One of the things that seems to have become increasingly part of everyone’s lives is a perception that time is flying by ever more quickly.  To say that most of us have fantastically busy lives is probably putting it mildly, and I constantly come back to the importance in my own life of finding – and savoring – moments of quiet and ease, moments that offer their own kind of support to the quality of my daily life.  These moments might emerge suddenly between appointments, when the traffic on Central Park West has momentarily stopped whizzing by and there is stillness outside my window.  This is such an unusual experience that I take time to enjoy it whenever I notice it.  Also, there are times when I walk across Central Park in the morning, on the way to my office, when I come into sections of the park that are quiet, where I find myself stopping and taking some time to soak in the qualities I encounter in these special moments. 

The key element in these experiences is that there are times when it’s possible to recognize and take in opportunities to slow down, stop and soak in whatever gift is suddenly in front of us.  In the service of practicing living more consciously, it can serve us well to notice shifts in our environment that bring something nourishing, calming, or otherwise positive into the foreground of awareness.  That’s step one.  Then, the next step in being more conscious of our journey through any given day is to take the time to truly experience what’s in front of us – to accept the gift that’s offered.

When I do hypnosis or guided imagery with people, I often begin with an invitation for them to notice the surface supporting them.  Then, I invite them to become aware of the ways in which their body actively *allows* that support.  For example, I ask them to be aware of the ways in which their body settles into the chair, sofa, bed or whatever surface is under them.  There is a constant, reciprocal relationship between support offered and support received, and it can be a real gift to bring this relationship into conscious awareness.

And so, for this week’s experiment, I invite you to become aware of the gifts that present themselves to you in the course of any given day – gifts of quiet, nourishment, delight, support – whatever positive surprise may come your way in a given moment.  Then, notice what happens when you actively receive that gift, when you actively allow it touch you in some way that’s good for you. 

By noticing how you allow the gift to touch you, you bring it more deeply and fully into your lived experience.  In fact, as you play with this experiment, give yourself permission to notice the sensations in your body that emerge when you actively receive these gifts of support.  The sensations you notice can, themselves, become additional sources of support as you recall them throughout the day.

As with all the experiments, please be sure to bring along curiosity as your constant companion, and have fun discovering ever-increasing ways to move through your daily life more consciously.