The concept of
living in the now or being in the present has its roots in Eastern
philosophies, but has gained popularity in mainstream western thinking in
recent years because of the writings of people such as Eckhart Tolle, Jon
Kabat-zinn and many others.

The increasing
popularity of the concept also referred to as mindfulness has quickly
promoted its status from an esoteric concept to an abundantly used
power-phrase in the area of self-help. Many people are still confused by
the concept and don’t fully understand it. So what does living in the now
actually mean and why and how should introduce it into our lives?

What Does Living in
the Now Mean?

Essentially,living in the now means:

• Ensuring that your awareness is completely centred on the
  here and now. You are not worrying about the future or thinking about the past.
  When you live in the now, you are living where life is happening.
• Being aware of your present. Being conscious of what’s going
  on around you and inside you while you go through your day. Paying attention to
  your life as it unfolds in the present moment.
• Realizing that life only happens in the present.and
  future are only concepts. You cannot live in the past or in the future you
  can only live in the now.
• Having the understanding that the past and future are
  illusions they don’t exist. As the saying goes Tomorrow never comes.
  Tomorrow is only a concept. Tomorrow never comes because time is always now.
• Going beyond your stream of thoughts which always lead you
  to past memories or expectations about the future and instead becoming aware of
  the freshness of the present moment.
• Directing your life because you are no longer absent. You
  are no longer captive of your frenetic thoughts or hijacked by illusory
  daydreaming.
• Connecting with your inner space the space or gap between
  your thoughts. That stillness of being that we feel when for a moment we stop
  identifying ourselves with our thoughts.
• Have you ever been so engrossed in something that it seemed
  like everything else just disappeared? Living in the moment is about creating
  that state of mind at any time. It’s about slowing down and trying to savour
  the present.

How do you Know if
you are Not Living in the Now

We know we are not living in the now when we are doing the
following:

• Worrying about things that have yet to come/worrying about
  the future.
• Beating ourselves up for mistakes that we’ve made, no matter
  that much time has passed.
• Living in the past
• Living with regret

Why Should we Strive
to Live in the Now?

The following quote sums up why it is important to live in
the now:

Living in the present has a dramatic effect on our emotional
well-being and our physical health. It’s long been known that the amount of
mental stress we carry has a detrimental impact on our health. When we are
living in the present, we are living in a state of acceptance. We are accepting
life as it is now, not how we wish it could have been.

When you’re living in acceptance, you realize everything is
complete as it is. You can forgive yourself for the mistakes you’ve made, and
you can have peace in your heart knowing that everything that should happen
will happen.

Living in the now means living life with more joy and
enthusiasm. When we are more present and conscious in our lives we do things
with better quality and with greater enthusiasm. Better decisions are made
which results in life being directed towards more positive ends.

What can you do to
Help Yourself to Live in the Now?

The following practices all help one to live in the now:

• Meditation Meditation is a powerful tool to
  practice mindfulness and being present. If you meditate, keep doing it; you
  already have the mind tools to be more present. There is a lot of tranquil
  music created to assist with meditation. Music made for meditation can help us
  bring our attention back to the present and clear our mind. If you do not
  meditate or do not wish to learn meditation, you can still find ways to access
  your inner space.

• Deep Conscious
  BreathingSometimes being conscious of two or three full breaths is
  enough to anchor your mind in the present. (Tip: Be sure that your outward
  breath is longer than your inward breath). Conscious breathing means putting
  your awareness on your breathing as you take three deep, slow, controlled
  breaths.

  As you focus your attention on your breath, you’ll notice that breathing is
  neither voluntary nor involuntary. It is something that you do, but at the same
  time something that does you. It is co-creative. Practice conscious breathing
  to bring your mind back to the present.

• Cantering prayer A form of prayer where you are consciously in the present moment.

• Yoga On
  the physical level, yoga postures, called asanas, are designed to tone,
  strengthen, and align the body. These postures are performed to make the spine
  supple and healthy and to promote blood flow to all the organs, glands, and
  tissues, keeping all the bodily systems healthy. On the mental level, yoga uses
  breathing techniques (pranayama) and meditation (Dyana) to quiet, clarify, and
  discipline the mind.

Tips to Live in the
Now:

• Give your immediate
  surroundings your gentle attention. Accept whatever comes up without
  tension, judgment or friction. Let it be. It doesn’t mean letting things
  passively pass you by, but on the contrary, it means being actively yourself in
  the present moment.

• Talk to yourself in
  the present tenseI am now reading an article.This gives the
  command to your subconscious to turn its attention to the present and stop
  wandering about in other places. This also prevents procrastination.

• Don’t think that life
  will happen some otherday or that your goal is still to come or
  around the corner.This distracts you from taking action now.

