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Writer's picturealinahokanson

Be where you are, not where you aren't

I've been relentlessly consumed in future thought patterns recently. How can I work for myself and prosper financially? Should I start blogging and sharing the thoughts and life lessons I dive into with my yoga students every week to a larger group of people? When will I find time and does anyone want to listen? Well, I am really not sure but here goes nothing... my first attempt at sharing my writing.


I have never lived a "stereotypical" american life. I value travel and human connection, music and movement. I wear several different hats and work lots of jobs to make the whole picture come together. Recently, I was in El Salvador teaching yoga and attempting to learn how to surf (one of the more challenging yet rewarding activities I have tried on). Since being home in Colorado my mind has been side-tracked and obsessing on how can I make it back to the beach and continue learning to surf.... My thoughts have been in a dream state, set on the ocean, simple life, where I can go and not where I currently AM. Do you ever catch yourself in this state of trance? Almost like you can time travel in the mind to the past and future but struggle to focus on the task at hand?


Sometimes the universe gives you a big dose of reality and perspective in presence. This is my recent experience: I love snowboarding, I've been skiing the rocky mountains since I was 4 years old. I was at loveland in the trees the other day, obsessing on my future and the beach and how perfect it might be to be floating in the ocean... I stopped in the trees and looked up, almost immediately my headphones died; music faded though the device had not lost battery life. Fat snowflakes came swirling through beams of sunlight, each tiny needle of the pines perfectly draped in crystal white snow. A place so familiar yet unbelievably beautiful. I lost it. No really, like that ugly uncontrollable sobbing in the middle of the mountain, alone, fully embodied in presence. "It is perfect right here" I thought, "this is what you have and where you ARE, do you see it, are you paying attention?" What a beautiful reminder to open my eyes and be aware of my senses and my surroundings. How often does the mind and thoughts take precedence over the 5 main senses that allow us to navigate this world in the moment?


Now, I am not saying that we don't need the forward thoughts and the future planning, its a part of the whole. Sometimes though, we tend to obsess about the future and the past so much that we can miss out on all the tiny beautiful moments that exist right now. This can cut us off from reality and embodied presence.  When we connect back to our senses, our bodies and nature we can connect back into the natural rhythms



and remember just how precious it is to be alive. Don't miss the journey, the spaces in-between the destinations. This my friend is what makes this human experience so beautiful and worth living.

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