To be here and now, detached from the past, carefree of the future, to know how to savor the small pleasures of everyday life... Why is it so difficult?
Yet, focusing our attention on what we are living, here, on what we feel, now, is an exercise whose benefits are extremely powerful, the best anxiolytic there is!
Do you also constantly feel that your days are too short? Do you feel like you're always running? Are you constantly looking for inner peace?
It's not always easy to deal with everyday life when your head is constantly full of information...
Did you know that our brain produces 60,000 thoughts a day? Enough to easily feed our little inner hamster!
The over-stimulation we experience in today's society leads us to disperse easily, to lock ourselves in virtual reality, disconnected from our sensations. It is not easy to live fully in the moment.
Studies have been conducted to understand why some people have a real propensity to be happy, positive, and enterprising. These studies have shown that these happy people live mainly in the moment.
What Is to Live in The Moment?
"If you are depressed, you are living in the past. If you are anxious, you are living in the future. If you are at peace, you are living in the present."
Perhaps you have already read this quote from Lao Tzu? I think it illustrates and sums up very well what it is to live in the moment.
Since the beginning of time, the human species has been programmed to react efficiently to danger. Our bodies deal with these situations by generating stress, which can be positive or negative, by awakening our senses and by modifying what is happening in our bodies to respond effectively. We are naturally inclined to anticipate the future and to remember the past so as not to make the same mistakes in the future.
This takes us away from the present moment and what is happening in our bodies, here and now.
Our society is accelerating, everything is going very fast, we have no time for anything. We want everything, right away, and are constantly looking for a feeling of immediate pleasure. And this, in a consumer society where everything pushes us to look for happiness in material things rather than inside ourselves.
But we forget one important principle: we have no control over the past or the future.
How to Be Present in The Moment?
To live in the moment is to live in full awareness. It is to be aware of your thoughts and the emotions they generate at the exact moment they arrive. Then, it is to choose whether or not you want to continue thinking about them.
At first, it is an effort, a training, that then becomes as natural as breathing.
Living in the present moment is choosing to live fully what you are experiencing NOW. By connecting body and soul, being aware of our environment, of what is happening in us and around us.
Living in the moment is being able to let go of the emotions that may arise without judging them or trying to control them.
Living in the moment is taking a few minutes every day to slow down, to appreciate a state of inner peace in full awareness.
Living in the moment is about centering yourself. It is to align with oneself.
Living in the moment is trusting life.
To live in the moment is to rediscover your childlike soul. Without preconceived ideas or expectations, just being open to the world.
And finally, I would say that living in the moment is to become a channel open to intuition. It is a choice without control.
Letting Go, the Key to Happiness
To appreciate and accept the present moment, you must be able to understand and put into practice the notion of letting go. It is not about surrendering or giving up in the face of this or that situation. It is rather about accepting what is.
Letting go is about accepting the present moment unconditionally and without reservation.
It is by living only in the moment, by accepting it, and by letting go, by focusing our attention on the "doing" (present) rather than on the result (future) that we can reconnect with our true being and our inner peace.
The Benefits
Being fully in the moment allows one to develop sensory acuity, and to see life's beauty more easily. It also confers a sense of freedom.
Being aware of the present moment helps us to realign our body and mind, which are overburdened by our daily obligations, our busy schedule, and our responsibilities.
By focusing on our breathing, our environment, and our emotions, our mind pauses and our body naturally becomes less tense. Our muscles loosen, our breath becomes deeper, our belly relaxes, and our mind calms down for a moment.
The benefits are then measured on our general health, physical and mental. And with a good complementary lifestyle, we sleep better, our sleep is deeper and more restful.
With practice, living in the moment helps us to release the pressure when we feel overwhelmed, stressed. It contributes to better self-development and allows us to expand our intuition to gradually find serenity.
Living in the moment can be a work in progress. You can work on it on a daily basis, thanks to numerous techniques.
What Are The Techniques to Live in The Moment?
The most effective and affordable way to live in the moment is to learn mindfulness meditation. There are a lot of apps or very good videos on YouTube available for free.
Yoga, conscious breathing, and sophrology are also very accessible and excellent choices. These approaches have many benefits that have been scientifically proven for many years. By connecting to the body, we connect to the present moment.
Practicing gratitude, writing down your positive thoughts every day in a small notebook will also help you to see your life in a more positive way and to take the time to consciously appreciate what is happening around you.
And you can also simply live as consciously as possible in the moment through the small gestures of your daily life.
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When you take your shower, for example, enjoy feeling the water flowing over each part of your body, listen to its sound, observe it flowing, enjoy the caress of the soap on your skin, from your feet to the nape of your neck...
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When you walk, concentrate on your steps, the roll of your arch, the sounds, the smells. Or the light, the nature, or the architecture that surrounds you...
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When you spend time with your children, pay attention to your movements, to your children's movements, to the verbal exchanges, to the exchanges of glances... and to all that this evokes in you.
Practicing these techniques only takes a few minutes a day. Regularity is the key to success.
A Sentence to Remember
The only time we really exist is in the present moment.
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