How to live in the now?

[learningtogrow]

At my deepest core I believe that "the answers" lie in merely being present with each moment and "enjoying" that which is. However, I have a difficult time actually acheiving this.

I've had moments. To me, it means to be "awake". The actual "I" or higher self is awake. When I let thoughts of past and present take over, I know I am not really living my true purpose.

I try to focus on what my body is doing at the moment. I try to feel from the inside. I try to use my senses but a lot of times, this only lasts a brief moment if that ever.

I was just wondering if anyone had any tricks or techniques they use to bring them back in the now/ to "who they really are" (consciousness). At least for starters, just until it becomes more of a habit for me. Not unlike someone who is going on a diet or quitting alcohol. Usually there's something they can turn to when they catch themselves slipping into past habits. Any suggestions?

[Alchemiss]

Meditation helps immensely. It is a very "now" activity.

[learningtogrow]

so........ how do you meditate? and how do you bring that practice into your daily life?

[Alchemiss]

Here is a starting point: Mindfulness In Plain English

I do insight meditation for half an hour each day. Essentially you watch your thoughts come and go and do not chase them nor try to get them to go away. The more observant you become in meditation, the more observant and present you become in daily life. You can also do mindfulness meditations while doing dishes, brushing your teeth etc. I also like Jon Kabat-Zinn's book Wherever You Go, There You Are.

[{aspiring_to_clarity}]

learningtogrow, have you read The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle? I am reading it at the moment. It's all about living in the now. I think it would be a helpful book for you. I am still digesting everything I am learning from it, but one point is that by simply being aware of when you are thinking, you are becoming the watcher of your thoughts and being more in tuned to the present moment. It seems you are already able to do that. Great step. If you haven't read this book already, I would encourage you to do so. It is clarifying a lot for me. I wish I could describe it better! Check it out.

Edit: Ha, looking at this post, you would think I get a cut of the book sales, but I really don't. It's just been an eye opener for me (and from what a lot of people here say for them as well).

[learningtogrow]

Originally Posted by {aspiring_to_clarity}

learningtogrow, have you read The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle? I am reading it at the moment. It's all about living in the now. I think it would be a helpful book for you. I am still digesting everything I am learning from it, but one point is that by simply being aware of when you are thinking, you are becoming the watcher of your thoughts and being more in tuned to the present moment. It seems you are already able to do that. Great step. If you haven't read this book already, I would encourage you to do so. It is clarifying a lot for me. I wish I could describe it better! Check it out.

Edit: Ha, looking at this post, you would think I get a cut of the book sales, but I really don't. It's just been an eye opener for me (and from what a lot of people here say for them as well).

Thanks for the suggestion. I have read it, as well as several teachings by Tolle. I wish I could describe it better as well, hence the post.

[{aspiring_to_clarity}]

Ah, well. I think we are in the same boat. Sometimes I feel like I am "getting it" and other times I think I am not quite there.

When I want to remind myself to be in the now, I say a little word or phrase I came up with to let myself know I am drifting...thinking too much, allowing the pain-body to take over. It seems to help me at least realize that I am not present which is half the battle.

I think you might already be ahead of me. Perhaps I should be asking you for advice! Sorry I couldn't be of more help. I wish you the best.

[Angelwings]

Great dat u bought it up.I m having troubles living with NOW.
Too much old memories hauntin my daily existence.I cant stop thinking about d pasts and feeling dat d pasts is better than present. Almost everyday I daydream my past memories and not really paying 100% focus of my watever i was doing .I want to stop it but its so hard coz its really hurting me. I cant help comparing d past to present and it depresses me. I miss d past :'(
It is soo difficult to live in d NOW if ders regret. In almost every present situations i wud think if didnt do that i wont be in here tis present moment doing this now going through the unpleasant lessons.
These words keeps running thru my head " WHAT IF?" These words are so devastating dont u think?

D only thing that keeps me going is looking forward to FUTURE, trying to accomplish the goals I set for myself. Lets my goals wud bring me happiness somehow. I dont think that's living d NOW.
Anywayz i will check out dat book POWER OF NOW maybe i will find answers.

