My mind was on autopilot going 100mph, swerving, and drifting into a clouded smoke screen of confusion.
The angry honks from the next lane over made no difference.
I wasn’t even in the driver’s seat half the time. I was somewhere else.
Probably either desperately trying to lasso a future “to-do” list item like it was a wild bull or looking back to yesterday’s mistakes with the sour taste of regret on my tongue.
If I didn’t take action soon, I’d snap back into the present right in time to see an oncoming semi-trailer blasting its horn while a final, haunting thought appeared in my mind’s eye.
“But you never really lived.”
I needed something to calm my mind and keep me in the present moment. I wanted to enjoy life, not stress about thoughts that moved into my brain like an old friend who said they’d crash for a few days, but it’s been a few months.
I’ve always used physical exercise as a de-stressor, and while I’ve felt the benefits at times, it never fully served as that solid piece of masking tape that could quiet the madman in my mind for a little bit.
So one day, I tried something new.
After watching some Qigong routines online, I began to coordinate my movements with my breathing and use my breath as an anchor to stay focused on the movements.
At my old, boring job, there was a forest nearby. I’d book for the tree line during work breaks, rip off my shirt, and do a Qigong sequence basking in the afternoon sun.
My body began to flow. The movement and breath slow danced, while I observed with a satisfied smile.
I began to incorporate this rhythmic motion into other kinds of physical exercise.
When I went to the gym, I made sure to sync my movements with my breath and observe. I’d concentrated on the tightening muscle and feel the air flood in and out of my lungs like one of those wacky inflatable air dancing advertisement things.
When I walked down the street, hiked up a mountain or stretched before a workout, I used this same formula.
Eventually, I began practicing yoga and I harnessed the same combination every class with groundbreaking results.
I felt a calm within that I had never felt in my life. It was like floating in the ocean while listening to the whisper of life under the waves or laying in a flowery meadow watching butterflies fly between my fingers.
The three-tiered combo of:
Motion + Breath + Observation
Taught me how to calm my thoughts and enjoy the present moment.
Because if you’re not in the present, you’re not living life.
And you’re here to live life, my friend.