The Practice of Pura Vida

Over the past few months, I’ve been especially conscious of the practice of ‘being in the moment’. Now, we throw that phrase out casually in conversation because it is something that we all aspire to since it's not a default in human beings (or should I say city dwellers), nor in our everyday lives. 

It was this video of an interview with Eckhart Tolle that was the true catalyst. My takeaway was that what was preventing us from being in the present were our constant thoughts of the past and the future.  That thoughts aren't necessarily productive and rather than a guide through our consciousness, they are at times the villain. How thinking and ruminating are different. However, that behavioral change is easier said than done. For instance, lying in bed at night and pushing away the continual onslaught of my thoughts is the hardest task.

But then one day I had an epiphany. I was walking home from work and suddenly stopped. It occurred to me that my thoughts had become a part of my identity. My thoughts about business, people past and present in my life, stresses, to-do lists and goals were constant companions. And how in that very moment, if they were gone, what would be left? And I realized it would be the quiet…of me. 

I wanted to be me, whatever that looked like, without all the noise. But how to get there? So I became the subject of my own experiment. I knew meditation was supposed to be a tool, but that was not happening. It was too abstract. ‘Let your thoughts pass through you’? They would pass by and come back within seconds because they apparently left something behind. So I removed any deliberate action from the exercise to see when were the moments when the traffic in my head subsided. I discovered it was when I’m cooking and baking, creating, or reading. Or when hanging out with family and friends and other choice activities ;)  

I am currently in Costa Rica on vacation. In addition to the usual beach vacation activities, I have been hiking. Like real hiking, like wearing actual hiking clothes and going through the jungle and climbing mountains. Anyone who knows me wouldn't believe it. Please see pic. And yes of course I am wearing a small amount of makeup and earrings

I will say, I absolutely love it.  During these hikes, there is no room for thoughts. I am surrounded by fruits that look like flowers and insects and animals that resemble plants or the bark of the trees they're on.  My headspace is filled with the beauty, colors, and symphony of sounds that are part of the theatre of nature that surrounds me. And I am totally at peace. Sweaty but calm. I hear the thoughts knocking on the door of my vacation place but I’m not letting them in. 

Now of course I have to go back to work and ‘real life’ but I realize that if I want to really change and have more peaceful moments than the usual high mental traffic, I need more of these types of activities in my life. I’m hoping that over time, the more I do, the less room there will be for the tapes to play. It will require effort, a new muscle to train, but I know it will be worth it. I feel it so.

Love,

Ruth