One of my favorite ways to spend a quiet day is to dream. I dream about all sorts of things—future books I want to write, far away places I want to visit, new garden ideas for my back yard, just about anything will do.
Letting my imagination take me to new experiences in my headlights me up from the inside. I love it so much!
I like to think of myself as a spiritual person—a girl whose main desire is to be open, loving, and carefree. So, for a while, I had a hard time marrying the spiritual idea of being present in the moment with the glorious feeling of living part-time in my imagination.
I thought I was doing something wrong.
And when you believe you are doing something wrong, it constricts the life force energy out of you. It’s like curling your energy into a tight ball around you—small, claustrophobic, and always feels terrible because energy naturally wants to expand.
So, I tried my best to stay present. I used all sorts of tactics to stay in the moment–feeling my feet, listening for my breath, or looking at my surroundings. And they kind of worked, but my mind would often wander off to faraway places and more exciting things.
I began to notice that I resisted the present moment when I didn’t like what I was experiencing. It could be something simple like it’s too hot sitting in the sun, or this woman is yammering on about her bunions, or there are too many people at this party. My judgment was the kicker!
When I discovered that I could be present with something, not judge it, and not entangle my energy, I could energetically rise above the situation. Through my focus, I could allow the thing to happen but let my energy expand so that the present physical moment becomes just a part of the experience. It becomes smaller in a way, not as all-encompassing.
It’s tricky to explain but pretty easy to do. Try it for yourself.
- Don’t judge.
- Keep your emotional energy to yourself by not entangling.
- Center yourself in your body.
- Expand your energy field out so that the thing in front of you is only a part of your experience.
- Notice.
So, now I no longer battle with staying present vs. imagining. I consider them to be the same thing. Being present in the physical is about being with the physical now. Being present in your imagination is about being with a now that exists in the energetic realm.
The most important thing about both states is to be resistance-free. Allow your energy to unfurl and expand into all the nooks and crannies without judgment.