Why its Good to Train our Minds to be in the Present!

Eckhart Tolle says ‘realize deeply the present moment is all you have. This reminds me to be present where and when I am in the present moment and to not get caught up in being some place else or some time else! In the words of Jim Elliot; ‘Wherever you are – be all there.
 
There are several benefits to training our minds to be in the present ….
When we are in the present moment................ 

• We are not being distracted or disturbed by past regrets or future worries. 
• We feel a sense of calm and are less likely to be carried away by unhelpful thoughts and emotions.
• We are more able to connect with our surroundings and others
• Our ability to concentrate, be patient and deal with negative emotions is facilitated

But, how do we do that? I am not sure about you but my mind is often dwelling in the past or the future, usually with worry about what has already happened or what may or may not happen in the future.

Both the past and the future only exist in the present mind. The past has already been and the future has not yet come! However we bring them into the present mind, usually with worry. There is never any use worrying about what has already been and what may or may not happen in the future, but how do we stop ruining our present with such worry?

A useful way to train our minds to be more in the present, which I learned from my Teachers Lama Marut and Cindy Lee is this ‘Be Here Now’ practice.

This practice is one way we can train our minds to be more in the present and less caught up with worry about the past and future, times that don’t exist. We can do  this simple tuning into our surroundings anytime we remember as well as a preliminary before doing meditation.

I have been using this 'Be Here Now' practice to settle into the present before doing our meditation in yoga for many years. Lama Marut refers to this practice as 'setting our internal GPS'. It orientates us in the present, place and time. 

1. Be Here Now. 

If we are doing this as a meditation preliminary we begin by firstly checking in with our meditation posture by being relaxed, seated comfortably with a straight back, arms resting in the lap, head evenly balanced with relaxed jaw, face and scalp, and our eyes gently closed.  Otherwise its just a matter of being aware of where and when we are by using these steps to tune in. 

The ‘be here now’ practice consists of the following steps.

1. We bring our attention to where we are, our surroundings. We leave behind where we have come from and where we are off to next and become aware of where we are now, our surroundings such as the room we are in and those we are with. We notice what is around us, where we are!
2. We then become aware of when we are, in the ever-changing present moment. We do our best to tune into the changing nature of when or now by uses our senses.

i.Firstly, attending to any sounds we can hear. This is a tuning in process which involves noticing the many changing sounds that are around us and moving from sound to sound without the need to think about what we are hearing. 
ii.Secondly, we notice the sensations we can feel. These include any areas of pressure or warmth we can feel on the skin, a breeze, whatever we can feel. Again no need to think we are simply tuning in
iii.Thirdly, we bring our attention to any smells that are lingering around.

BINGO we are in the present, and everything is OK there, no fear or worry.  
In our yoga classes we do this meditation preliminary practice, then go onto bring our attention to the breath, our anchor in the present with a simple mindful breathing meditation. I will outline the steps of this mediation next blog. 

With love, appreciation and very best well wishes to us all 
Maree xx
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