Alive, aware, and here

Why being in the present is the kindest place to be

There’s something powerful about silence

And when I say silence, I don’t mean being quiet for 5 minutes.
I mean consciously spending time observing what’s around us, and what’s inside of us, without the need to express through the voice.

I travelled to Sri Lanka for two weeks and had the great privilege to do a Vipassana: a meditation and silence retreat.
No speaking. No technology. No electricity. All day, every day, for 5 days.

The noise we obey

As humans, we are used to giving the body and mind what they want the moment they ask for it.

Hungry? We run for food.
Thirsty? We run for water.
Horny? We run for pleasure.

The body, though wonderful, is absolutely spoiled by the mind.
And the mind, well — same.

We let the mind wander with endless thoughts: scenarios, the future, memories, the past.
We let it sink into hours and hours of things that haven’t even occurred.

It’s almost absurd how much power we give to the mind.

Illustration by kiracyan.design

But then... imagine you stop.
You just make the body and mind stop.
You stop spoiling the body.

Acknowledge its pains.
Acknowledge the hunger.
Acknowledge the thirst.
And let them be — without reacting straight away.

You start to negotiate:

“Hold that meditation posture 15 more minutes, and then we’ll change it.”
“I know you’re hungry. Please be patient as I am focused on something else right now”

Training the body is powerful.
Otherwise, we end up just being slaves to it.

And the mind?

What can I say?

We spend the whole day thinking.
We struggle to stay here.
We struggle to acknowledge we’re walking in the street — we’re already thinking about dinner, about next week’s work, the deadlines, the calls.

The mind doesn’t stop, unless… we train it to.

The refuge of now

Everybody knows it’s important to be in the present.
To focus on the now.

Pinterest quotes.
Tumblr.
Spiritual coaches
Therapists.

We’re surrounded by the urge to be present.

We all know it.
Most of us don’t act on it.

Probably because we don’t know how.

Because — let’s be real —
how the fuck do we stop in a fast-paced world and society like this one?

I certainly had no clue how to stay present.
How to not let stress grow and grow, thinking about what’s next, what’s needed.

Stress comes from a lack of time.

Too little time.
Too much time.
Too slow.
Too fast.
Too everything.

But in the end, it’s all about what hasn’t happened.
The future.

And we let our mind take every little thought about what’s next as if it were a situation of life and death.

Every thought is taken too seriously.

And — disclaimer — it’s not.

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When we open our eyes and our hearts to the world around us — that’s when we really observe.

There’s only beauty.
There’s so much to be grateful for.
There’s pure humanity in the small things.

When we’re in the present:

staring deeply into nature,
into our food,
into listening actively to our close people instead of wanting to reply —

I’ve come to realize there’s a deep pleasure in being alive.

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After I left the Buddhist center, I didn’t want to open social media.
It felt so superficial, so numbing.

And that’s when it hit me.

What’s the point?

What’s the point of spending hours scrolling,
instead of spending time aware
of our surroundings,
our present thoughts,
of honoring those who’ve spent hours bringing the food we eat in five minutes to our table?

What’s the point of the terrible spikes in the nervous system because of that work deadline —
of working 10 hours a day for someone else?

What’s the point of caring so much about what others think,
when at the end, everyone is mostly thinking about themselves?

What’s the point of spending hours and hours of the day stressed about things that haven’t even happened yet —
only to affect us deeply,
disturb our sleep,
our present,
our peace?

What.

Is.

The.

Point?

I really don’t know.

But if I learnt something in the Vipassana, it’s this:

There’s really no better and safer place to be than in the now.

We’re protected in the now:

from suffering,
from the past,
from tragedies,
from the future.

The now is the biggest refuge we have as humans.

If only we spent more time there.

Perhaps there would be:

less suffering,
less stress,
more internal peace,
and more value for being alive.

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Doing this Vipassana was surely one of the greatest experiences of my life.

Entrance of the Buddhist center in Sri Lanka

Spending 10 hours a day meditating, practicing awareness in silence, and training my mind and body gave me powerful tools to navigate existence.

Because — yes — existing is difficult.
It’s challenging.
It’s full of beauty.
And it’s also full of obstacles.

I entered the center as myself, and left feeling more connected than ever
to myself,
to my heart,
to the world around me.

That’s my wish for humanity:

To smile
not just with our face,
but as we breathe,
as we cook,
as we simply are.

To smile, entirely.

What a privilege it is to be alive.
And what a greater privilege it is to be aware of it.

Stay wild <3

Isabella