Into the Moment

Robert Matt, 40

Owner, Robert Matt Hair Salon

Being in the moment--while at work or at play, while alone or with others--is the guiding principle of my life. Being in the moment with my clients allows me to connect with them more thoroughly and to bring out the beauty that is in them more effectively. It also allows me to be energized by their visits instead of being drained by the hectic, one-client-after-another schedule of my busy salon.

To bring myself into the moment, I meditate daily and have done so for 23 years. I was originally introduced to this practice through transcendental meditation. Since then, as I’ve continued to study meditation in its many forms, I’ve added “mindful meditation” to my personal practice. The difference is that TM practitioners use a mantra (a chanted sound) to become more focused and aware, while practitioners of mindful meditation achieve the same state without using a mantra.

Mindful meditation can therefore be practiced anywhere and at any time, while transcendental meditation requires a more formal setting. In deciding which method I will use at any one time, I’m guided by my immediate needs and circumstances.

By keeping me open and responsive to the moment, meditation has helped me be successful both professionally and personally. An added incentive is the example set by my father--an example, unfortunately, of what life without a spiritual center can be like. He’s 73 and he worked from the age of 7 until a heart attack forced him to retire recently. Work was his life and now, without that work, he has no life. Ever aware of that alternative, I daily renew my commitment to my meditative practices. They allow everything in my life to shine with the luminosity that the word “spiritual” is meant to connote.