Sheila Burke - HOW TO LIVE IN THE PRESENT MOMENT AND BE GRATEFUL: Living Irie: Appreciate Life and Find Inner Peace

HOW TO LIVE IN THE PRESENTMOMENT AND BE GRATEFUL
Living Irie: Appreciate Life and Find InnerPeace
by SheilaM. Burke

ISBN: 9781311360168 Copyright 2014 Sheila MBurke
HOW TO LIVE IN THE PRESENT MOMENT AND BE GRATEFUL
Living Irie: Appreciate Life and Find Inner Peace

Sheila M Burke

Copyright Sheila Burke 2014

Published by Om Sweet Om Publishing forSmashwords
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TABLE OFCONTENTS

INTRODUCTION
People often confuse spirituality with religion, whenin fact, they are completely different things. Living a spirituallife is above and beyond your religious beliefs and you dont haveto compromise your individual religious beliefs to embrace yourspiritual side. Spirituality is the knowledge behind doctrine. Itis where your consciousness finds peace, it is where your intuitionlives, and where your spirit is nourished.

For some reason, when religious people hearof things like living zen, of finding ones self, living in themoment, or creating a spiritual practice a red flag goes upsignaling the removal of God and a crazy new age form of thinking.Quite to the contrary none of this is true at all. In fact, livinga spiritual life is an ancient practice that has been practicedlong before established religion was created.

A spiritual life is simply the core beliefstaught by every single great religious leader, somehow these basicswere, along the lines of history, thrown into the background ofdogma and doctrine. Its not taught to replace religion; itstaught to strengthen it. A healthy spiritual life means strength ofyour own life, your own spirit, and your relationship with Source(God, or whatever name you use). A healthy spiritual life will alsobring strength to your relationships with others. Imagine if everyone of us had a healthy spirit, how different the world wouldbecome.

Many people have discovered the ancient wordNamaste, a term from Eastern philosophy, and finally it is becomingunderstood in the language and hearts of people in the West. Thereis another ancient term Irie which comes from the Caribbean,specifically Jamaica.

Irie is one of the ultimate spiritual wordsand compares strongly to Namaste. It has no religious boundaries.Irie is a state of harmony and peace with oneself and the world.Having respect and love for your true self. Being happy with yourstate of being, having no worries. Respect for yourself and yourbrothers and sisters in this world.

IRIE stands for I Respect I Eternally.When seeing I it does not mean me but rather it simultaneouslymeans you and I and God, or Source, or the Great Spirit as one, not separate. I means the highest and the mostultimate positive all-encompassing most powerful and pleasing.The reference to God is the way in which you seeGod in your life. Again, this is not new age, this is oldschool being taught in a new light.

The islanders have been living the Iriephilosophy for hundreds of years. It is my goal to bring this wayof life, this strength of spirit, to everyone worldwide. Within thepages of How to Live in the Present Moment and Be Gratefulyou will learn the very basics to begin the nourishment of yourspirit. All of these things will strengthen your individual beliefsand help you to find inner peace, calm while showing you how todevelop an appreciation for all life. Ancient wisdom from the greatteachers -- explained in simple terms.

HOW TO LIVE IN THEPRESENT

Living in thepresent moment means you are in full appreciation of the moment youare in. You are not worrying about the future or past, andyou are not doing a thousand things at once. You areliterally focusing on the moment at hand. Being present issomething that is not hard to do, but you must train yourself to doit and practice it often.

When you learn to live in the moment, youdevelop an appreciation for life. Being present trains the mind torelax, to be present, and it increases a good flow of energythroughout your mind and body. One of the best ways to practicebeing in the moment is to be with nature. For example, go outsideand sit with a flower. Yes, thats what I said, sit with a flower.Tune out all other thoughts in your head by completely studying theflower.

Notice its petals: the texture, aroma, color.Feel the stem, the leaves, and the earth from which it has grown.Watch how it moves with the wind, notice the shadows, the pistils,the stamen, the pollen. Close your eyes and smell it.

For a few minutes, you were in the moment.You were one with the flower, you sat with it, you gave yourattention to it, you enjoyed it, and you let it absorb that momentin time. The same stillness that you enjoyed when sitting with theflower is the same stillness that you have right inside of you.That is what you are looking for, aiming to reach, within yourself.That is the place you are longing to find because that stillnessinside is where you find peace, happiness, and intuition. Its theplace where your spirit resides and your soul relaxes.
In the same way you learned to be present in the moment by usingnature, you can now apply being in-the-moment to your everydaylife. Lets take the art of dish washing as an everyday example ofan opportunity to practice being in the moment. Honestly, itreally is! Fill the sink with water. Listen to the waterrunning. Let it flow over your hands. Put dish soap into the waterand let a bit of it onto your fingers. Feel the soap. Feel itssmooth texture; smell its scent. Feel the soap in the water, swirlit. Notice the temperature and how it soothes your skin. Watch thebubbles produced. Notice the dirty glass and how it feels rough.Place it into the water and clean it. Admire the water sheeting offthe clean glass as you rinse. You have just immersed yourself inthe moment with the simple act of dishwashing!

Whether you take a few moments to stand inthe sunshine and simply close your eyes and let yourself observeexactly how the sun makes you feel, or you enjoy a meal in silenceand delight in the way everything looks on the plate (the shapes,the colors), how it feels on your tongue (the temperature, thetexture), the sound of the fork and knife, or the sound of your ownchewing - this is exactly how living in the moment is!

When you hear people say, Be Present, Bestill, Live in the now, this is how you do it. Now applythis to life. When you are with your children, you are with yourchildren you are immersed in the moment. You savor their laugh,their cry, their voice. Without regard to anything else that isgoing on in your life you are setting aside that verymoment to be present. When you are at work you focus on yourwork; when you are at home you are at home.
When you are able to live in the moment and enjoy the simple thingsin life, it means you are not thinking ahead. You are not worryingabout something that hasnt even happened yet and you are notkicking yourself over something that is over and done with. You aresimply