Despite how much you might want to live in the ‘now’, it’s easy for your thoughts to drift. However, there are ways that you can become mindful again.
What steps can you take to become more mindful again? Here are some steps you might like to try out and see if they resonate with you.
Mindfulness Exercises to Help Bring You Back to the ‘Now’
1. Change your habits to retrain your brain. In the busyness of today’s lifestyles, it’s easy to fall into the trap of trying to do several things at once. While multitasking might make you feel like you’re accomplishing more, it’s teaching you to become distracted and lose focus.
2. In your daily life, concentrate on doing one thing at a time until it’s complete. This will help to retrain your mind to focus on what’s at hand in the present rather than trying to get started on tomorrow’s to-do list. There's a little saying that goes "complain or complete" and you get to choose which one to focus on.
3. When you handle something, make sure that you’re calm when you do it. Take a minute and re-focus. Slowly breathe in and breathe out. Breathe with calm and ease, slowly, deeply. If you’re feeling peaceful when you’re completing a task, it’s easier to remain in the present.
4. Bring your thoughts under control each time they wander. For example, instead of thinking “Tomorrow I have to start on a new project” think, “Right now, I’m cooking dinner” or “Right now, I’m driving in my car.” Always focus on what you’re currently doing.
5. Beware of autopilot. Your thoughts can wander if you’re performing a habit you do automatically, such as taking a shower. If you’ve completed a task then paused to ask yourself if you did it, it’s a clear sign your mind wasn’t fully present. You were moving on to something else rather than staying in that moment. A simple way to overcome this “autopilot” mode is to shake up your routine. If you normally take a certain route to work, choose another instead. If you usually do a specific activity at a certain time like always eating lunch at noon, rearrange the time and see what happens.
6. Don’t forget to check in with yourself periodically during the day. When you find that you’re not in the present, you need to reorient your mind. Do this by pausing and touching base with your five senses. Listen for the sounds you can hear. Focus on what you can see. Pay attention to what you can feel. Inhale through your nose and try to name the aromas in the air.
Stop Wasting Energy
“Energy is our most precious resource, for it is the means by which we transform our creative potential into meaningful action.”
If we liken ourselves to the world we live in, in our environment we don't want to waste our resources but use them wisely and with discernment. Remember that you don’t want to waste your energy on worrying, but utilise it well too. It doesn’t solve anything and just makes you feel worse, instead redirect it. When a worry pops into your mind, say something soothing. For example, you might tell yourself, “There are no action steps to take at the moment.” When there’s nothing you need to do, it frees your mind to return to the present.
Stop dwelling on anything that you feel is lacking in your life or within you. This causes a sense of dissatisfaction and makes you think about what you don’t have or what you’re not. Instead, focus on what you do have in the moment and who you are in the moment. You could say something like, “Today, I delight in what I am and what I already have.” You can even run, jump, skip, shake, jiggle, dance as you say it out loud, get that body moving, release that worry energy and let your smiles, laughter and joy in. This is a good step in the right direction to bringing yourself back to the present too.
For further inspiration we are here: robynandkarla.com
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In this moment we are effectively managing the disruption, distraction and external demands of life and allowing our unique gifts to shine. Keys to Freedom!
Loving Now.
Robyn and Karla
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