Carole’s Note: This is a guest post by Andrea Hess, Intuitive Consultant and author of Unlock Your Intuition.
Most of us have very busy minds. Our attention is often focused on the future or revisiting the past. Very rarely are we truly in the present moment.
Here is a very simple, yet effective technique to return yourself to the present moment, get out your head and back into your body in a fun way.
Andrea Hess:
How I discovered the, come home to yourself, technique:
I learned this skill quite by accident whilst working on a blog article at my favourite coffee shop. Two women occupied the table next to me. I wasn’t paying much attention, until I noticed them engaging in a very peculiar exercise.
One woman was guiding the other women through a series of steps. “Look at the ceiling. Now touch your water glass. Now close your eyes. Open them. Touch your nose. Look to the right. Crumple your napkin. Tug on your right earlobe. Look to the right again”.
Her companion happily followed her instructions, step by step. After a while, a big, bright smile came to her lips. She then took a deep breath, and the exercise was over.
I couldn’t help myself. Even if it meant admitting that I’d been eavesdropping, I just had to know what this bizarre behavoir was all about. I excused myself for interrupting, and asked what this exercise was supposed to accomplish.
The woman giving the instruction turned out to be a psychologist. She was kind enough to explain that the exercise was designed to get people out of their head, and back into their bodies. A combination of commands that involves our physical senses can bring focus and awareness back into their bodies and into the present moment.
The essence of the, come home to yourself technique:
The important thing here is not so much what we do, but that we create a succession of movements with our eyes and hands, its designed to be spontaneous. We don’t have to have someone else issue these commands for us. We can do this exercise on our own!
We can look up and down, to the left and to the right. We can touch whatever is in front of us or touch our own body.
Through a rapid succession of these small actions, our awareness comes back into our body. The result is usually a big smile - and not just because we feel slightly silly but because its a huge relief to come back to the here and now.
Being in the present moment releases us from the many things on our to-do list, even just for a little while. It relieves stress. Most of the time, the present moment is really quite pleasant. We’re just usually too busy to notice it.
Go ahead - try it:
1. Touch your elbow
2. Touch your belly button
3. Snap the fingers of your right hand
4. Pat the top of your head
5. Look to the left
6. Touch your nose with your left hand
7: Touch whatever is near your computer pen, glass, paper
9. Look at the ceiling
9. Clap your hands
Are you smiling?
Are you breathing?
Are you back in your body yet?
If you find your mind racing or feel stressed, use this simple exercise to come home to yourself. Be with your physical body, anchored in the present moment. Allow concerns over the future to melt away for just a short while. With a little practice, you may find yourself dwelling in the present moment more often!
译文:
回归自我
卡萝儿备注：这是安德里亚海斯（直觉咨询师和《开启你的直觉》一书的作者）的访客邮件。
我们中大多数人都非常忙碌。通常，我们的注意力不是集中在将来就是在重访过去。我们极少真正地关注当下这一刻。
这里有一种非常简单而且有效的方法，它可以帮助你回到此时此刻，停止空想，以一种快乐的方式回归你的身体。
安德里亚海斯：
我是在一家我最衷爱的咖啡馆写博文时偶然习得这种技巧的。那天，有两个女人坐在我隔壁桌。开始,我没有太在意，直到我发现她们在做一种奇怪的练习我才开始注意她们。
其中一个正在指导另一个做一系列的动作。“抬起头看天花板，现在碰一下你的茶杯。现在闭上眼睛，睁开眼睛，碰你的鼻子，向右看，把你的餐巾弄皱。拉你的右耳垂，再向右看。”
她的女伴神情愉悦，一步一步跟着她的指示做动作，过了一会儿，她的脸上就绽放出了美丽的笑容。她做了个深呼吸，练习到此结束。
我无法抑制住自己的好奇心，这种奇怪的动作到底是什么呢？即便是要承认我偷听了她们的谈话，我也决心要获得解答。于是，我冒昧介入了她们的谈话，询问这种练习到底有什么功效？
原来，那个说指令的女人是心理学家。她十分友好地解释了这是一种能帮助人们停止思考并回归身体的练习。一系列的动作指令能使我们集中注意力和意识，使它们回归身体和当下的时刻。
重点并不在于我们做了什么，而在于我们用眼和手创造的一系列自然的动作。我们并不一定需要另一个人来发出指令，自己也可以完成这个练习。
我们可以向上、向下、向左或向右看，还可以触碰我们面前的任何东西或者触摸自己的身体。
通过一系列快速的小动作，我们的意识回到了自己的身体上。最后通常会产生一个微笑，但这不仅仅是因为我们感觉有点傻，还因为它让我们感受到一种回归当下的释然。
回归当下把我们从满满的日程表中释放出来，即便只是一会儿，也能舒缓压力。很多时候，此时此刻真的非常惬意，然而我们总是忙忙碌碌，忽略它的存在。
试一试这些动作吧：
1. 触碰你的胳膊肘
2. 摸一下你的肚脐眼
3. 掰一下你右手的手指
4. 拍拍你的头顶
5. 向左看
6. 用左手碰你的鼻子
7. 碰碰你电脑旁边的东西（笔，镜子，纸都可以）
8. 看天花板
9. 拍手
现在你是在笑还是深呼吸呢？
你回归自己的身体了吗？
如果你觉得心绪不宁或者压力太大，试试这种练习吧！把你的意识重新带回自己的身体，让它在此刻休息一下。让那些对将来的顾虑消失一会儿吧。只要一个小练习，你就会看到自己更多地活在当下。