For the past ten days, twice a day — at 11:15 and 17:00 — Alexa has been asking me a very simple question: “How do you feel?”
I don’t even remember exactly what made me set up this little grounding ritual, but the effect turned out to be much stronger than I expected.
During the first couple of days, my answers to the question “how do I feel?” surprised me. Here are a few examples — can you spot what’s wrong with them?
- I want the upcoming call to go smoothly.
- I’m looking forward to meeting my friends tonight.
- I hope the Timeleft meetup goes well.
- I’m anxious about how a friend might reply to my message.
See it? All of these answers are about the future. None of them are actually about what I feel right now. They’re all about what’s ahead.
So I started sitting down for ten minutes and literally forcing myself to dig out real, present-moment answers:
- I’m a bit cold — need to put on a sweatshirt.
- My neck feels tense. I should lie down for a bit.
- I’m bored. I’ll spend my lunch break playing an NBA game.
After just a few days, I noticed changes:
- Finding an answer to “what do I feel?” became easier.
- I began to pause whatever I was doing (except calls — I chose slots without them on purpose) and take five minutes right when the reminder went off. I realized how important it is to stay in touch with my body and these “immediate” needs.
- My neck stopped hurting. That was the most surprising part — I had gotten so used to ignoring small discomforts that I’d been avoiding something as simple as lying on the couch twice a day.
So, my friends — what is it you feel right now?