Living in the Moment

      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!