stepping

been getting the same message from all quadrants lately. Eckhart Tolle encapsulates it well:

Your entire life journey ultimately consists of the step you are taking at this moment.

It can be so tempting to look ahead or behind me for a reference point about where I am. My self-generated challenge lately has been to look within me instead -- to pay attention my inner guidance, which shows itself using a myriad of physical sensations; expansion/contraction, warmth/coolness, pleasure/discomfort, and opening/closing.

Sometimes it's hard to immerse my body and mind fully in the present step. I want to zoom ahead and ruminate about where this step is leading -- to predict the destination to see if I like it or not. Yes, I know the destination is never guaranteed. Intellectually, I realize this. But the part of me that really likes security still wants to scan and plan for desired outcomes.

Seems with each passing day this habit becomes less and less ingrained. I am so grateful for all the teachers and mentors who have helped me figure out what to do instead. Now when I notice the anxious feeling that tells me my mind is spinning off into the future, I remember that it just needs something better to do; kind of like a little kid who gets bored while his mom is visiting with a friend and starts digging into cabinets and underneath things in an attempt to find something interesting or entertaining.

My mind is stopped cold in its obsessive tracks if I give it a body-related task. So I've started telling it to scan and identify the points of greatest pressure. If I am standing, I tell it to discover how my weight is distributed on my feet.

My cranial therapist also taught me to try to feel my fourth toe on the floor - the one next to the pinkie. For me, doing this takes almost all of my attention; I can't hold anything else in my consciousness at the same time. And something funny happens if I try to resume my obsessive thinking after that - I just can't find my way back! It's like the trail has been erased. I love that.