Making Good Use of Memory

When you have a few quiet moments to yourself and are not in a rush, try this experiment.

• Close your eyes and conjure up a beautiful memory.
• See and feel the details in your imagination.
• What happens in your body as you re-live the experience?
• Do you feel a release of tension?
• How does this affect your breathing?
• Arms? Legs? Neck? Torso? Feet?
• Can you let the relief of this re-lived experience spread to fill your whole body?
• Does it bring up a smile? Does your face relax?
• Notice how consciously directing your thinking affects your body; how your state of being shifts, just because of the thought-images that you have allowed to permeate the rest of you.
• Now, as you open your eyes and turn your attention back to your surroundings, notice how you react.  Do you want to stay more open and released, with more consciousness of beauty (peace, nature, love, presence, etc.), or do you want to shut down into a more habitual mode of going through your day?
• Can you choose to bring this state of greater ease into your next activity, while letting go of the specific thought-images that brought you to this state?
• Can you merge your experience of the past with your experience of the present, to become a new experience of your future?