago I came across the concept of meditating from the ego vs meditating from the heart through surrender. While wondering which one I was doing, I figured out that if people and circumstances trigger my avatars, then I know I have a lot of inner work to do. However, if most days are calm and peaceful despite the noise around me and directed to me, then I know my introspection and reflection came from my heart space and not my mind space. Switching out of my mind has been a journey in itself. I can’t tell you how much I had depended on my mind for so long. Were they the right decisions? Probably not, but I do believe that my guardian angels do have my back and always will.

Transformational Tips:

1) Spend time in nature

2) Set a timer throughout the day to be present and list gratitudes

3) Set forth an intention the night before for the perfect next day

4) Avoid checking your phone or listening to the TV as soon as you wake up in the morning. Read your gratitudes instead

5) Whenever you dose off or you are ready for bed, listen to meditative programs or personal growth lessons. As your brain activity converts to the alpha states or deeper states of suggestibility, you want to program meaningful ideas instead of the news or some nonsensical Netflix movie.

Until next time, thanks for reading. If you found this issue meaningful please feel free to share.

Come and connect with us at www.DesertMeridian.com or www.amayamedical.com

I now leave you with a famous quote by Rumi to reflect upon.

🙌♥️ Celeste Amaya, MD