[Max Power]

Originally Posted by learningtogrow

I was just wondering if anyone had any tricks or techniques they use to bring them back in the now/ to "who they really are" (consciousness). At least for starters, just until it becomes more of a habit for me. Not unlike someone who is going on a diet or quitting alcohol. Usually there's something they can turn to when they catch themselves slipping into past habits. Any suggestions?

Unfortunatly the whole premise of physical being is built to experience growth and that means that most people plan growth and/or define growth by what other beings are doing, have done.

I find consciousness when I let go of thought and emotion (these are creations, like time, growth etc) and see that I am observer and observed, when you can look at your body and a tree, a chair and see they are created by you, then you'll see that you are indeed consciousness.

Think about this, where are you in your body? When you answer that question, you'll find and see consciousness, because you'll see that you are actually everything including the body you use.

Enjoy!
Max Power
"I create, therefore I am"

[Bloggeries]

Living in the now is acting and not thinking, if you think / analyze a situation that could of occurred that situation can never occur as you used the window to analyze it instead of action it. This is especially true for matters of wit. Living in the now is being open to what is happening around you walking your own path.

[Groundless]

At my deepest core I believe that "the answers" lie in merely being present with each moment and "enjoying" that which is. However, I have a difficult time actually acheiving this.

I found reputable brain entrainment cd's to help immensely. I was able to meditate prior but with these entrainment cd's I found it more effective. It has been 3-1/2 years now and it is working for me still.

When I let thoughts of past and present take over, I know I am not really living my true purpose.

You could try looking at thoughts as nothing more than passing clouds. Tip your hat to the thoughts and say "thinking" and then let them pass. Whatever happens is ok.

It seems to work for me sometimes.

[Shamou]

Hello learningtogrow...

If you have a purpose in life that is bigger and larger than who you are... most of the time you will be in the here and now... planning, analyzing, evaluating and researching that purpose...

If you ever get the chance, ask Bill Gates, Tony Robbins or Donald Trump if they have any problem staying in the here and now...

.

[Namaste]

Originally Posted by learningtogrow

I was just wondering if anyone had any tricks or techniques they use to bring them back in the now/ to "who they really are" (consciousness). At least for starters, just until it becomes more of a habit for me. Not unlike someone who is going on a diet or quitting alcohol. Usually there's something they can turn to when they catch themselves slipping into past habits. Any suggestions?

Yoga is your answer! And meditation

[Namaste]

Originally Posted by Shamou

If you have a purpose in life that is bigger and larger than who you are... most of the time you will be in the here and now... planning, analyzing, evaluating and researching that purpose...

Shamou, wouldn't that mean that you would be living in the future or for that future, in a way?

[Shamou]

Originally Posted by Namaste

Shamou, wouldn't that mean that you would be living in the future or for that future, in a way?

Since it is the here and now that builds the future... I guess that you would... a bit like in sports... you have to stay focus on the here and now... but it's the final score that really matters...

.

[artic123]

Barry Long, who was Eckhart Tolle's teacher, has a tape on "How to Stop Thinking". Basically you are aware of your surroundings and what is happening externally. You use your mind wisely when a situation occurs that you have to address, but then go back being aware of the world.

Artic

[Flyingwithoutwings]

I think it can be a big problem to get stuck in the need to have that feeling of 'nowness' all of the time. Though, through constant work in this area for a period of approximately 8 months, I found it can be more desturbing and detrimental to one's everyday situation to have an obsession with always 'being in the now'. If you're interested I could expand on my own experience but, more importantly the advice...

As the author of the power of now stated (rough paraphrase): you can't get attached to this Now, this feeling, it will come and go as it pleases. As for practicing it, I'd say take it as it works with the moment. When the situation is right for concentration in the Now, go for it... For me this can be a wide array of situations and is mostly a thing of intuition. Situations can range from arguments to quiet periods of the day, but most importantly is that you just let it be a part of your life and don't let the needs to be in the Now consume your life completely. As a friend of mine once pointed out to me, its almost like an artificial awareness, which is to say sometimes it may be overall more benificial to simply follow your mind where to flows.

Whether you choose to intensify your practice or let it come and go, I wish you well on your journeys.

[ethereal]

Hehe, realize that you are always in the now, even when thinking about the past or future, you are still doing that in the now So don't worry about it. If past and future don't exist, neither does now -- they're all concepts based on time. Flyingwithoutwings has got it right -- there is only Eternity, which Now-ness really is pointing to.

