Five Teachings on Time, Presence, and What Truly Endures

mantra

“In stillness, I see. In presence, I bloom.”

Topic 1 – The Golden Hourglass: Presence Is the Practice

Time is not something we can hold still. Each breath, each moment, is a grain of golden sand slipping through the hourglass. The Buddha taught that impermanence is not something to fear—it’s our greatest teacher. We don’t control time, but we do choose how present we are within it.

We often live like we’ll have time “later.” Later to rest. Later to love. Later to say what really matters. We tell people, “See you later,” or “Let’s get together soon,” as if later is guaranteed. But what if it isn’t?

This isn’t meant to scare us. It’s meant to wake us up. To remind us that now—this breath, this step, this stretch—is all we ever truly have.

🧘‍♀️ Call to Action:
Let every pose, every breath today be an offering to the present moment. Not rushed. Not wasted. Just fully lived.

🌿 Metaphor: The Clock on the Studio Wall
There’s a clock in our studio that always drifts a few minutes off. I’ve reset it again and again, but it keeps slipping. For a long time, that bothered me—until I realized it was teaching me something.

Life will never run perfectly on our schedule. We can’t fix time. But we can choose to show up fully in the time we have. That’s our real power.

💬 Quotes:
“The trouble is, you think you have time.” – Buddha

“Time flies. The good news is, you’re the pilot.” – Michael Altshuler

“Time is free, but it’s priceless.” – Harvey Mackay

“Each morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most.” – Buddha

“Lost time is never found again.” – Benjamin Franklin

Topic 2 – The Miracle of the Moment: Seeing the Flower Clearly
✨ Short Talk:
The Buddha said, “If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change.”

How often do we pass by beauty, thinking it’s nothing special? A breeze, a glance, a breath. The practice of mindfulness teaches us that presence turns the ordinary into the sacred.

We don’t need a grand awakening—we just need to slow down and see what’s already here.

🧘‍♀️ Call to Action:
Slow down and look closely today. In your body. In your breath. In the space between poses. Find the extraordinary in the ordinary.

🌿 Metaphor: The Hummingbird and the Morning Flower
While on retreat in Costa Rica, I sat quietly one morning with a cup of coffee. A hummingbird hovered near a hibiscus flower just a few feet away. Its wings moved so fast they blurred—fluttering between 10 and 80 beats per second.

And yet, time felt suspended.

It made me wonder—does the hummingbird, moving so fast, actually experience time more slowly? Do those wingbeats, so rapid to us, feel slow and full to her?

Our experience of time is shaped by how present we are within it. For the hummingbird, perhaps the world slows down. And for us, when we slow down, we begin to see clearly. The miracle isn’t rare. We just move too fast to feel it.

💬 Quotes:
“If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change.” – Buddha

“There is a voice that doesn’t use words. Listen.” – Rumi

“These pains you feel are messengers. Listen to them.” – Rumi

“The butterfly counts not months but moments.” – Tagore

“Let yourself be silently drawn by what you really love.” – Rumi

Topic 3 – What Endures: Letting Go, Living Fully
✨ Short Talk:
We can’t take our things with us. Not the car. Not the house. Not even the titles we’ve earned. What remains is how we lived, how we loved, and how awake we were while we were here.

The Buddha taught that clinging leads to suffering. So the invitation isn’t to live less—but to live more fully. To show up completely. To choose meaning over accumulation.

🧘‍♀️ Call to Action:
Let your practice today be a softening. With each inhale, take in what matters. With each exhale, release what doesn’t.

🌿 Metaphor: The Empty Frame in My Office
I once bought a picture frame I really loved—simple, elegant. I meant to put a favorite photo in it, but never did. It still sits in my office, empty. And now, it reminds me:

Fill your time with what matters. Don’t let someone else’s story live in your frame.

We’re all framing our lives. The question is—what are we choosing to place inside?

💬 Quotes:
“No one gets to heaven pulling a U-Haul.”

“Time is more valuable than money. You can get more money, but not more time.” – Jim Rohn

“You can never do a kind act too soon, for you never know when it will be too late.” – David Scott

“When you lose all sense of self, the bonds of a thousand chains will vanish.” – Rumi

“The greatest wealth is health.” – David Scott

Topic 4 – The Currency of Thought: Choose Where You Spend It
✨ Short Talk:
Our thoughts are like currency—each one is a little drop of energy. Where we spend that energy determines how we feel, how we respond, and how we live.

If we constantly spend it on fear, comparison, or regret, we’re bankrupt before we even begin. Mindfulness is learning to spend wisely.

🧘‍♀️ Call to Action:
Notice your thoughts during class. When your mind drifts to judgment or distraction, gently return. Not with shame—but with compassion.

🌿 Metaphor: The Leaky Cup
Imagine trying to fill a cup that has tiny holes in the bottom. You pour in peace during practice, but leak it away during your day, with things like worrying about worrying, or being anxious about being anxhous. Until we learn where our attention leaks, we’ll never feel full.
Mindfulness is how we patch the holes. Attention is your treasure. Spend it on what matters.

💬 Quotes:
“Thoughts are mental energy… stop spending that currency on thoughts you don’t want.” – Wayne Dyer

“We suffer more in imagination than in reality.” – Seneca

“Fear is a form of control.” – David Scott

“When you meditate, you listen.”

“Limitations live only in our minds.” – Jamie Paolinetti

Topic 5 – Time as a Teacher: Growth, Strength, and Compassion
✨ Short Talk:
Time doesn’t always make things easier—but it gives us perspective. It softens the hard edges and teaches us how to carry what once felt too heavy.

We grow stronger not by escaping hardship, but by learning to breathe inside it. Resilience isn’t the absence of struggle—it’s the presence of inner steadiness.

🧘‍♀️ Call to Action:
Today, reflect on your growth. Not in how far you’ve gone, but in how much softer, wiser, and more present you’ve become. That’s real strength.

🌿 Metaphor: Resistance Training
When you first start lifting weights, the same dumbbell feels impossibly heavy. But over time, you grow stronger—not because the weight changed, but because you did. Life works the same way. We meet the same challenges, but with more breath, more patience, more clarity.

💬 Quotes:
“Strength does not come from physical capacity, but from an indomitable will.” – Gandhi

“With wisdom and age, life doesn’t get easier—you just get stronger.” – David Scott

“Our sorrows and sadness are carried and healed on the wings of time.” – David Scott

“He who has health has hope, and he who has hope has everything.” – Arabian Proverb

“You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean in a drop.” – Rumi

🕊️ Closing Mantra (for any or all sessions):
“This moment is golden.
I choose presence over pressure.
I fill my frame with what matters.
Time is my teacher.
I am enough inside it.”