When we aren’t living in the moment regularly enough, we begin to feel like we’re just going through the motions of life. We’re alive, but don’t feel like we’re living. If this becomes a chronic state of mind, anxiety or depression is an almost certain result.
Modern day living tempts us to fill our plates up with so much busy-ness that we barely have time to think straight, let alone take a moment to reconnect and ground ourselves. On top of that, for many people, living in the present moment can be a painful thing. People in general are experiencing more and more physical pain as a result of highly inflammatory diets and relationships and connections are often put on back burners due to being overworked and pulled in every direction. Sometimes it hurts to be present and to listen to the pains of our bodies and the voices saying “you should…” in our heads. So we distract ourselves from the pain. With television, social media, busy work, snacking, games on our phones, etc. I used to do very little of most of these things, but I was still living a fairly “mindless” life for several years. My distraction was work. It felt productive, because it was work! But I used it as an avoidance mechanism and a way to not have to “mind” other things going on in my life.
One of the best and easiest ways to bring yourself back to the present is to practice mindfulness. Neurologists have found that just 3 MINUTES per day of mindfulness practice daily can significantly improve neural plasticity by facilitating synaptic formation and pruning.
In short, that’s almost like re-wiring the brain to feel more inner peace. If you feel like your mode of operation is stress, try 3 or more minutes a day of mindfulness and see what happens. Set an alarm on your phone to remind you to make it happen twice a day.
- Sit still and focus on breathing deeply
- Eat silently, thinking about the taste of your food in depth
- Write in your journal (especially a gratitude journal or stream of consciousness)
- Yoga or Tai Chi
- Listen to a meditation track
- Walk or exercise without the distraction of loud music
- Zoom in on a detail and focus on it: your child’s eyelashes, the fibers in your clothing, a chip of paint on the wall, the pattern on the apple skin you’re about to eat…
- Prayer
- Make music, paint, draw, sculpt, create
- Sit quietly and notice subtle body sensations such as an itch or tingling and let them pass. Notice each part of your body moving very slowly from head to toe.
What’s your favorite way to connect yourself to the present moment or “practice mindfulness?”