Feeling like your day is galloping by? Or perhaps your day is off to rather a mushy start? Maybe it’s fabulous and you just want to make sure that you remain attuned to that. Whatever your experience, Why not take a moment to practice arriving?

When traveling their are often distinct markers to let us know we have arrived. The moment the wheels of plane touch down, or when the train rolls to a stop, or when you pull into a parking space, or when the ferry docks. It can anchor us in the moment. I am here! That arrival can help us orient our attention to what’s now, whats next.

When we arrive at our workspaces and places, that arrival can less distinct. If you work from home it can be a short walk to your work space. If you are arriving to a virtual meeting, it can be that moment your call connects to the audio…there are countless moments that we arrive to, but we are not always aware of that arrival because we might be just auto-piloting.

If you are feeling disconnected and distracted take a moment to arrive. Either use this simple activity as a way to arrive at your new “destination” or if you need a start, restart, or refresh to today and all the attention contained therein, you can use this exercise to do that.

Here is how it works:

⏰ Set a timer for eleven minutes

🚪 Move towards the door, or threshold, or just step away from your workspace

⏎ Then turn in the opposite direction.

🫁 Take a breath

⏎ Turn towards the direction you are going and say,
“I am arriving”

🌸 Walk or move towards the space you are arriving to

⏰ Sit down or stand and pause when you arrive

🫁 Take a breath and notice how it feels to practice arriving.

Some notes

If you are in a shared workspace you might want to say the “I am arriving quietly”

There is no right or wrong way to do that, the point is just to provide a chance at a little restart whenever it is needed.

If you are jumping from one meeting to the next or if you have a meeting that might have some attentional pull or weight, this can be a way to pause, take a moment, gather your attention, and be intentional about how you show up.

If you try this, I’d love to hear how it went.

(audio version of this exercise coming soon!)