Your Ultimate Guide To Living “In The Now”

What the heck is it, and how to do it!
By Christina Sanghera

Welcome to September! This month, we’re touching on all things mindfulness. It’s a topic circulating the airwaves and permeating our minds, but a common question remains:

How do I live in the now when there are so many things to worry about?

Do not fear young grasshopper, for today’s post, is touching on 5 key elements of living a mindful, present “in the now” life. Read on, and get to living!

First, what is the definition of living in the now? After reading the powerful book “The Power of Now” by Eckhart Tolle, I took it to mean this:

So often we get stuck, like thick mud pulling us into the trenches. We think about everything in the past that hurts and continues to hurt. We anticipate future events and play out a movie in our mind. Have you ever had a full on conversation in your mind before actually having it with the intended person? A dress rehearsal for the argument to come. That is called living in the future. Ruminating on past events and telling yourself that they dictate the present moment is called living in the past.

But, plot twist. There really is no “past” or “future” to speak of. From an energy, matter, physics standpoint, the only real thing that exists is NOW. As you’re reading this. That’s it. The movie “The Arrival” touched on this topic; mind-blowing, right? I pondered that one for at least two weeks. If you haven’t seen it, you’re missing out.

But back to living in the now. The “past” is a collection of thoughts, often times colored with our own inner suffering and therefore not reliable. The future is a projection in our mind of events that may or may not happen, often colored with anxiety and so again, not reliable.

There is freedom in embracing what IS instead of worrying about what COULD be or be feeling sad about what WAS. Living in the now means being fluid with the Universe; I know, it’s woo-woo, but hear me out because there’s truth to this whole energy and vibration thing (woo woo superstars unite). LIFE is the present moment. It is happening right now. It’s like the old adage “you don’t know how sick you are til’ you’re better”. Well, when you’re not living in the now, you don’t actually realize it until you step back and experience what it truly feels like to exist in the present moment. You stop living on autopilot. You start tasting life in technicolor.

Now, let’s talk about how to master this and become an in-the-now ninja:

#1: Focus on the present moment.

Take a look around you. Play this out in your mind: it’s early in the morning and you’re sitting at your table reading some blog articles from your iPad, sippin’ on your favorite coffee and admiring the scenery just outside your window. You just got back from a great workout and you’re in tune with your rhythmic breath and elevated heart rate. You’re not thinking about any moment but the one that you’re in. You’re not thinking back to another morning when the coffee was better and the sun wasn’t so bright. You aren’t obsessing over what hasn’t happened yet. This, my friend, is a form of meditation in itself. Clearing the mind. Choosing to focus on the present. If that still feels reallllyyy far away (and for the record that’s totally normal) try this next tip on for size.

#2: Use the 5-4-3-2-1 method.

What are 5 things you see around you?

What are 4 things you can touch and feel around you?

What are 3 things you hear?

What are 2 things you can smell?

What is 1 thing you can taste?

As you do this, focus on how good it feels to be fully present in your environment instead of wandering off from worry to worry in your mind. And when you find yourself slipping away into yesterday’s problems or tomorrow’s anticipated worries – breathe, and practice the above to re-center.

#3: Move toward your pain.

Ever felt stressed about being stressed? Maybe you said things like “I really hate feeling stressed out”. Then, you do everything in your power to stuff the stress down and pretend it’s not there. You seek to escape it with every fiber of your being; so much so that it consumes you. The act of resistance invites the thing you’re trying to resist. WHAT!? I know, I know. See, what we focus on tends to expand itself.

When you’re FOCUSED on NOT FOCUSING on something, it becomes an insatiable thirst. Instead, invite the awkwardness, the pain; whatever it is that ails you. Let it know it’s okay to stick around, but that you’re going to go on living your life, too. You just might find that it starts to wear down and give up because it’s not getting the attention and sustenance it needs to survive. Enter, the pain-body.

#4: Identify your pain-body.

In his book “The Power of Now”, Eckhart Tolle identifies something called the pain-body. It’s an accumulation of trauma and painful life experience throughout the years, mostly unresolved and shoved under the rug (think: coping techniques). An energy entity of old, rusty emotion. What’s worse, the pain-body loves to feed on the reactions of others and drama itself. You’ll find it likes to incite stress and drama where there used to be none.

You may even look back on a particularly stressful moment or breakdown and wonder to yourself how it ever came to be. That’s because the pain-body = not living in the present moment. You respond to it in autopilot, in fact, it needs the absence of presence in order to thrive and take over.

The key to moving past this little bugger? You guessed it; living in the moment and recognizing your pain-body when it tries to present itself. Stepping back and saying “That’s my pain-body talking”. Co-existing with it so that it eventually retreats (it likes to be in the shadows and prefers not to have the spotlight).

Learning to identify your pain-body is an important part of your journey toward living “in the now”. Stop being the passenger of your own inner and outer dialogue; take the wheel and experience life in new and exciting ways.

#5: Think of 3 positive things to counteract the perceived negative.

If you find yourself in a negative headspace and having trouble coming back to the present moment, check out this method I use when I can feel my “now” starting to slip away. Example:

You’re really stressed out because your alarm went off late and you’re rushing out the door. To make matters worse, you’re on empty and you need to grab gas. Oh, and you also left your cell phone at home. Feels like a pretty lame morning.

What if you turned that around? Thought about how you’re thankful for the job you’re late to. For another day you get to wake up and turn off your alarm. For the vehicle to get you where you need to go. For a drive without technology where you can just be for a moment.

Science says, your brain will have no option but to subconsciously start to shift toward a more positive mindset. Try it! Like meditation, the more you practice the more it starts to literally change your brain for the better. This way of thinking is nourishment for your soul. Stress annihilates your health and subsequently your thought process, forcing you out of the present moment and down the rabbit hole of worry and distress.

Resist the rabbit hole. Claim your power. Live life freely – you have a very small amount of time here on earth, and I’m pretty sure you want to experience it to the fullest ❤️

Thanks for reading the first in a series of mindfulness-based blog posts! Now, I want to hear from you in the comments. Is living in-the-now a struggle for you?

About Inspired Wellness
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