Present moment awareness involves monitoring and attending to current experiences rather than dwelling in the past or predicting future events. Present moment awareness increases stress resilience and well-being. Learn to bring your mind to the present moment and let your decisions emerge from this reality

Take a moment to ask yourself few questions:

– Was I present in everything that I did?
– At breakfast did I really taste what I was eating?
– While driving did I only drive without any planning of the next task?
– While speaking to someone did I really focus on what they were saying, without thinking about what I had to say next?

If your answer to most of the above questions was a NO then you are living on the autopilot mode and the only way to stop this is mindfulness, a way of living in the present. So here is how you do it:

Step 1:

Adopt a comfortable posture but not one in which you are likely to fall asleep.

Step 2:

Shift from Thinking to Sensing: To avert endless cycles of thinking first have an inner gatekeeper who will control what comes in and what stays out of the mind.

Step 3:

As a beginner if you lose grip of the moment, give the mind something to focus on like –

a. Sounds:

First focus on the most obvious sounds and as your concentration gets sharper, notice more subtle sounds, such as bird calls and distant traffic.

b. Bodily sensations:

Feel your arms resting on your lap, your legs on the chair. Feel your clothes against your skin. Notice any pain, muscle tightness, fluttering in your stomach etc.

c. Breathing:

Watch the natural changes in your breathing. You might notice that your breath starts shallow and fast, but becomes deeper and more regular as you relax profoundly.

Repeat this insightful technique with as many incidents as you wish, and experience how writing, accepting and reliving your responses brings you to purity and peace.

Topics

awareness Meditation Mindfulness

The Power of Present Moment Awareness