When you’re totally stressed out, the last thing you may want to hear is that you need to start living in the present moment. After all, there’s no time for that! How are you supposed to hustle, multitask, and achieve any future goals if you’re wasting time staring at a butterfly? But maybe – and stay with me here – there’s a better way of looking at this.
Sometimes we imagine that living in the moment is one more thing we’re going to have to add to our to-do lists. (And if we’re not already doing it, we beat ourselves up, saying it’s yet another way we’re failing!) We think living in the moment is going to require putting extra self-care on the schedule, be it developing a meditation practice or signing up for a yoga retreat. But that’s just it: you don’t have to change anything about your daily life to be present in it!
Of course designating 5 to 15 minutes a day for mindfulness would be awesome and some of us need a little daily reminder or we won’t do it. It’s also not necessary to formalize this at all. Just practice paying attention to what you’re doing, to your surroundings, and to your body whenever possible. Here are a few easy ways to start now:
Put the phone down. You don’t have to lock it away all day. Just make it inaccessible for a brief period of time. The more often you do it, the easier it will become and the longer you’ll be able to go without it.
Step outside. Literally take one step out of the building if that’s all you can do. You don’t have to go for a hike to appreciate nature. It’s all around us, even if we live in a very man-made environment. Find something green to focus on. Look up at the sky. Bonus points for bare feet in the grass!
Look at people when you’re with them. Whether it’s your partner, your child or even a pet (OK, that’s not a person, but still…) really look at them. What do they sound like? Feel like? Look like? They are right in front of you. They are what’s real in this very moment.
Come up with a short gratitude exercise. Take a few seconds each day to mentally go through the list of things that are going well right now. It might sound like, “Wow, I’m really glad for my health right now, that I have a home to live in, that I have a job…” Even the smallest things matter. Wiggle your toes. Are they all there? Great! Something to be thankful for! If you can spend a little bit of extra time writing these things down, you’ll be able to go back through your notebook when you’re feeling particularly low or just can’t seem to keep your mind off the future, which is not the present moment, which is not in your control!
Sounds simple? It kind of is. Try incorporating one or all 4 each day and watch your attitude on life change for the better.
melissa says
Thank you for these tips. They are so helpful and I will certainly try and implement your 4 suggestions into my day.
Kelly says
Thanks so much Melissa! Let me know how you end up doing…