How can I stay in the moment?
Heyy,
I have some big trouble staying in the moment. But feel I need it. Anybody knowing how to advice me in staying in the moment? |
Knowing that we always are in the moment
And that thoughts take us away from the present Doing the opposite, encourage thought to have its way, while watching ... The involuntary thoughts become self conscious, being observed, so recede Stomp your foot and ask thoughts where they are! (joke) Abide in thought rested awareness ... time stretched silence and stillness |
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It's like asking how can I clean & jerk 400 pounds. Step 1 - Practice. Step 2 - More practice. Step 3 - Even more practice. There are no shortcuts. |
Thanks both :)
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Why do you feel the need to stay in the moment??? Is there something you are running from??? Otherwise, why should it matter?
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I have a particular life lesson with a friend which makes me have to do this. Not running from. Rather just doing the right thing |
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Hello CosmicWonder.
Simply. We and all are always part of that which is and was and will be. Cheers. |
If it's techniques you're after, well there's many to choose from depending on what chimes with you, so some experimenting would be beneficial. I started with beginners' meditation and mindfulness techniques, following the breath, reciting a mantra etc, which really got me going in this work. But there's no telling how long it may take.
But other methods may work equally well. Like if you play a musical instrument, you need to focus on the here-and-now of the notes and rhythm, avoiding distractions, to avoid tripping yourself up. Before my knees went I used to go jogging in a mindful way, getting into a flow with the activity that's happening, without a separate self overcomplicating it. Eventually I began to have glimpses where me-observing-the-moment flipped into simply-this, when I am the present moment, not in it. |
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The one thing I will say is one cannot read, listen or talk one's self into that state of being. It requires work (read spiritual practices) and not a small amount either. It also requires a burning desire and lots of determination and dedication. |
I had this long post all written out and was editing it and hit two keys and it miraculously disappeared. That will get you in the present moment!
I struggle with this too. What helps me is to touch my thighs with both hands and rub gently. That gets me back into my body and out of my head and grounds me into what I am doing. Then I ask myself - what am I doing? And then I narrate my life from that perspective. And it helps me to use Appreciation to do that. If I can do that for one minute, and stay present in my mind, then it stops the chatter and I can focus on what I am doing. If I am driving my car (and yes I like to stay present when I am driving LOL) I touch my hand to my thigh and then tell myself I am sending Reiki to myself and all the other drivers and that we all have all day to get where we are going. This curbs my driving anxiety of getting somewhere by a certain time, and then I appreciate what I am doing. I appreciate my car and I appreciate the road that I am driving on and I appreciate whatever I see that is in front of me. If I can stay focused on what I am doing for one minute, and practice that, I am less likely to daydream. We used to call it daydreaming, which is anytime you are thinking about the past or the future and not what you are doing in the Now. So, touch your body briefly to ground yourself, then appreciate what you are doing in the Now moment and narrate to yourself (in your head LOL) what you are doing. I.e., I am washing dishes and I am appreciating the water that helps me wash the dishes, and I am appreciating that I have water to wash the dishes, and I am appreciating the pattern on the plate, and the shine on the silverware, and the view outside my window of the tree, and I see the tree in all its magesty and I love the tree - and then love whatever you are looking for. So, touch your body to ground yourself, and narrate what you are doing with either appreciation or love, and if you can stay present for one minute, you can then focus on what you are doing, rather than the chatter in your head. Hope this helps. |
*correction* love whatever you are looking AT (not for). I tried to edit but apparently I don't have that superpower!:biggrin:
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And use your five senses - what are you looking at, what can you smell, hopefully you are not tasting the dishes LOL, but you know, what can you hear (I hear traffic because I am near a freeway)
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Seth took me on a journey a few years ago (and if you don't know who Seth is, well, lets just say he is one of my guides) and it was a channeled waking journey is all I can say. He took me to a memory of when my family had gone on vacation and we had gone horseback riding. And the whole time during this horseback riding adventure I was worried my son, who was five or six at the time, would fall off of his horse.
