I think one of the greatest benefits of yoga is that it brings you into the present moment. It allows you to connect with here and now.
Even when practicing yoga it is possible to be elsewhere. I have certainly had days where my mind just won’t shut up. These are the days where yoga is a real challenge and yet these are the days where we need yoga the most. Don’t run from your mat, stay be with yourself. Don’t judge your mind, accept everything as it is and go back to your breath. Notice subtleties in your movement, gradually bring yourself back, here.
Why is being here and now so important?
The mind is an incredible thing. It just doesn’t seem to stay still. Sometimes life is great and sometimes it is challenging. It doesn’t matter how much yoga you do, challenging things will happen and great, wonderful things too! Everything is changing all the time and yet the mind can cling to some fixed ideas about reality. Sometimes our minds repeat the same thoughts again and again, strengthening them, feeding them. These thoughts may have nothing to do with what is actually happening to you. Often they are about some possible future or some past experience.
I have observed that when something is happening, the mind often is not fully present with the experience. Instead it can think about what will happen because of this, even though it doesn’t yet know the future. Sometimes we also filter things through our past – neither of these filters are real. If you are present then you have no choice but to surrender to what is happening. As you experience this more and more life becomes more beautiful and less stressful. You get to experience life in it’s many colours and embrace it each and every moment.
Believing and feeding a negative future in your mind can’t be helpful. If you must have a vision of the future in your mind make it one that inspires you and makes you smile.
How to stay present in your day to day life
- Practice it preferably daily, through yoga, meditation or just when going about a daily task like washing up.
- Be compassionate with your mind, if you notice it’s not being present, be with it. Learn to laugh at it and tell it to shut up if it’s not being helpful.
- If you feel panicked notice what is actually happening, is it as bad as your mind thinks it is?
- Use your breath to make you aware of here and now. Notice your breathing as it is or take a few deep breaths.
- Feel what it’s like to be in your body. Feel the contact with the floor or the chair.
- Notice the sounds that are around you.
- Listen to what others are saying. The mind can get so busy planning it’s next move. Take the time to really listen to what other people are saying instead of planning what you are going to say next.
- Focus on the every day things that are actually happening. Where are you right now and what are you doing?
- If you catch your mind creating stories, notice it without getting involved, like a cloud passing in the sky.
- If you feel you’ve got stuck living in the past or the future, that’s okay. Now is the only moment you have, be here now and don’t worry about the past.
Do you find your mind likes to create unnecessary drama? What helps you to stay present?
