Welcome!
My name is Rianna and this is part of my 30 Days of Journaling series.
Each day can be listened on its own,
So you don't need to follow the series in order.
Just pick the word that speaks most to you.
And today we're going to explore presence.
Because it's so easy to get lost in yesterday or tomorrow that we forget about right now.
I mean just last evening I caught myself scrolling on my phone while a gorgeous sunset was happening right outside my window.
Or maybe you have seen that video that went viral about a woman who was sitting on a bench in a park on her phone and then they asked everybody to quietly leave and they replaced all the people with statues.
And when she finally looked up she was so confused.
And you know this is how quickly you can miss the moment.
Let's not miss this one.
So please I invite you if you're able to close your eyes and we're going to take a deep slow breath in and exhale out.
I'm going to take one more deep breath in.
With your eyes closed we're going to do a short practice which I call the five sentence.
And I want you to notice one thing that you can hear.
Something in your environment.
Something that pops up.
It can be a loud sound,
It can be a soft sound.
And focus on that.
No judgment.
Just be present with that sound.
And now notice one thing that you can see even with your eyes closed.
Maybe you see some colors,
Some shapes,
Or maybe it's all black.
Just be with what you can see right now.
And now I invite you to focus on something that you can touch.
So maybe it's something with your hands.
Maybe they're touching each other or your hands are on your lap.
Your feet on the ground.
What is something that you can feel that your body is touching right now?
Now we're going to focus on one thing that you can smell.
Maybe that's a plant in a room.
Maybe it's your perfume.
Maybe it's a cup of coffee next to you.
And now the last one.
We're going to keep the most difficult one for last.
What is one thing that you can taste?
Is it your breakfast,
Your lunch,
Or dinner?
Maybe it's toothpaste.
Notice on that one thing that you can taste.
Awesome.
Now you're not just here.
You're fully here.
I'm going to make it a little bit more challenging.
With your eyes closed,
Focus on the thing that you can hear and see and touch and smell and taste all at the same moment.
Focus on all these different senses at the same moment.
Awesome.
Great practice.
Now let's take a final deep breath in and out.
Perfect.
Whenever you're ready,
You can open your eyes,
Grab your journal or a notebook and a pen.
And now with your eyes open,
Write down five sensory details around you right now.
So this can be sounds,
Smells,
Textures,
Whatever comes up.
Perfect.
If you need a bit more time,
You can hit the pause button.
Now I invite you to write down,
Or to think about it at first maybe,
What kind of things anchor you back to the present?
Whenever you have a challenging day or you're going through a transition or a challenging moment,
What kind of things anchor you back to the present?
For me,
For example,
It's petting an animal or going for a walk.
I really feel present in those moments.
So what is that for you?
And now describe a moment you had recently when you felt completely present and alive.
What were you doing?
With who were you?
What was going on?
When was it?
And now my final question for today is,
If today were the only day you had,
What would you savor most?
So it's not about what would you do,
But what would you savor most,
Which moment?
You know,
It's often the small things that we,
I've talked to a lot of people who lost a partner or lost a loved one.
And they always say,
It's not the big things.
It's the small things.
It's that hug in the morning,
That cup of coffee that was ready,
That short chat before falling asleep,
All these kind of little things.
So what is that for you?
If today were the only day you had,
What would you savor most?
Perfect.
So when your mind starts running off later today with work or other challenging things that you're dealing with,
Just come back to that little snapshot,
That moment.
That is your present.
Thank you so much for joining me today.
And if you'd like to keep going with these gentle,
Simple reflections,
You can find more tracks if you search for it by my name or right on my Insight Timer profile.
It's just a calm,
Practical way to check in with yourself each day.
There's no pressure.
There's no perfection.
Just a few minutes to breathe,
Reflect,
And to reset.
Hope to see you in the next day.
