In a world that never stops chasing, being here now is the most radical thing we can do.
I am writing this from the most beautiful place — Patrick Brompton Hall, a stunning home and retreat centre in North Yorkshire that holds a very special place in my heart.
We are here house sitting for friends, caring for their three very sweet little dogs while they are away. We get to swim in the pool, walk the land, meditate together in this exquisite space, and simply be. I feel overwhelming gratitude for their generosity.
Patrick Brompton Hall is somewhere I have returned to again and again over the years — it is a place where I fell in love with my partner, a place I have shared with my sister. We have served on retreats here together (the first time I cooked and she gave massages!), run retreats together — including Nourish in 2024 — and received initiations from our teacher Gayatri here on retreat over the years. It is a place of beauty, abundance, love and growth for me, and being here always opens my heart.
This week we have been here to celebrate my sister’s 50th birthday with family — and it has been truly special. I have been gifted the joy of watching my son and my partner bond over Pokémon. I have spent time with my adorable nephew, who has decided that The Sound of Music (my sister’s favourite film) outranks The Lion King (mine!)
The Gratitude List That Changed My Morning
This morning I woke with some mixed feelings — as we sometimes do. And I made a simple choice. I tuned inward and wrote a gratitude list.
This simple practice offered me exactly what I needed. An opportunity to appreciate my family, this beautiful land, this time, and the gifts all around me. And it reminded me, once again, of the quiet power of gratitude — how it brings us gently but immediately into the present moment.
There is something almost magical about a gratitude list. It doesn’t require anything of you except a moment of honesty and willingness to look at what is already here. And in that looking, something shifts. The mind stops scanning for what is missing and begins to notice what is present. And what is present, it turns out, is usually quite extraordinary.
Being Here Now — The Greatest Achievement on the Spiritual Path
Being here, NOW — fully present, not worrying about the future or overthinking the past — is one of the greatest achievements on the spiritual path. And yet it is also the simplest.
As I write this I keep pausing — to appreciate the soft, gentle sound of my love breathing beside me, the sound of rain on the windows, the simple pleasure of having space and time to write. These small moments ARE the abundance we so often search for elsewhere. The peace we chase in the future is available right here, in the ordinary magic of the present moment.
It occurred to me that in a world of chasing, manifesting and striving for more, being fully present is the antidote to all of it. We are so often focused on what we are calling in, what we are building, what we are becoming — that we forget to appreciate what we already are and what we already have.
The Tools That Bring Us Home
Breathwork, meditation, gratitude and devotion are the most powerful tools I know for arriving here — again and again — in the now.
A regular practice helps us stay anchored in this moment. Not perfectly — we will always drift, that is the nature of the human mind — but with practice we drift less, and we return more quickly. We begin to catch ourselves mid-chase and remember to breathe. We begin to recognise the present moment not as a pause between the important things, but as the most important thing of all.
This is why I believe a regular meditation and spiritual practice is not a luxury — it is medicine. Especially in a world that profits from our distraction, our comparison, our perpetual sense of not-enoughness. To sit in stillness, to breathe, to give thanks, to be here — these are quietly radical acts.
Simple Practice to Try Today
If you are feeling scattered, overwhelmed, or caught in the current of doing and striving, try this:
Find a quiet moment — even five minutes.
Place one hand on your heart.
Take three slow, deep breaths.
Then ask yourself: what am I grateful for, right now, in this moment?
Write it down if you can. Even three things. Notice what happens in your body as you do.
This is not a complicated practice. It does not require anything special. But done But done consistently, it will change the quality of your inner life — and from there, the quality of everything else.
In Closing
I am sitting here at Patrick Brompton Hall, rain on the windows, my love beside me, three little dogs curled up somewhere nearby, and I am genuinely, deeply, completely here.
And it is enough. More than enough. It is everything.
May you find your own version of this today — wherever you are, whatever you are doing. May you pause long enough to notice the extraordinary ordinary magic of your own present moment.
Laura Hamblyn Holistic Healer 