Be Here, Now!

 

You’ve undoubtedly heard the phrase “Be here, now.” It’s a way to remind ourselves that life is lived in the present moment, and it’s well worth enjoying whatever we can in the present. But “Be here, now” is also a wonderful way to soothe ourselves when confronted by something anxiety-provoking or that upsets us. It’s not necessarily a solution or a cure-all, but it is a way to ground ourselves.

For example, I’m driving along a California freeway during rush hour. No one is going anywhere very fast, even though we’re in the “fast lane.” We’re sort of all muddling along at a respectable 50 mph. Suddenly a car some 10 car lengths ahead comes to an abrupt stop, which makes everyone behind that car stop abruptly, the domino effect, which is fine, except the car directly in front of me couldn’t stop quite fast enough, so they did exactly what the driver’s ed manual says to do, and veered into the left shoulder so as not to hit the car in front of them, and managed not to hit the concrete divider either.

Seeing this, my heart rate zoomed as I jammed on my brakes, praying that those behind me would as well, and fortunately, within minutes, everything settled down and cars started going again. Slowly. Very slowly. Meanwhile, to stop the frantic beating of my heart and incipient panic attack, I started in on my grounding mantra: “safe, warm and dry.” As in I’m safe, right here, right now. Right here, right now, I’m in my car, undamaged, unhurt, able to continue driving to my destination. I’m safe. In this moment, right here, right now, I’m OK. I take a couple of deep breaths to further calm myself, and off I go.

You may wonder about the “warm and dry.” In the aftermath of the wildfire that destroyed my home, not knowing where, what, how, when, or whatever else was going to happen, I repeated endlessly to myself “I’m safe, warm and dry.” That was the “here, now” that mattered. That I and my dogs were safe, warm and dry. Everything else was literally up for grabs.

No, grounding yourself isn’t intended to solve whatever situation has you scared or upset, but it will help your mind stop barreling down the rabbit hole of imminent disaster long enough to take realistic stock of whatever’s going on. To be more present to what’s required given the situation. In the “sudden stop” example, to resume driving with a sufficient degree of calm so that I could be a decent driver.

There’s power in the present, in the “here, now.” Don’t take it for granted, use it, appreciate it and enjoy its many benefits.