My 7-year-old is in the Did You Know? phase, and it’s keeping me on my toes. If you have children, do you know of this? The daily dialogue of questions such as, “Mom, did you know jellyfish have no brain? Mom, did you know that monkeys peel their bananas from the bottom? Mom, did you know that you could fit one million earths into the sun?”

Last weekend, I had a special 1:1 date with my son – no brother, no father, no dog, no distractions. Just him and me. We went to the pool, where he proudly showed me all sorts of jumping and diving tricks. When we came home, we played Skip-Bo, one of his favorite card games. It was quite a special time.

Except, the entire time, my mind had drifted elsewhere. Sometimes, when I’m churning over a problem in my head, it’s like an underlying program that’s constantly running. It is like when a computer fan starts to run loudly, which disables my attention to anything else.

My son mimicking the “SLOW!” kid statue on our special date.
© Kathy J. Sotak

On the drive home from the pool, my mind was running one of its background programs with a very loud fan. All of a sudden, my son chirps up from the back, “Mom, did you know your brain can only focus on one thing at a time?”

It’s as if he knew that my mind was elsewhere. My mental background program was robbing my present. I need to find the on-off switch, now. How do I do it?

Here’s two tricks I’ve been testing out this week:

1. Ground the body. Look down at your feet, and notice exactly where they are rooting into this earth. If sitting, feel the skin and bones where they are touching the chair, sofa or bed. Feel that earth is cradling your physical body here and now, on this earth, in this moment. Better yet: Take off your shoes and stand or lie on the grass, to “plug in” and ground directly to the earth.

2. Tap the body. The simple act of patting the skin or tapping acupressure points helps turn off the intellectual mind and ground in the present. It’s as easy as it sounds: just pat up and down the arms, chest, legs, back, and even skull. Try clapping the air around the body (think the energy field that surrounds your physical body). This has been very effective for me to snap me into the present and into my body. A special scalp massage: Using all of your fingers as a comb, gently pull the base of your hair, hold for a few seconds, then release. Do this all around the scalp for an energizing scalp massage.

Time is a human invention. There is only one time, and that is this moment, right now. The past or future does not exist; it’s just one of those background programs, robbing me of today. If I’ve missed out on this now moment, I’ve missed life. The only moment I can be here for is this one, now, in this flesh and bone.

Did you know?