Why are my feet so cold?

When was the last time you were “present”?

I am talking about the last time you fully engaged with your reality and surroundings and identified things as they are…without judgement.I mean the last time you sat still, quieted your mind, your heart, your intentions and focused one “what is” “as is” without putting effort into understanding why, what and how.

I had the chance to do this today and had another amazing breakthrough.

Today I finished my workout and sat in the steam room…meditating.

I focused on my breaths…again 4 count in, hold for 2, 4 count out and hold for 2.

After a few times of this, my mind and heart were quieted enough for me to move to the next step…focus on presence. I like to focus on my focus words in order to get the most out of them and to make the actionable.

How do I choose which word? I run through them all and engage with the once that feels right…today it is presence. So I kept repeating that word as I sat in the steam, focusing on my breath and allowing every thought to pass by without engaging.

If you are new to meditation, that last part of the process is key. I don’t try to fight the thoughts that come through any more, I accept my thoughts as they are and for what they are and then let them pass by. This helps to get me into a focused state quickly and without much effort.

Presence.

The definition of presence: “the state or fact of existing, occurring, or being present in a place or thing.”

Presence is the the fact of existing.

As I focused on being present, I focused on what was occurring around me, what sensations were existing in my space.

So there I was:

listening to the sound of steam blowing into the roomfeeling the warmth of the steam as it engulfed the roomfeeling the cold of the tile under my feetfeeling the cold of the tile on which I was sittingfeeling the discomfort in my back and shoulders from my workoutfeeling the sweat droplets pool up on my skinfeeling the air enter my nostrils and into my lungs

and then I felt something “odd”…a cold breeze across my feet.

Immediately, as if on queue, my mind raced to judgment; why are my feet so cold, where is the breeze coming from, what was it here, what do I do to get rid of it and so on.

In an effort to understand our reality, we often miss the exact nature of said reality because  we jump to judgement so quickly.

In that moment I decided to not make judgments on the cold air but to get accept it. Period. There was a cold breeze on my feet. Period.

Now that I accepted my reality I then realized that I didn’t care for my reality and I could take action. I didn’t like the cold on my feet…so I had to get higher. I stood up, got on the top most seat, crossed my legs and continued to meditate and focus on presence.

And in that moment if felt the next of my three words, I felt peace. I was simply there with no need of trying to figure anything out or make sense of anything that was going on in life. In the moment that I was fully present by accepting the fact of my existence I experienced peace.

And then it hit me…the distinct connection between presence and peace is exactly what hit me yesterday - integrity. To find true peace in life, one must start by facing the present moment with honesty and integrity, without judgment and accepting the fact of existence.

That is where I am going to go tomorrow…but for now I am going to fully engage in this moment and experience the fact of existence as is with no  judgement!