Just stay detached as the witness/observer of all that occurs and you'll become more aware in no time. Constantly surrender everything as it arises -- thoughts, sensations, emotions -- release them and let it go as they come up. Decline the vanity of an "I" that is the cause of anything -- see that nothing causes anything, everything is spontaneously arising as a consequence of what it is, not what it does. It's a wonderful and peaceful state of being, knowing that everything is happening by itself without a "you" having to do anything.

[Erock]

Originally Posted by artic123

Barry Long, who was Eckhart Tolle's teacher, has a tape on "How to Stop Thinking". Basically you are aware of your surroundings and what is happening externally. You use your mind wisely when a situation occurs that you have to address, but then go back being aware of the world.

Artic

Yeah I'm pretty good at staying in the now when I have my eyes open and can see the rest of the world, but as soon as I close my eyes-as in going to bed-my mind starts going quickly again. I'm working on it though.

Erock

[ZHereford]

I don't think that living in the moment is meant to be mysterious or difficult.
It's meant to remind people to enjoy and appreciate the moments in life because they are fleeting and before we take the time to reflect, they're gone.
If we live each moment to it's fullest we have don't have the regret of missing what it had to offer.

[learningtogrow]

Flyingwithoutwings wrote:
If you're interested I could expand on my own experience but, more importantly the advice...

I'd love to hear your experience! I enjoyed the advice:-)

[Shamou]

Originally Posted by ZHereford

I don't think that living in the moment is meant to be mysterious or difficult.

That article is beautifully written Zorka... (and so is all your blog)

I particularly like the last part which said...

"Like all skills, training yourself to enjoy and live in the moment takes time and practice. Begin now and see life from a fresh, new perspective.
Carpe diem!"

.

[ginkgo]

You need a technique to practice that can help you with being in the moment. Meditation is a term like exercise. It could be many different things. The site below explains that what enables someone to be in the moment, is their true nature which is beyond time and space. Read this short article called Enlightenment. It has information from top psychologists on the experience people feel when they are in the moment or in the eternal now.

[ZHereford]

@ Shamou, thanks so much for the great compliment. Coming from you it means a lot to me!

Thanks again!

[silicon toad2000]

I shed unneeded problems.
I focus on things breifly and ask myself do these things really matter, are they important, will the world stop rotating if these issues manifest in the worst case.
Before too long you gain some nice clarity.
well works for me...

[Flyingwithoutwings]

Originally Posted by learningtogrow

I'd love to hear your experience! I enjoyed the advice:-)

You flatten me! Okay

Well, at the beginning of summer after my senior year of highschool, I came across the power of now audiobook. When I read it I immediately could hear its vibrant truth. Over the course of the summer I would listen to The Power of Now and a CD called "What is Meditation" most days and let nothing come ahead of being "in the now" afterall, everything is based on your level of consciousness and that is based on presence, right? So what could be more important?

Backing up, at the time I began the summer, I had a girlfriend whom I cared for very much and a summer job at an assisted living facility, soon to be in college. Also, an avid exerciser.

Though, I noticed, that my experience of the Now, the ability to feel the energy and aliveness in every cell of my body, to feel my inner body, listen to silence, be intensely present, etc. was hindered somewhat by intense exercise, speaking any words that were not an perfect message from the Present or, especially when disidentifing from one's mind, really thinking much at all, no anticipation or reflecting.

I sustained this until approximately 3 months into my first semester at college when I couldn't deny how disfunctional it was. Not only did I lose the girlfriend because I wouldn't talk gossip/a/b most all topics with her or spend simple play time with her, I could not plan, worst of all it seemed that I was losing my mind. This one part consciousness amist college life simply did not work. It seemed as if I were drunk because I never could remember where I was the night before, or even an hour before because I did not work those brain muscles of past and future.

Sure the past and future are part of the present, but with a teacher like tolle, I just wouldn't push it, if you're not sure whether its present, you're better off without it, what is more important than presence afterall?

