This is it
This is what you’ve been looking for. The answer to your problems. The road to peace you’ve been searching for.
All you have to do is come back to the present moment. It’s as easy as that.
AHAHAHAHAHAHAaahahhahah! Whew, sorry, let me stop laughing for a minute.
It’s true–getting back to the present moment will, indeed, make your entire life better, from top to bottom, but man, it’s not something you can read one book about and be like, “cool, Ima do that every single second for the rest of my life, nbd.”
Nope. Instead, you have to practice. You have to notice when you’re not in the present moment and then do something to get back into it. And then you have to do it again. And again. And again.
For instance, instead of getting into the present moment and working on this blog post, I kept getting up and going to the kitchen and eating homemade peanut butter cups.
Instead of giving myself heartburn, I could have sat down and taken some deep breaths and gotten back into right now, this exact moment, and then started writing when I felt ready, instead of trying to avoid the present moment.
But I’m a work in progress, and if you’re reading this, I’m guessing you are, too.
I’ve learned some ways to bring myself back to the now that really, really work (despite today’s peanut butter cup incident), and I want to share them.
3 Easy Ways to Get Back to the Present Moment
1. Stop Telling Yourself Your Past and Future Life Story
Do you do this? Do you tell a story in your head all day long? I love to read, and used to fancy myself quite the writer, and I remember, as a kid, realizing I could tell a narrative about my own life! And it sounded really cool and fancy! Like I was in a book!
What I didn’t realize, is that when your mind is talking all day long about every single thing, there’s no space for you, the real you.
There isn’t space for quiet or for peace. The noise about how this thing is good or bad or should or shouldn’t be happening or how you should take a picture of this and share it on Instagram is the only thing you can focus on.
When you tell stories all day long, you’re stuck in the past (probably regretting something or wishing you could go back) or wishing yourself away to the future. When you do this, there’s absolutely no room for the present moment.
When you catch yourself telling stories about the past and future or good or bad, stop. Just stop and see how long you can go without picking up that never ending story.
2. Breathe, breathe, breathe.
I think I’ve already said this in various other posts about 47 times? I say it over and over because it works over and over. And I’m never going to stop saying it.
Yesterday I was really gunking up my inner mental state with a bunch of garbage about how i had to get a certain amount done/wasn’t doing enough. I sat down and listened to Eckhart Tolle talking, though, and he reminded me of the concept of “one conscious breath.” Just pay attention long enough to notice yourself taking one in breath and one out breath. Just that little amount of time will stop the stream of incessant thinking and allow you to be back in the only moment that’s real, this one.
You can also try any breathing technique you’ve ever heard of, such as the 4-7-8 technique popularized by Dr. Andrew Weil (inhale 4, hold for 7, breathe out for 8). Just google breathing techniques and you’ll find a bunch.
When you pay attention to your breath, you’re instantly transported back to the now.
3. Feel the energy inside your body.
I’m doing it right now. I’m feeling the way the energy in my hands feels. It’s so, so relaxing to just be in the present moment, to be inside my body instead of letting my head take over.
Here’s something to try: Close your eyes. Not yet, wait ’til after you read this. Now hold your hands up in the air. Don’t let them touch each other or anything else (it really annoys my cats when my hands are free and not petting them, but i persist nonetheless).
How do you know your hands are there? You can feel them, right? Feel the energy, the essence inside them? Just do that for a minute or two. Once you’re doing this, you’ll be in the present moment and you’ll no longer be worrying about your dentist appointment tomorrow.
final present moment thoughts
Being in the present moment means feeling calm. It means being here and taking care of the now instead of regretting the past or worrying about the future.
That’s the point of all of this stuff. To get you to stop worrying. To get you into the present moment, which is the only moment that actually exists and also the only place you can find peace, calm, or joy.
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