I was sitting in silent meditation on the porch of the hotel. My day felt busy already despite the fact that it was morning. As I settled into meditation, I noticed that my mind was busy.

“Where should we get breakfast?”

“What time should we go for a walk on the ocean?”

“How much longer before the dryer is done and I need to go get the clothes?”

Question after question, thought after thought, rolled through my mind. There was an endless supply of thoughts and there didn’t seem to be a shortage of things that my mind could throw at me.

“HEY!”  I yelled at my mind trying to disrupt the loop that I was caught in. 

“Stop, none of that matters at this moment. None of it.”

I gently brought my awareness back to my body. I felt what my chest felt like. I felt the energy that I was holding in my shoulders and as I held my awareness in my shoulders I felt the tension release and the energy melt. I kept my awareness with my body, simply being present with what was happening for me. After a couple of minutes, I noticed that my whole body started to relax. I was no longer out in the future, thinking about the day and all of the things that needed to happen. I had truly come back to my body, back to presence, back to the here and now. 

The sound of the crashing waves felt like mother nature was singing me a lullaby. As I sat listening to the sound of the ocean, I felt a warmness wash over my whole body despite the fact that there was a cool breeze with the early morning air. The warmness was the sensation attached to gratitude. Gratitude for being alive, gratitude for being right here in this moment getting to experience this ocean on this morning in this body. 

When I finished the meditation and slid open the door to return to the room and my family, I noticed a clear difference. I was no longer feeling stressed, I was no longer thinking of all of the things that needed to happen and what the timing would be. I ran my hands through my youngest son's hair and kissed his forehead. This is what presence feels like. This is what living feels like. This is what peace feels like.