A resolution-type thought on staying present
Happy New Year!
I was holding a deep squat position recently while doing a workout. It was one of my exercises, just holding a deep squat, heels on the ground while holding onto a band attached to the wall in front of me to keep me from falling backward. This is an intense position for me and something I try to keep in my rotation. This particular day, I was holding it for 3 minutes, longer than usual. Because my hands were occupied by the band, I couldn’t use my phone as a distraction. I had to just sit there and tolerate the hold.
The first two rounds, I focused on my breath and the intense sensations I was feeling in my hips and the fronts of my ankles. I felt calm, and the task was challenging but totally doable. I actually felt like I could have stayed in it longer.
By the time the third round came along I had lost my focus and my mind was racing with life stuff. I wasn’t paying attention to my breath and my thoughts were jumping around various to-do lists. I found myself immediately unable to tolerate more than 45 seconds of the 3 minute hold. The sensations in my hips and ankles felt overbearing, even though it was the same set of sensations I felt earlier and could totally handle. It was one of those moments where the impact of mindfulness was so obvious I couldn’t ignore it. The moment my mind was racing with thoughts of future states of being, my system felt so aroused, agitated, and impatient that I had to get out of the squat. It was so fascinating how easily I sat for 3 minutes for two separate rounds just moments earlier in my set.
How might this be useful for you? Like for me, it was a gentle reminder of the power of paying attention to the moment. The position I was in felt totally doable while in one state of mind and completely intolerable in another state of mind, just a few minutes apart. The quality of your mind, your thoughts, your ruminations, your to-do lists all have an impact on how you react to the sensations you’re feeling in your body. The implication of this practice for a painful state is no different. Imagine that you're experiencing a bad bout of back pain. You’re trying to get through the holidays, you have a million things to do, a million things to cook, and a million things to send. You’re already at capacity mentally so that when your back pain starts up, it feels intolerable. It’s a scary nuisance that’s getting in your way and it’s bringing you down. So you ice it, warm it, stretch it, race to the doctor to scan it. You change your plans, worry about how changing your plans will just put you even more behind, and then continue to worry that your back pain is detrimental. What if you took a moment to just feel your back and breathe? When you experience pain, staying calm, focusing on your breathing, and staying with the sensationsto feel them openly and objectively can change how you react to your pain and to your body in the moment. It might give you a chance to continue your current activity more slowly but mindfully. It might help you make a more grounded decision about what to do and what not to do with your body in its painful state, rather than a decision of haste. Slowing down the speed of your thoughts may allow you to be in the moment with your body -- which in turn may help you get through the moment.
Happy 2025 🥂 Here’s to always keeping moving and bringing in just a few more moments of presence into our lives than last year.