The Gift of the Precious Present - Living a mindful life.

Living a mindful, or conscious, or aware life can actually help make us better Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus or followers of whatever religious traditions we have been born into or have chosen for ourselves.

Mindfulness is the practice of living in the present moment, or The Now. Many of us spend so much time living in our pasts, or fantasising about our futures. Neither of which actually exist! And then we miss out on the "Precious Present". And what a gift the precious present is.

It is the only thing that any of us can really possess in our lifetimes. With each moment, with each breath, we have life. If we are breathing, we know we are alive! And with life, we have so much to celebrate. If we do not breathe, we are not alive. Sometimes we forget, and the practice of mindfulness is all about stopping, being aware of our breath and about living in awareness.

And enjoying the simple things in life on this oh so pretty mid-Atlantic island of Bermuda that we all call home. At this moment!

We have so much to celebrate when we live in the present. So often we forget our gifts of seeing, hearing, tasting, touching and smelling.

For those of us who are so blessed to have all of our five senses, there is much to enjoy. The gift of sight, for all of us blessed to be living in one of the most spectacularly beautiful places on earth, can be a daily celebration. With the turquoise seas and blue sky encircling the Islands of Bermuda, the scenes around our wonderful island home change daily both with the weather and the seasons.

Stop, take three or four breaths and appreciate the beauty that surrounds us on a daily basis.

With our other four senses, we can equally appreciate a mindful moment or two, when we allow our mind-chatter to stop. With conscious breathing we can stop and appreciate the wonderful sounds in nature, or the abundant food that we are eating and then these moments are magic.

We don't have to die in order to go to Heaven, we can have it right now, here on earth! Touch too is such a wonderful gift, just watch a baby discover different textures. Her little hands spend all day discovering new things to touch.

"Stop and smell the roses", how often do we do this on a daily basis?

All it really takes is to remember to stop for a moment, breathe, and give ourselves a few seconds to celebrate the gift of the precious present.

By using prayer, or meditation, we can stop our minds from living in regrets of the past, or fantasising about the future, and learn how to re-appreciate and celebrate the precious present. After all, it is all any of us really have got in this life!

Jeanie Seward Magee can be reached at The Mindfulness Practice Community of Bermuda (236-4988) or at iamhomeibl.bm