A few weeks ago I was sitting in my car during my lunch break and took a moment to take in my surroundings. I could see leaves rustling and twinkling in the wind, a person taking a walk, cars passing by on the nearby main road, and flags flowing. I could hear a distant beeping from construction vehicles, and birds tweeting.
Most days I'm too "busy" to notice things like this. Everything becomes mundane or so familiar that it goes completely over my head. I'm reminded that it's easy to get lost in the hustle and bustle of life and forget to slow down.
We only need a moment of silence to sit with our senses. We only need a moment to sit in meditation.
Years ago, I dabbled in meditations and hypnotherapy from Andrew Johnson, and then guided meditations from apps like Calm. A lot of times I would fall asleep and wonder if I was meditating correctly. It wasn't until last year, after practicing more with apps like Insight Timer, and learning self guided meditations through Reiki, I realized that I've always been pushing myself to do, do, do, and I never slowed down enough to realize that my body and mind were actually tired. Slowing down and pausing allowed my body to naturally do what it needed to do: Rest.
The next time you find yourself with a moment to yourself, try and allow yourself to be in that moment, sit in silence. Use your senses to notice the things around you. What do you see? What do you hear? How do you really feel?