Where Are Your Feet?

 Have you ever noticed how unaware you are – how oblivious you are to what’s going on around you? Is your mind digging deep tunnels into the past trying to find another way out, another outcome? Or are you so worried about your future – how you’re going to get there and what it’s going to look like that you don’t notice the tree roots that have pushed up the concrete until you’re doing a face plant?

Are you beginning to feel anxious after reading that paragraph? Just stop for a moment and either sit down or stand still and ask yourself this question: “Where are my feet?” Ask yourself again, “Where are my feet?”, and then pause and actually look at your feet. When you do this, you will truly be in the present. You won’t be in the past or the future – you’ll be aware of where you are right now.

Feeling your feet can help engage the parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for calming the mind and body and is a simple tool that can help you when you are feeling overwhelmed or drawn into the vortexes of rumination or worry, which are counterproductive and soul sapping.

Now that you are present, what are you aware of? Are you aware of the beauty around you or are you aware of something that is disturbing, either around you or within? Are you aware of a sense of gratitude or are you aware of some kind of cognitive dissonance – something just not feeling right or something that is out of alignment?

When you are in awareness, you are able to appreciate what is or act on what can be changed – neither of which you can do in the past or the future. So, where are your feet?

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“Be present in all things and thankful for all things.”
― Maya Angelou