When Seth took me on this journey (and we went to a few places I had memories of from the past) I didn't know what was happening. I was suddenly on the horse I rode that day and petting it and noticing the horse's hair and the stubblyness of the feel of the horse's hair, and noticing the sound the saddle made and how the trees looked, etc etc. There was no thought in my head whatsoever. I was my senses, enjoying the experience 100% with no thought. He explained at the time that our bodies record everything we are doing, and our bodies, our higher minds, they are getting the ride of our life as we do what we are doing, and taking in so much more than we can ever know about each and every moment. And not thinking at all, which is a separate endeavor. It felt amazing. I guess some people have practiced long enough, that I imagine that is what they are talking about when they say they are observing and not thinking. If you can stop thought, and appreciate, then you win! I am a work in progress, but I am getting better at staying present, but I have to realize that first. Jesus keeps telling me - take the head phones off - just FYI and LOL, cuz You Tube is addicting. I don't always want to, but when I do, I don't have a choice but to be present :) |
You have to stay in the moment because that is where you are,
you cant live on Yesterdays and you cant live on Tomorrow because it has not happened just focus on where you are. Namaste |
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It's simply where your attention is.
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i love that so many replied we are in the moment.:smile: very wise! so what would make us think we are not in the moment when we are? i would say, just the idea we are not. so to "feel" or "know" or "perceive" or "experience" we are "here" we just have to take our attention off our thoughts for a moment. let the thoughts race on and on like they do, but just for a moment, take your attention off of them, give yourself a little vacation from your thinking and thoughts but like others said, we are always in the moment, where else could we be? but yes we get lost in our thoughts, our fears, thinking, problems, ...that's life and if we are lucky, we get a break from that, learn to turn it off from time to time. how? there's probably a zillion ways. everything from losing oneself in painting, walking in nature, gardening, anything we enjoy really that makes us peaceful and takes our attention away from our relentless thoughts. |
Thanks all so much! I really appreciate the messages I got from you. It will really help me. Please continue.
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Meditating in prana/chi rich environment like the forest or beach helps me a lot in anchoring myself in present moment awareness. Daily meditation, and creating space and silence for yourself in the midst of work hours at office and home is also useful. |
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Really helpful to read this 😭 I can't explain how grateful I'm to read this Thank you sooooo much ❤️ this just helped me to relieve from some serious stress. |
@ Spiritual _wave … so happy the post was helpful to you. After a while, there is no doer left who may generate thought. The thoughts that appear, are by resonation of a purified heart. We, as God essence, in-dwelling mind-body, instantly discern impulses arising from this body shell vs our soul. Negating nothing, life is a celebration continuum, stretching into the dream state as well.
For the duration we are still in lower mind, we can try this simple exercise as a fun activity - meditate on unconditional love or compassion, then drop down a notch to selective empathy, then drop down a notch to heart’s joy, then drop down to sensory pleasure, then drop down to lust as in seizing and grasping. How amusing! We can be anywhere we choose! Then go back in reverse order. We can then know in certainty the difference between body urge and soul’s yearning. The trick is not to stagnate at any ‘lower’ level. What happens by doing this is that we cede ‘ownership’ of thoughts arising from lower animal desires or let us say, from a deluded feeling of separateness from source. Head melds with heart in sync with love. Inner conflict ends, we stand erect. If we want to use fancy words, we may say that the mind-body which was earlier a subject, becomes an object and formless awareness or soul now becomes the subject. Upon our core being baptised by spirit, oscillations of duality reduce and in the slowed down mode, we become one with the omnipresent, all pervading life current. Then simply go without fuss, where God takes us. |
It might be helpful to look at why I do not stay in the moment. What is keeping me from staying in the moment? We want to move towards something when that something (the moment) is truly all there is. Staying in the moment is more about letting go than it is holding on.
So what am I holding onto that may be keeping me out of the moment? These are questions that I have to ask myself, and examine mostly in my head, to see what I am allowing to drag me around. Living in the moment is a natural state of being, the rest of it is culture, tradition, society, conditioning, and what I tell myself about not being able to stay in the moment; my internal dialogue. When I am out camping in nature I find I am more in the moment than when I am in human civilization. The trick is to deal with human civilization from a place of inner silence. Inner silence helps me stay in the moment. The human mind reflects on the past (memories) and future (desires) but what you experience will be in the here and now of this eternal moment. |
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