For this post, I'm going to talk about the
important of living in the moment, or "mindfulness". You may of heard
of this a lot in conjunction with "zen", or Buddhism. I prefer to
talk about it from a practical point of view, irrespective of any religious or
other categorical context. And by that I mean; even if Buddhism and zen
practice emphasize mindfulness and staying in the moment, it is still important
even if you aren't a Buddhist, and don't practice zen.
From a philosophical point of view, this moment is really all we
have. If a huge meteor blew up the earth in the next hour, that would be the
end of that, and nobody really knows exactly when their life in this earth will
end. The future doesn't exist yet, or it would be the present, and the past
doesn't exist anymore, it only used to exist as the present. The importance of
this is that when we dwell on the past or the future, we are dwelling on times
which don't exist yet, or no longer exist. And the more someone dwells on a
time which doesn't exist, the more they lose the energy they currently have,
because it takes effort to sustain this attention. By bringing our attention
back to the present, we regain our energy which would otherwise be used up in
worrying about the future or dwelling on the past. In this moment, you are
alive, most likely you have enough food, water, and resources to last you for
the day, and you have access to a wonderful computer with which to read blog
posts!
From a health and wellness point of view, all of the healing is
done in the present moment. Changing the past is impossible, but changing the
way we view the past can be done at any time, in the present. And choices we
make in one moment directly effect the next moment. So if you forgive someone right
Now, in 10 seconds you will most likely feel much better about your life, if
you've been holding onto feelings of anger or resentment. On top of this,
mindfulness or staying in the moment has a big impact on your immune system and
body's natural defenses and sense of well-being. I talked about how you have
more energy when you stay in the moment. This energy directly benefits your
body's natural systems of digestion, auto-immune protection, and all other
natural functions. Mindfulness is a powerful preventative medicine all on its
own, because of the health benefits you gain. When you stay in the moment,
which requires you to give up worrying and anxiety, ease returns to your life,
or greater ease if you already have some.
From a relational point of view, being in the moment is a requirement for
enjoying intimate connections with loved ones. Have you ever talked with
someone whose mind appeared to be “out to lunch”? Was it enjoyable, or did
you wish you were off doing something else? If you’ve ever been in situations
like this, you know how it feels when others have been absent from the
conversation, even if there were only two of you wherever you were. While no
one can control another person, all of us can control our own, and make the
choice to be present for others. Often the results may be surprising, and you
may find someone responding to you when otherwise they would have left you
alone.
To conclude, I would
like to point out what the focal point of all meditations are. The entire point
of meditation, at its most simple, is to bring your mind into the present
moment. Many different kinds of meditation use senses like feeling, hearing,
sight, etc. to bring our attention to the moment. What all of these have in
common can be summed up this way; bringing the attention of our mind onto the
subject of our body, which is always in the present. All bodily functions of
breath, feeling, and sensing, take place in the moment, and only the moment.
You can’t breathe in the past, it doesn’t work. And by paying attention to
something which is always in the present, our bodies, then our minds also
gradually attune to being in the moment. Meditation isn’t necessary for
mindfulness, although it is very helpful and can be fun if presented in a good
light!