• Don’t try to quiet
  your mind. When we try to quiet the mind, we just disturb it all the
  more. Instead, simply witness your thoughts as if they are pure sound. Don’t
  try to judge your thoughts; there are no good thoughts or bad thoughts. Simply
  witness them as if they were noise.(Not having the urge to try to quiet
  our minds is one of the hardest things to do when living in the moment).

• Don’t identify with
  your thoughts you are not your thoughts.Too often we identify
  ourselves with our thoughts; we actually believe we are the dialogue inside our
  mind. However, we are much more than just our thoughts. We are the force that
  moves through our mind, spirit, and body. Knowing this helps us overcome our
  fear of quietness and silence; we can have peace knowing that when our minds
  are quiet, we are not losing touch with ourselves.

• Practice mindfulness.This
  isn’t so much of a tip as it is a requirement in living in the present.
  Practicing mindfulness means we practice our awareness in all our actions.
  Whether we are washing dishes or tying our shoes, our mind is focused on
  whatever we are doing. We are not thinking about the bills that we have to pay or the phone call we need to make when we get to the office. We are simply
  living in the moment.

• Take notice of the
  world observe it.No matter what you’re doing, notice the moments
  that surround you. Maybe on your way to work or school, you go over a beautiful
  bridge, or you get a view of the sunrise behind the city buildings. When you
  walk down the street, look at the way the light reflects off the buildings, the
  tree line, and the birds that manage to nest in the branches. The simple act of
  tilting your chin can give you a whole new perspective on the place you live.

  Really look at a flower. You know it pretty, but what is pretty? What does
  the flower smell like, besides itself? How many petals does it have? Do the
  leaves spiral up the stem like a staircase or branch out on opposite sides
  every now and then? Are there any bugs going about their lives on this flower?
  Do you think they’re even aware of your existence?

• Take notice of the
  world Listen to it. The birds, the sounds of one car passing, the
  conversations of distant strangers, the cracks and creaks of the building as it
  heats and cools, the planes overhead, the footsteps of passers-by. Listen in
  the moment to what is all around you.

  Realizing that whether these things are great or small, you are part of that
  singular moment when all these things come together. When you realize you are a
  part of every moment that you are living through, you’ll be almost there. When
  you stop realizing it, and just live it, you will be all the way there.

• Do one thing at a
  time. Single-task, don’t multi-task. When you’re gardening, just
  garden. When you’re eating, just eat. When you’re bathing, just bathe. Don’t
  try to achieve a few tasks while eating or bathing or driving. Zen proverb:
  “When walking, walk. When eating, eat.”

• Do it slowly and
  deliberately.You can do one task at a time, but also rush that task.
  Instead, take your time, and move slowly. Make your actions deliberate, not
  rushed, and random. It takes practice, but it helps you focus on the task.

• Do less.If
  you do less, you can do those things more slowly, more completely and with more
  concentration. If you fill your day with tasks, you will be rushing from one
  thing to the next without stopping to think about what you do. But you’re busy
  and you can’t possibly do less, right? You can. I’ve done it, and so have many
  busy people. It’s a matter of figuring out what’s important and letting go of
  what’s not.

• Put space between
  things.Related to the “Do less” rule, but it’s a way of
  managing your schedule so that you always have time to complete each task.
  Don’t schedule things close together instead, leave room between things on
  your schedule. That gives you a more relaxed schedule and leaves space in case
  one task takes longer than you planned.

• When you’re talking
  to someone, be present. How many of us have spent time with someone
  but have been thinking about what we need to do in the future? Or thinking
  about what we want to say next, instead of really listening to that person?
  Instead, focus on being present, on really listening, on really enjoying your
  time with that person.

• Focus on what you are
  doing. Even if you’re just walking, or wiping down the counter, or brushing
  the cat, how does it feel? There’s probably some kind of head talk (commentary)
  running through your mind and it probably has to do with something other than
  what you’re doing. Let those thoughts go and focus on what is (not on
  what was, or what could be) In Buddhism, this is referred to as mindfulness.

• Visualize all the
  good things that are going to happen to you today.Going to give a
  presentation? Imagine the laughs you’ll get for your jokes and the ovation
  you’ll receive at the end. Going to have a busy day of cleaning? Imagine how
  good it’ll feel to sit down with a cup of tea and admire your living space when
  it’s all done.

• Commit random,
  spontaneous acts of kindness.Whether it’s donating R5.00 to a
  charity, picking up litter, or helping victims of natural disasters, keep alert
  in every moment of your day for some way in which you can make the world a
  better place. Even the smallest thing, like complimenting someone, can bring
  joy. It’s the most spontaneous and unexpected acts of kindness that produce the
  greatest impact and you can only be sensitive to those kinds of opportunities
  when you’re living in the moment.

