I like to wake up at the blush at dawn in summer, climb up the roof top and contemplate the city’s awakening with the rising sun. It is a special moment of connecting to urban life as it is – busy and eclectic. I close my eyes and take time to inhale the “art of noise” – all the sounds of the urban buzz – the traffic, the morning joggers, the whispering breeze, the cars honking, the distant rumble of the subway – the entire sound scape that weaves the morning polyphony of a giant metropolis. I can then sense the energy of the day, always distinct; some flavors wafting through the chimneys, the magnetic aura of the satellite dishes perched on roof decks. I can feel the radiance of the passersby as they head to work, wrapped in their minds, scrolling through the many items of their to-do-list.My eyes are closed, but I can see the symphony of colors piercing through the sky, the radiance of the night lights, the dazzling silhouette of the skyline. My finger tips touch the texture of the air – it’s dense and moist. With my tongue rolled on the roof of the mouth I can taste the sweetness of my very breath. Amidst the busy lives I allow the peace of every breath to ride through me and emanate into the city’s glow. This is the moment when the separation dissolves and I feel an odd oneness with every fiber of life. I am the silent observer, uncolored, unattached. Like an open vessel that is part of a greater entirety, I am available for the magic of every moment. I have opened my senses and instead of withdrawing the focus in, I am excited to venture without. I am open and free, free to breathe, free to be…

Practicing embodied mindfulness daily for many years has helped me tread the Tantric path of Yoga and Zen Buddhism and made me realize that peace is accessible to everyone. In the pursuit of happiness we need not escape our reality and put our busy lives on hold. Far from it. Instead, we can incorporate the practice of mindfulness into our every waking moment. As we transcend the mad rush of our days we slowly discover within the here and now our own innate ability to experience joy and peace.

The beauty of this practice is that you are cultivating the energy of concentration without alienating yourself from all that is surrounding you and happening around you. You are simply focusing on the act of doing, and as you merge with it you get absorbed into the state of being. You just breathe in and you know you are breathing in. Focusing on the in-breath, we release the past, we release the future, we release the expectations about all our projects. We ride on the breath with all our being. Our mind comes back to our body, and we are truly there, alive, in the present moment. We are home. Just one breath, in an out, can make us fully present and fully alive again, and the energy of mindfulness is there in us. We become aware of every sensation in our body and we track residual tension, anger, aggression, frustration, fear or despair. We recognize all these emotions dwelling within and stay fully present with everything that is happening inside and outside – without attaching to the drama of life.

The Buddhist concept of Equanimity “Upekkha” lies at the core of the teaching of mindfulness. It is considered a step to “Brahma Vihara” (meditative qualities) that transcends the dualities of good or bad, pain or pleasure, poverty or wealth. Rather than the ups and downs that come from a state of happiness based on sensual desires, equanimity is a state of non-attachment thriving on acceptance of what is happening in the present moment. It brings us in touch with everything, and anchors us into the present of here and now, of body and mind. In that lucid state of awareness we are able to experience everything in its pure essence, as it is. Then every activity we perform, whether we are walking, drinking, sleeping, sitting, working becomes a state of lucidity and we can enjoy every step of it. Each step we take in mindfulness can help us release the tension in our body, ease the tension in our feelings, and bring about healing, joy and transformation.

Staying open for the wonder of every moment makes us appreciate the daily gifts of life that often go unnoticed. Then from the morning we wake we brim with energy and gratitude for the new gifts we will receive in the form of insight, encounters, lessons, recollections. We honor every action – from washing our face, brushing our teeth, getting dressed, eating our breakfast to heading off for the day. If negative habits arise we can handle them with compassion and understanding. We break out of the prison of the unfulfilled past and connect to nature. We are blooming as a flower, we are fresh as dew, we are solid as a mountain. And if we get angry we have the choice of brining in the inner witness and observing our reflection in a still pond as we ride out of the storm from our mind and heart. As we cultivate more space we realize that there was no reason for this anger, it was just an emotional reaction, not a lucid response.

Shifting from impulsive reaction to coherent response – from expectation to joyful anticipation we create room for insight and love for the moment. And we realize that every moment is fleeting and yet anchored in the eternal now. Contemplating impermanence, and bringing more attention to every minute action we realize that we are already what we want to be, we already have all we need. We embrace the art of conscious consumption and cultivate the quality of deep compassionate listening. We begin to pay more attention to each other. We treat ourselves with more compassion and mutual trust and hone patience. Patience is at the root of loving-kindness because we give each other the opportunity to grow in our similarities and our differences. Honoring these differences we connect on a deeper level and create a circle of peace and reciprocity. And it all starts from the simple act of observing things in their true state of “being-ness.” Being both the “seer” and the “seen”, the projection and its reflection we become one with the breath of creation and realize that peace is every breath.