1. Focus on the present, not the past or the future
There was a time, oh sweet elf, when you were poetry itself, Christopher Morley
When we are very young, we give little or no thought or attention to the past and future, instead we live in the continuous present. In doing so, we were fully present to our experience (rather than our thinking).
Adults will always experience life differently from young children, but focusing on the present moment helps us to:-
- being aware of life, vivacity or consciousness in all things and our connection to them, which revitalizes us
- being more present, which helps us avoid accidents, which is the most important factor in staying healthy
- avoid increasing the weight of time we impose on ourselves with our past/future regrets, worries, grudges, you should, hopefully…
- relax the tiring and therefore aging habit of unproductive thinking.
When and how you can (for example, leave the clock off, limit useless thoughts related to time) forget about time.
2. Open questions based on the live present
Focusing on the present does not rule out the possibility of positive change. On the contrary, it increases the probability of it. An effective way to focus on being present and facilitating the change we want to see is to ask open-ended questions and pay attention to what is then different. Since we can only consciously notice a small fraction of ‘reality’, let’s look at what is most useful.
3. Play out of time
…certain women who work with spiritual power and outside of time take on an almost timeless quality. Simon Buxton, The Shamanic Way of the Bee
We don’t have to be perfect or special to play outside of time (or in the ‘gap’, field of all possibilities, matrix, source, consciousness, God, etc.), we just need to surrender our sense of control and fall into our heart. and our being. When we do this, we have a fuller, deeper sense and connection to the present moment, and our sense of time tends to stretch or shrink. We also have a deeper connection to ourselves, others, and our environment, allowing us to be aware of and present many things that we would otherwise miss. Our normal mode of existence is one-dimensional and our interactions superficial in comparison. Surrendering and diminishing desire allows what is timeless, perfect, beautiful, and unique in us to shine through our outer layers, which can give us an everlasting quality.
4. Cultivate intuition and creativity
Playing in the gap also makes us more intuitive and creative, qualities that we can cultivate separately. Benefits include:-
- being less trapped and dependent on our rational minds and therefore more present
- Instead of focusing on personalities, our own and other people’s, that don’t last, we bring something that is timely (relevant to the moment) from the timeless into our everyday work world.
- develops useful skills and attitudes
- playing out of time
5. Open up, relax, accept and breathe
The more we open up, relax and accept, the more energy can flow through us. Relaxation, acceptance and openness support each other.
Suggested Resources: Sacred movements, yoga, stretching, and massage may help. Even more simple and fundamental, we can fully accept the breath of life, opening our bodies by taking deep breaths and breathing into the places where we feel trapped or contracted. And we can become more open, relaxed and flexible by playing more.
6. Live with an open heart
Hardening of the heart ages people faster than hardening of the arteries. franklin field
The most important part of ourselves that we must keep open is our heart. When we close our hearts, we restrict the depth of our connection to each other and to all life, which restricts the flow of energy, of life. As a culture, we are becoming more and more self-centered, but recent studies show that those who provide a significant amount of support to others tend to live longer.
7. Live with an open mind
Use it or lose it.
If we don’t use our minds, they tend to atrophy and lose their flexibility. Our repetitive thoughts and attitudes eventually affect our facial expression so that we become caricatures of ourselves. Therefore, in order not to be old, we need to use our mind well, being careful what we repeat and continually doing, learning and thinking new things.
One way to enter the timeless dimension is to be absorbed by something. All beliefs (which are thoughts we’ve heard repeated by ourselves or others) can keep us from perceiving life anew, which also keeps us from being interested enough in anything to be absorbed. For absorption, we have to accept all ideas as provisional and investigate the ones that interest us.
8. Open up to life
And the day came when the risk of remaining locked in a bud was more painful than the risk of blossoming. anais nin
It may seem that we are able to hold on to life longer if we remain closed, but in doing so, we become disconnected from life and the flow of life force energy. Flourishing implies following what interests us and taking intelligent risks. In addition to doing new things, we delve into them fully, with passion, giving it our all. This accelerates the life force in us, makes us enthusiastic about life. Includes indoor adventure.
9. Cultivate joy and energy
To increase our life force, we do well to cultivate joy and energy. We are all different, so we all need to figure out what gives us the most joy and energy. This includes what we eat, where we live, how we spend our time, and who and what we spend it with.
When we’re down, we often isolate ourselves, but being in the positive energy of others, even if it’s just in a cafe in the middle of strangers, can lift our energy and spirit. For best results, cultivate friendships and habits that enhance your life, joy, and energy. I mention clothes because some of us spend more time on the Internet or on TV than we do with our friends.
10. Avoid forcing
In ancient China, those people who had a disease were often the healthiest. Many of us have also benefited from a wake-up call, but our deep-seated habits of forcing the pace, of thinking that faster and faster is better, and our inability to listen to our bodies often cause major setbacks.
11. Own your own power
To prevent muscle loss and osteoporosis, our muscles need weight-bearing exercises. Similarly, other ‘muscles’, such as the muscles that make decisions and the ones we use to feel our feelings, defend ourselves or express ourselves, also need exercise. When older people come into care and stop using these muscles, they tend to age quickly. Even before this, when these muscles are not used effectively, we may be childish, but our energy is often blocked or we are weighed down with emotional baggage, both of which cause us to age prematurely.