The blast intro today is not an original composition by one of our ATC family, but an excerpt from one of the books we are studying together this fall. This exercise from Chapter 5 of “The Onward Workbook” by Elena Aguilar is one of many she provides to help us practice mindfulness and allows us to be grateful for the moment, for being okay in the now, even in a constantly changing and evolving profession.

Whether you’re reading it for the first time, or rereading it for the 10th, we hope it can be a good practice for you as we wind down to the end of fall semester. Be grateful for all you have learned. Be grateful for the progress you have made. Be grateful for where you are now.

We, your staff, are certainly all grateful for our now in partnership with you. 

RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW

This is a simple meditative phrase to repeat at any time you feel anxious or unsettled, or when you find yourself worrying about the future or ruminating over the past. Simply say to yourself, Right here, right now, everything is okay.

I’m willing to bet that 98% of the time, for most of us everything is okay. This phrase can reground you in the present moment. As you say it to yourself, sense your body, run your awareness over your skin, shoulders, jaw, scalp. This kind of body scan helps you get back into the present as well. When you say the phrase to yourself, focus on the word okay. For me, okay is a powerful word; it means that the present moment is not my fantasy moment, but it’s also not painful emotionally or physically. I love the word okay. It’s fine for life to be okay a lot.

Of all of the practices I have tried and used, this is one of the easiest, quickest, and most effective for me when I find myself fluttering out of the present. Try it while you’re settling your students into a Do Now, when you’re walking your class to lunch, when you’re sitting in a meeting that you don’t want to attend, when you’re running late to school, when you’re working your way through a stack of papers to grade. Most likely, during those moments that can feel stressful, everything is still okay.

The challenge is to remember to use this phrase. So how might you do that? Do you want to write these words on your forearm today? Or write them on your whiteboard? Or create a screensaver with this phrase? Set yourself up to remember. Write down your plan for remembering to try this strategy this week.

Elena Aguilar (2018). The Onward Workbook. Get your copy at https://brightmorningteam.com/books-by-elena/