Appreciating the present moment

"Can you rest in ... awareness, even for one breath, or even one in-breath, before reacting to try to escape or make things different?"
Jon Kabat-Zinn, Mindfulness for Beginners.

I think it's important to realize with mindfulness, you can start very small....with individual breaths or minutes.  It can be easily done on my 6 minute bus ride to work....

What can I do in 6 minutes?  Lets discuss!  What I DON'T want to do is worry about if I'll be on time, what my day will be like or regretting that I didn't appreciate my holiday time off!

What I CAN do is just be....in the moment.  I can pay attention to my breathing.  I can do a body scan and be aware of how my body is feeling...and not judge it.  Most days I find I just look and listen.  Today I noticed a hotel I never have before.  I look at houses and decor, landscaping, cars....anything.  I am aware that I am not judging them or making up stories....I'm just noticing...on purpose.   

I also like listening....to sounds, the trance-like noises of the bus, the sound of the heat blowing, or whatever is present at the time.  I consider this meditating.  When I'm not worrying about future events, being a story teller in my head or focusing on things in the past, I am truly quite content. 

I believe I have worked at being able to do this for years.  And while you can practice being mindful in a second or minute, I have done formal practice (sitting or lying down for a prescribed amount of time) and I think it has allowed me to be able to appreciate the present moment. 

Most people are striving for peace.  The irony is that it can be found in this exact moment!