Hello!  You have probably heard about “Living in the moment”, “Being Present”, “Mindfulness”.

All well and good and definitely a worthwhile philosophy to apply to one’s daily life.  However, it can be harder to put into practice than it may seem!  Just because you may read or hear a quote that advocates “live life in the present moment” doesn’t necessarily mean that you suddenly know how to do so!  Living life in the present takes practice, even though it should come naturally to us.

We have generally spent so long worrying about the future, feeling pressured into behaving a certain way, apprehensively worrying about family, or striving for the next bigger and better thing that we can focus most of our attention on the future instead of the present.  This can result in a general feeling of never having or being “enough”, anxiety, unhappiness, and increased levels of stress.  In addition, we now have Coronavirus to worry about!

In contrast, when you truly live in the present moment you feel content, grounded, secure & happy.  You can profoundly resonate with what makes you happy NOW!  Right now!  READER – yes YOU! –  TRY IT NOW!  Forget about your ambitions.  Forget about what you perceive as disappointments.  Forget about your worries & projections of what about when such & such happens or about needing to do an urgent thing.

Shift your awareness into “What makes my life tick right now in a positive, wonderful, satisfying, joyful, happy & peaceful way?  What do I have to be grateful for?  What do I appreciate?”  It doesn’t have to be anything major!  It may be that you start to recognise daily occurrences that resonate with a feel good factor.  A smile, a kind word, a gesture.

It does not mean that if you live in the moment that you have no concept of your future.  There are many things that are exciting to think about and many things that are essential to think about: things you need to do, ideas, plans and goals.  However, what it does mean is that you are not expending your precious energy worrying about things that re not actually happening in this present moment, or under your control.

Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it!

Here are 6 suggestions for present moment living:

1. Pay attention to & appreciate the little things – the appearance of snowdrops, the laughter of a child …When you decide to pay attention and notice things, you bring yourself into the present and calm your entire system.
2. Don’t Worry, Find Solutions – instead of worrying, find a way to discover solutions to resolve the challenge.
3. Write Things Down – if you are feeling a general malaise of negativity, get it out of your head by writing down everything that’s bothering you. It’s a very simple, and yet, awesomely powerful way to rationalise, organise and change negative thinking.
4. Smile More – how often do you look in the mirror and smile at yourself? Smiling can change our emotional state and bring you into the now.
5. Be Grateful – gratitude & appreciation are high vibrating frequencies and bring so much positivity into our lives. Being grateful for what you have (and don’t have!) is a powerfully positive emotion.
6. Be Mindful – this means focusing your entire attention on what you are doing. We are all being told to wash our hands frequently & for a minimum of 20 seconds in these Coronavirus times, so why not use the opportunity to be mindful?!  Really focus your attention on the feeling of spreading the soap over your skin and then the feeling of the water as it rinses it away.  Be fully present and enjoy these handwashing moments and you will notice the calm feeling mindfulness can bring.  It helps to reset your emotional barometer!

Imagination can be our greatest gift, or our worst enemy!

Gillian Dalgliesh is a Clinical Hypnotherapist & Stress Management Consultant https://www.gilliandalgliesh.com/    07593 082 349

You can find more Mindful and Stress Busting tips on my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbXI1hMnw3nKTAh6RU6G4Fw