Being in the moment

Being in the moment – what does this mean, really?  How to live in the moment?  It’s also another way to be mindful.  But, how?

Being in the moment

When we’re always on the ‘go’, we aren’t really in the present.  We’re thinking about the future and all the various things we need to get done.  Lives are so busy that we don’t often have the chance to just ‘be’.  Being present in the moment is hard to do.  Being in the moment means to stop and be aware.  Aware of what you’re doing, aware of what is around you, and aware of how you’re feeling.

Being present in the moment

Being mindful during everything we do can be a challenge.  There are so many different activities throughout the day that we barely even think about anything anymore.

Morning Routines

Every morning when we wake up, we brush our teeth, get ready, and eat breakfast.  We don’t even ‘think’ about it.  What would happen tomorrow morning if, when you woke up, and did all those things that you actually paid attention to it.  When brushing your teeth, if you thought about the strokes you are making against your teeth – to really get them clean?  And, if when getting ready, you slipped on your pants and paid attention to how that felt, how would it make you feel?

What about when you are eating breakfast – actually, what about even just the moments before that – when you were making breakfast?  Let’s say you were going to make oatmeal or some delicious buckwheat.  Each movement from taking the package of grains out and filling a pot with water – what if you paid attention to all those things?  What would happen?

Mindfulness

I can tell you what would happen…

You wouldn’t be worrying about the meeting you were having in an hour nor would you be worried about when you can get to the store to buy the milk that you need for the week.  You would be ‘being in the moment’.  Totally present.  Whatever you were doing at the moment, that would be all that would matter because everything else wouldn’t matter until the moment that you would be doing it.

Mindful eating

I’d like to take eating a step further.  Life is so busy and we don’t think about eating.  We just eat.  Do you really chew your food and do you really taste your food?  Has eating become so mindless that we forget what food tastes like?  Part of our problem is that life really is that busy but the other part is that we’re always on electronics.  If you’re watching TV or always on your phone, you aren’t paying attention to eating.

Being in the moment during food prep

Do you ever think about what you are doing when you are preparing food?  Are you being in the moment?  Do you cut eat vegetable without thinking about 1000 other things?  If you garden and grow some of your own food, are you thinking about that seed you are planting in the fertile soil?  As it’s growing, do you see the growth?

It may seem so miniscule to think about these things, but this is what it means to be mindful.  Being in the moment allows us to stop and be present.  It allows us to stop worrying about everything else because all that matters – and I mean ALL – is what we are doing then.  We all have responsibilities and worries.  That’s life but when you savor each moment, all the other moments will fall into place.  You won’t have to worry about it.  Things will happen – good and bad – but when you are present, you are able to accept it and deal with it appropriately.  Anxiety, depression, and worry will just melt away.  Try it out.

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