The Power of Now

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The moment you're in is the one that matters most. Not yesterday's regrets or tomorrow's worries—but right now. This powerful truth forms the cornerstone of our mindfulness series finale, where we explore how being present transforms everything from our brain chemistry to our closest relationships.

Most of us weren't raised to value presence. We were taught survival, productivity, and achievement instead. Yet our biology desperately craves stillness. When we pause, our brains function better—processing information more effectively, reducing stress hormones, and unlocking creativity. That's why presence isn't just a nice idea; it's neural protection.

A father in our story learned this lesson through an unexpected moment. Despite years of working hard to create perfect experiences for his daughter, what she remembered most was the ordinary day he simply knelt beside her when she spilled milk, wiped her tears, and said, "It's okay, accidents happen." Mindfulness lives in these quiet moments that heal us and make us feel safe. You don't need special conditions for mindfulness—just awareness of your breath, the feeling of your feet, or the light through a window.

Before concluding, we offer three practical action steps: choose a daily task to do phone-free, ask someone you trust to gently point out when you're not present, and establish a simple breathing ritual tied to a specific activity. Remember, mindfulness isn't about perfection but practice—being present more often than not, and beginning again whenever you forget.

Thank you for joining us on this journey. Are you ready to come home to yourself, one breath at a time?

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:18):
Welcome to another edition of GW Unspoken, where we
discuss stuff we don'ttypically talk about, but
probably should.
I'm Gary and I want to thankyou for joining us all this time
for our mindfulness series, andyou've made it this far.
I want to say thank you, thankyou very much, and this is our
final episode in the series.
I want to thank you not justfor listening, but for choosing
yourself, even if only for 10minutes a week.
That's enough.
That, and today I want to leaveyou with one simple truth the

(00:43):
moment you're in is the one thatmatters most.
Man, our teens need to hearthat message, don't they?
It's not the one where you weretrying to fix yesterday, it's
not the one you're worried abouttomorrow.
It's this one.
Right now, you're breathing,you're holding the shoulders.
You forgot to relax.
Now let me ask you somethingwhen was the last time you were

(01:05):
really here, like really here,not scrolling, not rushing, not
thinking about how to be better,faster, more useful, more
lovable, but simply just being?
You know, presence is so hard,because we weren't raised in a
world that teaches presence.
We were raised in a world thatteaches survival, that values

(01:26):
productivity over peace,achievement over alignment.
And yet your nervous system,your whole biology is crying out
for stillness.
Did you know your brainactually functions better when
you pause.
Have you ever been away at aholiday and you've just been?
And suddenly all this stuffcomes to you, all this artistic
stuff, all this stuff in yourbrain that goes wow.

(01:47):
You can start articulatingthings better, start feeling
more free.
When you're fully present, youcan process information more
effectively, and that reducescortisol levels.
And that's when yoga,creativity actually increases.
So present isn't a luxury, it'sneural protection, it's

(02:09):
survival.
It's but the healthy kind ofsurvival.
I want to tell a story now.
It's about a man I met.
He was a father.
I won't name names, but he toldme he spent years waiting for
the right moment to be the dadhis kid needed Hard worker,
Spend his time on the road.
But it wasn't the birthdayparty or the holiday that

(02:30):
changed the relationship.
It was the moment his daughterspilled her milk in the kitchen.
Instead of yelling, he kneltdown, wiped her tears and just
said it's okay, accidentsactually happen that moment.
That was the one moment sheactually remembered, not the

(02:53):
ones where he worked so hard andhad to plan for.
And so mindfulness lives there,in the tiny quiet moments that
no one claps for, but they healus individually, they change the
script and they make us feelsafe.
And look, if you're feelinganxious or disconnected or
overwhelmed, I want to remindyou you don't need a yoga mat
for mindfulness.
You don't need perfectconditions, you don't need
silence.
You just need, right now, thesound of your breath, the

(03:15):
feeling of your feet, maybe evenlooking at the light through
the window, looking at a greatsunset, maybe looking at a great
sunrise.
If you're a new riser, that iswhere your power lives, not in
doing, but just in being.
You know, let's just trysomething together before we
close this season.
If you're walking, just slowdown a little bit Right now.

(03:36):
If you're listening to this andyou're driving, just soften
your grip around the steeringwheel.
And if you're still, evenbetter Now take a deep breath in
pause and breathe out.
Have a longer pause.
Notice when your body isholding tension your jaw, your
neck, your chest, and just onceyou realise it, try and let it

(03:59):
go.
You're not behind, you're notbroken, you're not too late for
this.
You are here and that is enough.
And before we wrap up thisseries, I want to say something
personal.
You're not the only one, tryingto hold it all together.
You're not the only onelearning how to live softer, not
harder, and you're never alone.
I want to thank you for seeingme across these eight episodes.

(04:22):
Mindfulness isn't a box to tick.
It's a way to come home toyourself.
One breath, one breath at atime.
I want to give you some threeaction steps before we leave,
just to see if your journalprompts are working, but also to
be more specific around yourmindfulness practice for this
week.
Number one phone-free moment.

(04:44):
Choose one daily task, likemaking coffee or walking, to do
without your phone.
Write it down, commit to thataction.
Number two be a presencepartner.
Ask someone you trust to callyou out just gently, when you're
not really present, maybe whenyou're not giving eye contact,
when you're listening, or theycan actually see that you're
actually fading away fromconversations.

(05:06):
All right, ask them to call itout.
And number three a breathing cup.
Pick one activity.
For example, maybe before yougo to bed you can take two or
three deep breaths and just makethat a habit and see how you
feel when oxygen hits the brainand your big dental roll relaxes
.
I wonder if it's going toactually help you with some more

(05:26):
rest and quality of rest.
You don't need to be perfect,you just need to be present more
often than you're not and whenyou forget, start again, because
that's the practice.
Thank you for walking with methrough the mindfulness season.
Our next season we're going togo deep dive into some real
social, emotional regulation andwellbeing and the topics that

(05:49):
are going to be influential,hopefully, to a variety of
people.
Thank you for joining us forGDO Unspoken.