Lifestyle
Trouble staying in the moment? Try this mindfulness exercise
When I started practicing Mindfulness, I immediately experienced the gift of being much more present in my life. It was as if my senses became attuned and I gained a greater awareness of myself, others and my environment.
Present moment awareness puts us in a heightened state that allows us to experience vastness – as if we were breathing with nature. There is no sense of separation. It reminds us that we are here in this moment of ‘now’ and that there is no other moment than this.
Every moment of our lives is an opportunity to learn something valuable about ourselves. Too often, we get caught up in regretful thoughts of the past or anxious worries about the future. We must remind ourselves that this is so this present moment that matters. Through mindfulness we can increase our feelings of gratitude and compassion and appreciate our lives more consciously.
Below are some of the many ways a regular practice of Mindfulness improves your connection with yourself and the world around you:
Mindfulness reduces your inner critic
When you practice Mindfulness, you are no longer a harsh self-critic. Instead, you become a constructive advisor. Your inner voice that says, “I can’t” or “I never will,” becomes silent because your authentic self knows its own strengths and weaknesses without seeing them as inadequate. With Mindfulness you let go of self-criticism and awaken to acceptance and peace.
When you get caught up from one moment to the next, so often you end up doing what you think you’re doing supposed to do, but feels dissatisfied doing it. Take the time to go within and connect with your authentic self. It brings about the realization that you are pure spirit, alive and full of light, inhabiting your physical body.
You will no longer live your life superficially and only concern yourself with who you project to the world because it will no longer ring true. Once you uncover and connect with your authentic self, you will not let a single moment go by without living it as truthfully as possible.
“Realize deeply that the present moment is all you have. Make NOW the primary focus of your life.” – Eckhart Tolle
Mindfulness helps you process pain
Although your past may contain unpleasant or painful memories, they are part of your life. How you process those painful experiences and what you continue to tell yourself about them makes all the difference in how they affect you here in the present.
But you can create a ‘new memory in the present time’. This means navigating the present with mindfulness and neutrality and experiencing the past with acceptance. The neutrality does not deny or diminish your past, but creates a new perception of it that helps put distance between you and the unpleasant memory.
Choose to stay present and you will no longer be affected by hurtful memories that arise. Know that everything that happened to you in the past does not define who you are today.
When you allow yourself to stop your busyness and spend time connecting with your authentic self, you experience a sense of non-separation, completeness, and wholeness. It reminds you that you are here in this moment of ‘now’.
All this moment asks of you is to feel love and acceptance for yourself and others. By becoming aware of yourself as a spiritual being, you can recognize what is valuable, divine and sacred within.
Begin your Mindfulness practice with this meditation that connects you to the present moment.
Meditation to stay in the moment
- Find a quiet place to sit.
- Close your eyes.
- Feel yourself where you are now.
- Pay attention to all sounds, thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations.
- Invite yourself to be present in your meditation.
- Tell yourself it’s okay to let everything go.
- Focus your awareness on your breathing.
- Take a few deep breaths, in and out.
- If at any point your mind begins to wander, bring your focus and awareness back to your breathing, which will always bring you back to the present moment.
- Say silently, “I am in this moment of now.”
- Say silently, “Now is all there is.”
- Silently say, “I accept this moment that I am in.”
- Repeat this as often as you want.
- When you are ready, slowly open your eyes.
- Be aware that you are still in the moment of ‘now’ and there is no need to rush out of it.
