The Present Moment

Introduction to Gratitude

0:00Hello and welcome to the Art of Gratitude with me, Margaret Alvarez, your artsy coach, creativity coach, artist, art teacher, and mental health advocate teaching people how to combine creativity and mindfulness for your own mental well-being. I am so happy that you've decided to join me for this new season of my podcast. And I know it's been a while. It's been quite some time, but, you know, I needed kind of a little bit of a break to

0:34just kind of, you know, experience things and really get back into why it is I've chosen to be a creativity coach teaching people how to combine creativity and mindfulness. Like, what does this actually mean to me? Um, and so I should probably just say that I started this whole thing, um, you know, teaching people how to combine creativity and mindfulness. I started all of that, um, because it is something that I use personally in my own life.

1:08Um, I have a gratitude art journal. I've been keeping it for a very long time, 12 years, I think now. And, um, it has helped me in a lot of ways. And so I started to really think deeper about all of this, like, why are we doing all of

Being Present

1:26this?

Being Present

1:26So today we're going to talk about being present. Um, you know, a lot of times when I teach these classes, people ask me questions like, you know, let's talk about mindfulness and what does that actually mean? And, you know, really start, they start to think and dig into like, why mindfulness? Um, and, you know, it's, it's pretty plain and simple. Um, being in the present moment, um, takes you away from your head, um, from your thinking,

1:58you are no longer thinking about what's going to happen in the future. You're no longer thinking about what's going to happen. You know, what's happened in the past. You're not reliving things. You are just simply in this moment and, you know, it's not an easy place to be in. Um, I find that, you know, there's days that go by where I realize that like, oh my gosh, I haven't even taken a breath today. Like I have not checked in with myself. I don't know, you know, like, have I even like thought about anything today?

2:30Like it just goes by that fast. And I, and I'm not alone. Like I know that a lot of people live their lives just, you know, if you have, you have a family, you have a job, you have responsibilities, um, you have to do this and that and the other. And before you know it, you're back in bed, you know, getting ready for the next day. And it is just an endless cycle. And, you know, it is really up to us to stop ourselves for a moment and just really just

3:01look around. Like, where am I? What am I doing? Why is this important? What, what is this life? You know? And it's kind of, you know, I say that and it sounds kind of cheesy, but I mean, in a lot of ways, you know, we, we really don't, we really don't know how to stop, um, stop thinking. I've read, um, so many books this year about this actual subject. Um, one of them being, um, Eckhart Tolle's, um, The Power of Now. And, um, I read Joseph Wynn's, um, Don't Believe Everything You Think.

3:36Those couple of books kind of come to my mind right now because, you know, they are both really about stopping and being present. Um, and, you know, to really just, to really put words to, I mean, it's like, we all have so much going on half the time. I mean, have you ever like driven to work and you don't even remember the drive, you know? I mean, like your whole day goes by, you don't even remember like exactly what, you know,

4:08you haven't, you don't stop to think, you know, what am I doing right at this moment? You are in your head the entire day and we do this. Everybody does this at some point. And it's my job to help people to understand how we can separate ourselves from what's going on in our brains. And, um, so, you know, it is a lot simpler to explain to you, um, you know, how it is

4:39to, you know, just sit and journal and to really just separate yourself. But it isn't, it isn't realistic to think that, you know, that's the only way. And I think that that's why people get so shy about what I do and, you know, it's all like, I don't know. I mean, it is so common now to think about, you know, like people are now becoming more mindful. So that's good. That's a really good thing. But it's really, um, you know, it's a tricky thing.

5:10It's, it's a really tricky thing. Um, so in the book, the power of now, um, there was a really like a page I highlighted that I had to bring up, um, because it was just kind of like an experiment. Um, and in the book, it says, try a little experiment and close your eyes and say to yourself, I wonder what my next thought is going to be. Um, and then become very alert and wait for the next thought, uh, be like a cat watching

5:43a mouse hole. What thought is going to come out of, out of the mouse hole? And it just says, try that. And so it's kind of a, it was one of those things that I was like, okay, I am, I'm going to try it right now. And I did. And I, and I, I want you to try it too, because I think it's, it makes a lot of sense and it takes a little bit for your mind to actually wait, you know, you're actually waiting for that thought. Um, and, and as you're waiting, it's like, you're in the moment, you know?

