Help with staying in the present

[Diana]

I inadvertently discovered a great way to be present. There are ways I have done it by focusing until time suspends (especially while writing). But during a time of trauma, it is difficult to focus. This is what happened to me:

I went through a very rough time during the real estate crash, and ended up living in one of my investment properties. The property is rural and on a mountainside. There are arroyos on either side where animals traverse. From the beginning I was getting wild animals in the yard. I would watch them, and when I did, I could think of nothing else. I also worked outside moving rocks, cleaning up the property. I have always fed birds and bunnies, but at this property I could throw out food for javelinas, mule deer and other little creatures. I would have a bowl of carrots, sitting on my back patio, with the deer around me. Some would go right for the bowl and I would be nose to nose looking into the big, brown deer eyes with the long black lashes.

There was no way I could think about my situation while feeding and watching the animals. Every time they brought me into the present.

To be in nature is one great way to be present. I work at home and at least once a day I try and go outside to "be." This is very good training and enjoyable to do.