"Like a fish that is drawn from its watery abode and thrown upon land, even so does this mind flutter." -Bhagavad Gita

It's a very common cause of accidents and the most annoying thing about driving: RUBBERNECKING. There's nothing like being backed up in traffic for the longest time only to realize that everyone tapped their brakes to rubberneck at the silliest thing on the side of the road. I've heard from a traffic cop that just one person's tap on the brake to sneak a peek can cause a traffic backup 25 miles down the road. The frustrations of driving!!

While you can't keep other drivers from rubbernecking, there's another version of this behavior that you can manage. Let me explain. When you learn to be present and hold the moment, you achieve a certain rhythm and pace that puts you in touch with opportunity and synchronicity. When you achieve this pace of being in the moment, you feel a certain 'hum," like a car's engine. Let's call this "MOMENT-HUM."

It's hard to gain "moment-hum" when we're so easily seduced by simple stimulations and influences. In other words, most of us (myself included) rubberneck both in traffic and in life. To just be a little more focused and achieve a little more control of the mind enables us to build immunity to unhealthy influences and stimulations. When you limit the rubbernecking, you gain moment-hum. And the yogis will tell you there are tremendous rewards to riding the moment on the wave of life.

How to Slow the Mind

In order to stay in the moment, you need to slow the mind. Every human being takes approximately 20,000 breaths every day. Yet we will go days, weeks, months without paying attention to the sound of one breath. Dr. Andrew Weil (New York Times #1 bestselling author) says that there is no greater health tip than to take some deep breaths every day. Just a few deep breaths in the morning can totally put you at ease while soothing the mind and relaxing the body.

Effects of Slowing the Mind

Advanced meditators show us the amazing power of being in the moment. Research proves that meditation can stimulate effects similar to those experienced by perennial flowers that bloom only once a year, or bears that hibernate in the winter, or birds that engage in deep diving. Studies confirm that Tibetan monks in freezing cold conditions have been able to focus their minds to generate enough body heat to dry wet sheets on their back. Similar studies tell of a yogi who went into a state of deep relaxation, lowering his metabolism to the point that he was able to remain in an airtight box for 10 hours with no ill effects. In other words, quieting the mind can yield powerful abilities you might not have thought possible. 

When you reach a critical mass of present moment awareness (in other words when you're present more often than not), you acquire an energy the yogis call "shakti." When you meet someone with lots of shakti, they make you want to stand up and celebrate life. You want to love such a person. You want to work with such a person. You want to be such a person. If you're not rubbernecking on your cell phone or watching TV or typing at the computer, you will become a person who's deeply present with plenty of moment-hum...and you will acquire shakti-power! Opportunities will increase, synchronicities will abound, and felicity will become the name of your game.

The most famous story of shakti took place in 1893: A swami from India had a vision to come to the United States and spread the gifts of yoga in order to raise money for the poor people of his country. He decided to debut his message at the World Council of Religions in Chicago. Nobody knew this Swami Vivekananda, but when he went to the stage to begin his talk, all 7,000 people in the audience stood up to give him a 3-minute standing ovation. It was an eerie moment, as few in the room had ever been around a person who'd spent so much time living in the present moment. They were so uplifted by Vivekananda's energy they couldn’t help but be swept to their feet by his moment-hum.