Is your mind currently caught up in thoughts of the future or of the past? Does this cause you to feel stressed out or to feel anxious? This is the time to step into the present moment. This is also the time to realize that the present moment is all that there is and that it is where we actually live our lives. Doing this can bring you a sense of calm and a feeling of aliveness. It can help you focus on doing what is at hand at the moment instead of operating like a person whose mind is off in the distance. Try these simple steps and see how they can change the way you feel right now.
1. Be aware of where you are right now, observe your surroundings, what can you see, smell, hear, feel, and sense.
2. Become aware of your breath, the gentle rhythm of the air flowing in and out.
3. Observe your inner body, think of your hands, legs, and your entire body. As you focus on your body you will begin to feel an energy running through it, what sensations do you feel? You may feel such sensations as a tingling, a warmth and you may also sense a feeling of aliveness.
4. Observe your thoughts, watch them float by, you will notice that there is a gap in between the thoughts, listen to that gap, there is a stillness and a presence there in the gap.
5. As you go further in the gap, you realize that in the stillness, in the presence there is the one who is observing the thoughts, the silent watcher who is observing everything. You begin to sense that this is you, your true essence, the one that transcends time and the one that is connected to all. What does that feel like, do you feel a sense of calm and a sense of peacefulness?
Check out the video below from clinical psychologist and mindfulness teacher Tara Brach about taking the sacred pause.
Additionally, Eckhart Tolle is one of the best people on this topic. Check out his book “The Power of the Now" which is an excellent resource for learning how to step into the present moment.