It seems to me the concept of living in the present or the Now is a focus of much conversation. One example is, Eckhart Tolle, who was recently featured on Oprah with a ten week webinar of his book The New Earth which is all about the power of living in the Now. I attended a week long Yoga and Meditation retreat in Mexico and the theme of the week was the power of living in the present. Life can only happen right now. It doesn’t happen in the past and it can’t happen in the future. The power of life is right now in the present.

I also attended a training program on giving powerful presentation. This was also a week long program and the main focus was on being present in all you do. The best way to connect with your audience is to be authentic and fully present in the moment. So what does this mean? To be present in the moment means that your mind is clear, you are not worrying about the past or future. You are focused only on being present right here and now.

While I was at the retreat in Mexico, I was reading a fascinating book by Dr. David Hawkins simply entitled ” I: Reality and Subjectivity”. Here is his description of living in the present. He compares living in the present to the rise and fall of waves in the ocean. “If the focus of the sense of ‘me’ is on the rising crest, the person never lives in reality but is constantly poised with the expectation of control the next instant. They are therefore constantly concerned with the future. If the focus is on the back of the falling wave, then the ‘me’ tends to cling to the past and editorializing. With some practice, the focus can be precisely narrowed to only the breaking crest of the wave, for in that instant, there is neither past nor future and neither regret for the past nor longing for nor anticipation of the future. Everything is witnessed to be as it is.”

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These days everybody is in a hurry to get somewhere or to do something. It’s amazing how in a few years technology has simplified our lives so we can have more time to do the hundreds of tasks we seem to want to do less than 24 hours. And so we keep packing more and more activities into our daily schedule, priding ourselves on good time management, when in reality we are just stressing ourselves and out wearing ourselves thin.

Women have been taught to believe that taking time out just to nurture them selves is an act of selfishness. The truth is that everyone benefits when a woman cares enough to dedicate a few minutes to look after her self physically, spiritually and emotionally.

I once heard somebody say that women only go to the beauty shop to get an update on the latest gossip. That may be true for some, but most women love to be pampered and indulged. There’s nothing wrong with that once it’s done properly; because your “me time” should be about regenerating, refreshing and restoring body, mind and soul. Don’t get so caught up in the physical makeover, that you forget the other equally important aspects. And remember that you are beautiful and unique, so learn to love and accept yourself just as you are. Here are a few inexpensive suggestions:

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