Yesterday I held a newborn baby in my arms. Just shy of eight pounds in weight, and only forty-eight hours old, she lay sleeping in my arms. She rested in complete peace, relying on us to provide everything she needed to keep her tiny body comfortable and safe.
Everything else left my mind. In that moment, nothing was more pressing or more needed than breathing in that baby’s beauty and grace. Time stopped as I studied her little nose and felt her tiny back rise and fall with each breath.
On the way home from our visit, we made an unexpected stop to visit a relative who has been recovering from an injury. We touched beautiful yarn, hugged, laughed, and breathed in the joy of being together. Again, everything else left my mind, creating space to be fully in the moment of connection.
Some of my clients and friends tell me they have a hard time meditating. “My brain jumps around too much.” “I can’t focus.” “I like the idea of meditating, but it’s too hard for me.” While a meditation practice can help us become more present in our lives, our life can also become one big meditation practice. We get to choose where we look, for how long, and what level of meditation we want to experience. If vibrant sunsets, spring blossoms, and Great Dane hugs barely fit in with all the other racing thoughts, then hold a newborn. Reach out and touch the hand of someone who is healing, or dying, or learning to walk again for a whole new part of their path in life. Be with them. Listen. Breathe in peace, breathe out peace. Repeat.
Sometimes I leap, and sometimes I take baby steps toward seeing the miracle of each moment. Of one thing I am sure–our joy lives in being able to see the beauty and miracle of these moments as easily as we breathe in, breathe out.