Do you find yourself often consumed in your thoughts and day to day worries? Do you forget to enjoy the food or meal you are eating? Do you feel you are more stressed about job, family, finances, home than you are focused on the moment and enjoying the present? Do you want to enjoy life more? Do you want to improve your productivity? The ability to be present and stay in the here in now is key to increasing overall happiness and enjoyment of life. Being present enhances your gratitude of what is in your life, versus what is not in your life. Increased mindfulness and awareness has been linked to decreased feelings of depression, anxiety and overall stress. The following are simple and feasible ways to help increase your ability to stay present and in the moment at (almost) every turn.
Awareness.
Awareness is the first and most essential step. You cannot be present without the awareness that you struggle with preoccupation of other things in life. Awareness allows you to be more in touch with what is going on for you; what and why you’re distracted and when to redirect your attention back to the now. Awareness helps you take the information to the next level. Awareness is a state of being. Have the intention to try and become more aware of where your mind is, in order to bring it back to the present.
Downsize in the multitasking.
We are a society full of multitaskers. You have likely found yourself studying or paying bills while eating dinner, texting on your phone while pushing your child on the swings, or reading the paper with the television on, etc. It’s rather natural these days for most of us to do more than one thing at once, it’s almost difficult not to. However, it’s impossible to fully be present with any one thing when multitasking, because your focus is split. You may find more success in being selective and intentional with picking less tasks and doing them one at a time. This isn’t the fastest way to get things done but it’s the most efficient. You will have less distractions, less temptation to be pulled away from the moment at hand.
Use your senses
This includes paying attention to the sights, sounds, and smells around you. This also includes paying attention to what’s going on for you. Do you feel hot, do you feel tension anywhere? For example, what does the wind against your face feel like? A way to practice using your senses: mindful eating. Have you ever eaten a meal alone without any distractions? No television, no phone, no reading? Make yourself a meal or a take a bowl of cereal and sit down at your table alone, distraction free. Take your time and focus on each bite of food you take. What does each bite taste like? What’s the feeling like on your tongue? What other physical sensations do you feel?
Five minutes of nothing.
This is an especially difficult task for many. Downtime, and especially alone time is difficult to come by these days for most people. This five minutes allows your mind and body to rest, and allows you to just be. It’s different than a nap, because it’s not you shutting off from the world, it’s you stopping to be in the moment without a task. Challenge yourself to become comfortable with silence and being still, and doing nothing. Consider it a brief meditation.
Just breathe.
Whether you combine this in your five minutes of doing nothing, or you do this throughout the day as it comes to you, breathing is a great way to reset your mind and give your brain more oxygen. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth, then try breathing in and out through your nose. See which one feels better to you. Focus on the breathe going back out, focus on what happens to your stomach as it fills with air on the exhale, and as you exhale, imagine you are pushing out the negative thoughts and negative weight that has been sitting inside you.
Redirect your thoughts.
No matter how skillful you are at being present, it is natural and normal to get caught up in outside distractions and thoughts. When this happens, simply recognize it for what it is for five seconds, then let it go. Tell yourself it’s okay to let it go and that you are going to go back to focusing on the moment at hand. This mindfulness technique is great for all levels of meditation and mindfulness practitioners. You will find the frequency of redirecting your thoughts will vary, it may depend on the day or even the time of day. It’s a great skill to work on.
Being present is something to strive for and work on gradually. The goal is not to become so present and zen, that you end up spending three months in an ashram in India. We all wear multiple hats, with a million other things going on in our lives. You can’t control the future, there is only so much you can plan for, and there is only so much productivity worry can do for you. You can only control the here and now, so stay in it and enjoy it while it’s here.