Being in the now...

I have heard many times that we need to be in the mow. Being in the now moment. There are lots of article floating about or at least several books published and titled about being in the now. Mindfulness. When we think of mindfulness, we most often think of meditation, calmness, or maybe yoga. I do practice a little yoga, but I am not what you would call a meditator. I have tried to practice continuously but have a very hard time. I do sit and enjoy the stillness and try to only have thoughts of my surroundings when doing so but still would not say I practice meditation. I am taking a 6-week course and it has been quite a learning experience. This last week, we were given several tasks on mindfulness. I had never put much thought around other than being present in the moment is supposedly good for us. Mindfulness was being in our present, end of story. Well, our teacher explained to us that if you are truly in the moment, you cannot be thinking of your past or your present. Unfortunately, when we think of our past, it is often with regret. When we think about our future, it is most often with fear or not enoughness! How does that sit? It was amazing to hear this. Why are so many people in a mess? It is because they are too busy in their past or future which is living in regret or fear. I was shocked and dumbfound to hear this. How simple but profound. Living in the present is where we are the happiest. I can believe this whole heartedly now. She, the teacher, asked the class to set our phones on three alarms throughout the day. When the alarm goes off, we are to describe where we are in our thoughts now and write it down. I have only done for two days and got excited when I was in the now. If you really think about it, when we are upset or disturbed it is most often when we are thinking of something that has happened (past) or something that could possibly happen (future). Are we being mindful or what I like to call in the now moments? Have you ever laid in bed and could not fall asleep because of something in our thoughts from the past or future. That is why they say count the sheep or count to one hundred backwards. It is to get our thoughts to the now. Ponder that for a while. I must admit, this is something amazing that had never really crossed my mind. We were also asked to practice 5 minutes of meditation a day. I am committed to do. I think it will help in learning to be present which hopefully it will continue throughout my day.

I do think when we are relaxed and with others that we love, it is much easier. If you are on vacation and in a new place, again, much easier to have our minds fully engaged and not in the past or present. To be fully present in the moment, means we not multi-tasking. You know this is something I have talked about and do quite often. I have written in the past on the blog and know that is controversial. The teacher asked us to cut our multi-tasking down by 50%. I am laughing because as I am typing up this blog and I have eggs on the stove boiling LOL. Yes, this is hard. They asked us to also, pick a color, then go for a walk and look for that color. I have not done so but I am sure it is to keep our thoughts on finding color and not thinking of what we need to do now and what we should doing. I was on my treadmill this morning and listening to a podcast. That is not being in the now. That is multi-tasking. So, as I am boiling my eggs and typing up this blog, I had to laugh and say I am failing. I do want to get better. She gave us a few tips to begin practicing, I am going to start with when I take a shower. That is usually when I have a major to do list made! I am going to try to feel the water on my skin and be more present. To be in the moment, is to take in everything and with your mind as well. One project at a time that we are fully engaged in. It is surprising how much better the project can be if totally into it. A conversation, a walk in the park, a ride to the store, all can be more enjoyable if we keep our mind on the moment. Be in the now as much as possible. You know, lets be slightly better today than we were yesterday! Yes, at any age.