At exactly 11:45 pm we set off into the darkness.

Up ahead of us was a bold mission: Ascend another 2,274 meters to reach the summit of Volcan Baru, the highest point in Panama, in time to watch the sun rising above the clouds and stroking the sky blue.

We had exactly 5.5 hours until dawn and a 13.5 km trail ahead of us and from the moment we set foot on that trail, an ever-so-slight incline was present — one that would only be getting steeper and more strenuous as we hiked on.

Yes, it was an exhausting overnight hike guided by a few flashlights, but as the four of us trekked along the path, I experienced moments that were too surreal to be true.

Moments of complete transcendence when my mind, my thoughts, and the entire world around me came to a full stop. And the first time it happened was when a friend stopped and exclaimed:

“Woah! Guys, look up!”

We stopped in our tracks.

Each of us leaning his weight forward onto his walking stick and then gently tilting his head upward. What rose above us was a world unknown to us — a blanket of stars so thick and dense, you wondered if it was a black void scattered with white stars or white stars weaved together by a black void.

A canvas of stars so far, they were light years ahead, yet so vivid they felt within reach.

Just four souls, standing still and silent, in an ocean of trees, in the midst of darkness, not a sound in distance, under the gentle light of the moon and the stars, gazing up into infinity, baffled by the vastness of our galaxy, mesmerized by its beauty, humbled by our place in this universe, and our profound connection to it.

In this silence and stillness, we experienced Satori. 

It’s a word used by Zen Masters to describe sudden enlightenment.

It’s a moment of total presence, of no mind and no thought but a flash of insight and awakening of the light of our own consciousness. 

You do not need to fly to Panama and walk a trail to experience Satori  because mindfulness is something you can invite into your life at any moment of any day, but you can only do so as you begin to slow down and live more in the Now.

That is the essence of mindfulness:

A person reconnecting to the infinite consciousness of the world within her and around her by simply bringing her attention back to the present moment. 

The challenge is that many of us are not aware of the positive impact that mindfulness can have on our lives. We continue to rush through our day-to-day, losing total sense of control over our own thoughts. We end up living in a constant tug between the rumination of our past mistakes and the ambitions or worries of the future.

But if we look at it through an objective lens we can conclude that the past is behind us  (there’s nothing within our power to change it) and the future is nothing more than an abstraction of the mind. The future does not exist. We actively create it minute by minute as we continue about our day.

The only thing that is ultimately real about your journey in life is this very step that you are taking at this moment. That’s all there ever is. 

Think about it: What you do at this very next moment will come to define your next moment’s future. And so little by little, we are consciously or unconsciously creating our future.

So how does all this tie into mindfulness?

Mindfulness helps you find stillness.

It trains you to raise your awareness so you can stop living on automation and start consciously choosing which thoughts you should give your attention to. And it’s through that practice that you start slowing down.

You begin to see what you’ve neglected to appreciate in the absence of mindfulness: The musical symphony orchestrated by the morning chirping birds, the sound of water streaming down through a forest, the soothing smell of a garden of flowers, the stillness of a sinking sun, the whiff of wind stroking your face, the sentiment of a family gathering around a table for a Sunday lunch.

In each of these moments, if you simply pause to reconnect with your breath, to breathe, and then breathe again, and again, you will experience living in the Now. You will tame your mind. You will observe your thoughts and let them pass instead of engaging with them. You will relieve yourself of your struggles. You will feel, see, and hear the abundance of life, love, and beauty that engulfs you.

You will appreciate what is, and you will find a beautiful well of stillness within.

And at that moment, you will experience Satori.

This is what Rumi describes in his words:

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

We are all connected to everything we feel, think, and do. We carry our world inside of us.

So the question is will we choose to carry the heaviness of our limiting thoughts and problems or the lightness of our expansive love and courage? 

You are not a snowflake in the snowfall, you are the entire snowfall in a flake. You are not a rose in the garden, you are the entire garden in a rose. You are whole. You are complete. You are not a light in the universe, you are the entire universe in a light. 

This is the depth of mindfulness.

It’s a presence, a connection with a higher consciousness beyond the self-constructed self.

It’s the stillness that rises from the acceptance of what is.

It’s connection, love, and self-compassion.

It’s enlightenment — the rise above our thoughts, even for just a moment, to realize that we are here. We are alive. We are breathing. We are exactly where we need to be because all that we have is this very moment. What we do with it, what we feel in it, and what we create through it is forever within our power and control. 

When you feel anxious, it’s because you’re in the here and now but your mind and thoughts are swimming in the future. Catch yourself in the moment to reconnect with your breath and you will feel calmer again. This takes patient and constant practice and the best way to do so is to build a habit of daily meditation. 

Spend more time in nature. It heals. Research has proven that walking silently in a green space puts the brain in a meditative state. 

And when you find yourself rushing again, slow down.

Realize that there is no need to rush to because there is nowhere to “arrive to.” You're here, right now, and that’s exactly where you need to be. Breathe. Look around you. Open your eyes to see what can only be felt with the heart, and you’ll taste the beauty of living slow.

Be grateful, present, and totally immersed in it and you’ll start living a more serene, mindful, and happy life, because the fabric of your life grows richer as you start to pay attention to the small moments of awe, joy, warmth, and connection.