Finding the joy in the moment

A few years ago, I took a Birthing From Within workshop. A colleague (and friend), who had already been following her own Birthing From Within path for some time, told me "It will change your life."

She was being quite sincere, but I was doubtful. Not because I thought she was wrong, so much as "What if I'm not ready for it?". But, as they say, you take (learn) from something that which you are able to take, and sometimes more comes to you later, it's all a matter of whether you are willing to let it change you or not.

That has certainly been my experience with the workshop. Interestingly ehough, the most profound changes have come from the reading and other work I did prior to the workshop; and this blog's very existence owes a lot to that experience. Heck, the origin of the title comes from another workshop I participated in, one with Pam England herself, called "Birth as a Hero's Journey". During that workshop, Pam spoke with us about finding our inner love warrior in any given situation. It's much more than that, of course, but I don't feel qualified to speak on it further. If you ever get an opportunity to attend a lecture or workshop with Pam, though, I heartily encourage you to do so- as my friend Cindy said, "It will change your life" (if you are willing to let it).

One of the books I read spoke about being present in the moment. At first, it seemed an odd statement- how could I *not* be present in the moment when doing something? But it's not about our physical presence, of course, it's about being focused on the task at-hand, and enjoying the task for what it is, not "doing the dishes to get them done". (If you are interested in reading more, I encourage you to check out Thich Nhat Hanh's book, "The Miracle of Mindfulness").

When you really think about it, most of us have a habit of not being present in the moment for many things ... how often have you found yourself "running on auto-pilot"? Or doing a task (such as washing the dishes), but thinking more about the next thing on your to-do list, or ruminating about an issue you might be having with a co-worker or friend or family member?

I'm still learning how to do this, but I am making an effort to ask, as Pam put it on one of her training CD's, "How do you bring your love to the full moon?".

Food for thought. (my next blog will be about food, so that's really a tie-in statement)