• Minimize activities
  that dull your awareness of the moment. What are you doing that allows your
  mind to run away from the present? For most people, watching television puts
  you in a passive state of mind, and time slips right by. Don’t zone out; zone
  in. Do things that are active, and that encourage you to look around and engage
  the world in that moment. Gardening, playing a game, knitting, and playing an
  instrument are all activities that lend themselves to mindfulness.

  Select your absolute favorite TV shows, write them into your schedule, and
  only turn on the TV at those times. Channel-surf when you’re bored? Get a
  hobby. Watch TV while you eat dinner? Cook yourself something special and
  savor every bite of it.

  Choose at least one day a week to turn off your cell phone, your computer, your
  radio, your TV, and whatever other gadgets you use to distract yourself. Spend
  that day riding your bike to a cafe, gardening, having a friend over for tea,
  drawing something you see out the window, or exploring a new area of your town
  or city.

• Smile when you wake
  up.You can set the tone of appreciation and awareness for the next 24
  hours by simply waking up and smiling. There’s scientific proof that the
  expressions that you make with your face can actually influence how you feel.

• Be thankful for what
  is. When you find yourself wishing for something you don’t have, or wishing
  your life would be different, start your quest for your wish by being thankful
  for what is already in your life. This will bring you back to the present
  moment. Make a list of what you are thankful for right now, even if all you can
  think of is that you are alive and can breathe. If you are always looking
  beyond what is in the present moment to what once was or what might be, you
  will miss the gifts right in front of you. If you are thankful for what is,
  you’ll be happy to be in the moment instead of dreaming about being happy in
  some other future time or place.

  If you’re living in the past, you can’t do anything about it, it’s gone. If
  you’re worrying about the future, you’re living somewhere that doesn’t exist.
  It hasn’t happened yet. If you want to change your life, the only place you can
  do it is in the present. But first you need to accept life as it is.

• Understand that it’s
  impossible to be present all the time.This should not be your goal. But it
  is possible to be more present by living more consciously and practicing
  awareness. The beginning is now. It always is!

How can I Live in
the Now and yet Still Plan for the Future?

We do need to plan and prepare for our futures in terms of
education, skills, finances and so on, but we can live in the
future. Our focus must be in the now.

When we set our goals and create our vision for the future,
we must then break down the big tasks into small manageable chunks, in such a
way that each chunk keeps us in the present (rather than distracting us from
the present). In other words, the size of our tasks should keep us focused on
the present and not point to the future.

Don’t set goals because you believe that achieving those
goals will increase your happiness in the future. Rather set goals to
increase the happiness you are already enjoying in the present moment.
Set goals because you are so passionate about the work you are doing that you
want to share it with as many people as possible. Don’t look to your work to
make you happy, but rather look to your work to express your happiness
outwardly and to share it with others.

The happier you feel, the less attached you will be to
outcomes. Instead of trying to acquire money, possessions, or other material
goods, shift your focus to self-expression. By focusing on expressing instead
of acquiring, you will end up doing the very things that enable you to acquire
whatever you want.

Even though you might not have millions of rands in the
bank, start living the way you would live if you were financially set for life.
Live the kind of life that would mean that even if you did win the lottery you
would keep on doing what you were already doing. The money would simply expand
your capacity but not the essence of what you were doing.

What would you do if you were already set for life? Figure
out what that is and find a way to begin doing it on some level right now. Ask
yourself the following questions:

• How do I feel about my life right at this moment?
• Am I feeling positive and passionate about life or am I
  stuck in the same situation, sacrificing my present happiness for the hope of a
  better tomorrow?
• Am I becoming significantly happier and more fulfilled with
  each passing year, or am I just running on the spot trying to convince myself
  that someday things will be better?

There is no someday there is only right now. If your
current life path isn’t a joyful one, take a different path. By making your
present reality as enjoyable as possible, your motivation will increase because
you will be working from a state of joy instead of a feeling of obligation.

How would I Help YOU
Overcome Your Past and Begin to ‘Live in the Now’?

The way that I work as a therapist and coach would be to
help you think back into your past just enough so as to understand why you
do what you do in the present. I work with your head talk (those automatic
negative beliefs we have about ourselves and the unhelpful messages we give
ourselves). I find that once you can recognize your patterns and understand why you have them, it is easier for you to be conscious in the present.

Everything starts with awareness. Awareness of your
automatic thought patterns which lead to automatic behavior patterns is
essential. The desire to change the past automatic thoughts and behavior is
necessary too. Accessing your deep emotions becomes progressively easier as
your awareness develops.

I am then able to help you to practice your awareness; to
become mindful of your thoughts and emotions in the moment and to consciously
act (not automatically react) in the moment. When it comes down to it, your
mind is the only thing keeping you from living in the present.

This is a long process and it is not easy to practice this
sort of mindfulness, but it really is worth the effort in the long term as you
are then more and more able to live in the now as an authentic individual.

This article originally appeared onhttp://www.clairenewton.co.za,
written by Claire Newton