6:14Um, another thing that I, um, I think is powerful is to just, to just stop for a moment and breathe and just look around you. And what I do is I just kind of like, I'm telling a story. What am I doing right now? You know, I'm sitting here, I'm talking to you. I'm, I'm, I'm expressing my thoughts about being present. I'm, you know, in my office, I'm, you know, like I start to, uh, describe everything that's

6:48happening in my life and in that moment. And for me, that really does put me in, in the place that I need to be in that present moment, um, it's a really difficult thing for people to stop. Um, this is why people, you know, shy away from meditating too. It's just like, why, why I can't do that. I can't stop thinking, you know, my brain is just nonstop. It's I I've tried it. You know, I've heard a lot of people. I've tried it. I've tried it. I was one of those people. Um, I was one of those people that could not connect for nothing.

7:20I would, you know, just, I would just be sitting there. And then all of a sudden I'm thinking about, you know, what I need to add to my grocery list or, you know, I mean, everybody, we're all human and we're all conditioned to think, um, and to think in certain ways, you know, and we're all conditioned to have a constant thing happening where we're just moving and everything is like, you know, programmed. And, you know, I have recently, especially, um, have really thought about like, how do

7:55I pull myself from that, that regular routine? Um, what can I do to separate myself from that routine just to make things a little bit different? Um, and so there's a lot of books that I've read, um, wake up grateful. There was a, there's a part in there that talks about like, you know, you know, change something up just, just to, just to, to throw something new into the mix and, you know, to really just become present. Um, sometimes when we do that, it's like, it reminds us, it's almost like when you, you

8:28know, redecorate or you change your living room. Um, my mom growing up always would change our living room. Like she just had this thing with changing, moving the furniture around every so often, and it would just made her feel better. Um, and I do the same thing. If my furniture wasn't so heavy, I'd do it more often, but you know, you, you do these things to kind of like shake it up a little bit. And so try that, like try to change something. Um, I think one of the examples, I don't know if it was in wake up grateful was like, you

8:59know, sleep in your bed on the opposite side, you know, like have your head where your feet go and, and just sleep like that for a night, you know, and it just like shakes things up. I don't know what the science is behind it, but I know that it's something that can be really fun and wonderful. And, you know, I'm sure your kids would get a kick out of sleeping on the other side. You know, I mean, it is, it is just these things, these tricks, um, you know, that we have to do to kind of, you know, wake up from, you know, what we are doing every day.

Practicing Presence

9:31Um, you know, I would say now that this is kind of the ideas are, are out there, um, to use this episode to kind of get you thinking about what are some things that you do to become more present. Um, and maybe you don't do anything. Maybe you, you haven't, um, and maybe you can make a list. Um, I made a list after I read the book, um, by Joseph Wynn, uh, Don't Believe Everything

10:03You Think, um, of all the things that I do, um, to get me out of that non, to get me into a non-thinking state, to really just be in what I'm doing. Um, this is why journaling is so important. This is why creating is so important. This is why I do what I do. It's the meat of what I do. I just love when people lose themselves in the creativity and they're just in it. There's no thinking. There's no, you know, there's no, you're not, you're not planning anything.

10:35You're not thinking about the past. You're not thinking about the future. You are just in it and you're enjoying it. And time goes by so fast. You know, when you're in something, when you're in a flow, when time goes by so fast and you're like, ah, it's already, you know, an hour has already gone by. I can't believe it's almost over, you know? And it's, it's that kind of thing. So make a list of the things that you feel are the things that keep you grounded, that keep you present, that have you not thinking about anything else, but what you are actually

11:08doing. Um, for some of us, it's, you know, cooking for me, it's art. Um, but it's a lot of things like I, you know, art is my joy. It is my love. It is what I do. Um, and I enjoy it so much, but I also have things like I do love cooking and I love, you know, like there, there's just certain things that I can do and, you know, collaging and doing, you know, like you have these things. And, and so you might even start thinking of a list right now of the things, um, but

11:40do that. Take this conversation that, that I'm having, uh, about this and let it inspire you to make that list of things. And so when you are feeling like you need to be more present, you're not doing enough. You, you know, you've coasted through a whole work week and haven't focused on yourself. Go to that list. Um, you know, it's just good to have it, to have it there.

12:12I hope this helps somebody today. Um, I have really missed doing these, um, episodes and I look forward to doing more. Um, I try to keep them short so that it's just kind of a thought. Maybe you listen to this on your way to work. Maybe, you know, you just, you need some kind of inspiration to journal or to, you know, whatever. I, I want to inspire. I want to help people. Um, I want people to feel, you know, like they can find joy in some of these things that

12:45I try to, you know, talk about. And, um, I'm so grateful that I have this as an outlet and I'm grateful that you're listening. So thank you for being here. I look forward to, um, the next episode and I will talk to you very soon.