Being Present
So much information is now available on this. I first got introduced to “living in the present” when doing my Mindfulness Course three years ago. It took me a while to fully comprehend the concept, but after reading Eckhart Tolle’ “The Power of Now” it made much more sense to me.
Being present means exactly that. We tend to either focus on what has happened in the past or what will happen in the future. We rarely place our attention on what is actually happening in the present moment.
As Eckhart says, the only thing that is actually real is the present moment. What has happened, has already happened and what is about to happen is actually the present moment. The now.
Therefore the only thing that actually matters is ‘the now’. Being present.
How to start…
The best way to become present is to feel into the body. Some call it ‘grounding yourself’. Start by focussing on your breathing. What does it feel like? What sensations do you physically feel in your body? If it helps start by focusing on a certain part of your body. Your left foot for example, or your hands. Really feel into them. You might feel a fizzing or tingling. Then move to another part of your body and do the same.
Or another way may be to focus on what you might be doing at that precise moment. For example, eating a raisin. What does it look like and smell like? When you put it in your mouth what texture is it, is it smooth or rough, when you bite it is it soft or hard, is it juicy, sour or sweet etc. This is the first step to living in the moment.
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