Though it may seem I took this teaching to an extreme, it seemed to be the only extreme where it was really pointing. Practicing the now simply was not a cohesive way to live one's life, a tool at best. I did make it through that semester, not because of planning study schedules but becasue if I was going to accept the present moment that would mean no differences between the joy of sex and the supreme boredom of a Chemistry textbook, so I simply outworked the competition, but not without a price.

Despite my decision to accept the present moment regardless of circumstance, it wasn't that simple, as my body/mind would soon show me. Through this 'accepting' everything, riding my bike in the cold to work, spending weeks with few social interactions and more mundane activities than one would wish on an enemy in a year, I recieved messages that my 'acceptance' was not enough. One of the first triggers were the headaches (which I accepted), and the uncontrollable binge eating at 2am (a bit harder to let slide without concern). Though I had a rock solid 'Present' base, which made walking to class almost literally a walk through the fields of heaven, underneath I was terribly unhappy, with disatisfactions piling up, unprocessed.

I eventually was able to take the hint, but it was difficult. I kept going back to the teaching for months and months, probably almost half the time I was practicing, thinking," I must have not understood it right" and sure enough, I listen, and OH, there it is (I thought I had figured it out, but it mirrored more of a fix), ahhh that truth feels so good, I'm safe now...

I eventually, with the pleas of my mother, the loss of my girlfriend, and the help of a spiritually-minded campus group to cry with, was able to end my addiction to constant "NOWNESS". I would no longer be an 'awareness of the now' junky, I would be able to live without it. After an entire summer to relaxed'ly take online summer classes and reflect... working very hard to remember both my experience that past year, as well as the way I used to think (my mantra became: what would 'I' think about this situation), trying to reinstall what I still believe to be a sensible mind-system where some things are avoided and cherished greatly.

I do still study spiritual books, even practice some mindfulness, but from now forward, I don't make "Presence" or "Awareness of the Now" an obsession or the center of my life(situation).

I apologize for the length of this message and would enjoy a comment from anyone who has taken the time to read it just so I can give you kudos regardless of reactions .

[Angela]

Originally Posted by learningtogrow

I was just wondering if anyone had any tricks or techniques they use to bring them back in the now/ to "who they really are" (consciousness). At least for starters, just until it becomes more of a habit for me. Not unlike someone who is going on a diet or quitting alcohol. Usually there's something they can turn to when they catch themselves slipping into past habits. Any suggestions?

My sister gave me the coolest gift: a watch that, instead of having hands that move, it contains sand that shakes down to reveal the word, "Now." I love that thing.

I have considered getting a tiny tattoo of the word Now on my left wrist!

[Angela]

p.s. to flyingwithoutwings.... being present doesn't have to mean not making any plans or not being aware of the lessons the past have provided. Being present doesn't mean not chatting and playing and talking about the future with your girlfriend!

Being present means constantly letting go of thinking that you are your thoughts, and being alive and welcoming to what is so. It sounds like you kind of "bought the whole store" during your Now-Heyday and actually started identifying with the thoughts of Now-ness! Ironically.

You won't stop thinking till you die. I can see where it would drive you crazy to always be trying to rid yourself of thoughts. What a headache! Fortunately, you don't have to work to rid yourself of thoughts in order to be present.

[{aspiring_to_clarity}]

Originally Posted by Angela

Fortunately, you don't have to work to rid yourself of thoughts in order to be present.

This is a good thing to remember because one (well me) can get to feel as if they are doing something wrong by thinking. But we are thinking beings. In fact, some of my thoughts are really enjoyable. I am all for being conscious and realizing I am not my mind or my past, but I would also like to live the limited time I have on earth in this form exploring the nature of this incarnation (if that makes any sense at all...if not well, just point and laugh at the crazy girl...don't worry I'm used to it ).

[Angela]

Yeah, Aspiring, I think ( ) that's where people run into a snag -- the old idea that "enlightenment" requires a perpetually thought-free mind. D'oh!

Our thoughts are fun and fabulous and satisfying and rewarding. They're just not who we are. That's all.

(p.s...Aspiring, I would love to invite you to look at your self-deprecating humor, and see if you really need to use it. You are such a wonderful, loving, forthright and effective person; you make perfect sense, and it jars me a little when you do that thing you do, cuz it makes me feel like you're apologizing for a lack that doesn't exist.)

Lots of love,
A