How often do you meditate? How often do you feel present? If you don’t practice meditation regularly, you might want to try it out. Our guided meditation 10 minutes might be the answer to tap into the present moment!
From reducing stress (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction) to improving sleep quality, increasing positive emotions, and emotional regulation… the benefits of meditation are endless!
Meditation, as a mindfulness practice, has been practiced for centuries around the globe. In recent years, its popularity has surged globally. Many believe that meditation can offer health benefits ranging from pain relief to improved mental well-being.
Mindfulness meditation sessions help us let go of our negative emotions and thoughts, thereby improving our mood. Through mindfulness, meditation teaches us to remain calm and focused during stressful situations. This reduces anxiety and boosts productivity. There are so many different forms of meditation as well as types of meditation too! eg. transcendental meditation, movement meditation, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, Mindfulness-Based Interventions, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, etc.
During our daily activities, we tend to forget important events. When we meditate, however, we remember them better because they become clearer and easier to recall. The same applies to painful memories. By letting them go, we can move forward without lingering on things that remind us of unpleasant feelings.
If you find yourself often dwelling over the past or worrying about the future then meditation might be the answer to calm your anxiety. Meditation helps you focus on the present moment and let go of negative thoughts from the past or worries about the future. Learn more about the effects of meditation and how introducing just a few minutes of meditation into your daily life can drastically change the quality of life.
What does being present mean?
Roads to contentment begin with being present…
Being present means that you live life fully, at the moment, without waiting for tomorrow. Instead, you choose to focus on what is happening right now, and you do whatever you want when you want, without worrying about anything else. This state of mind allows you to feel free, relaxed, and happy.
The state of being present is best accessed through mindfulness or meditation practices. Being mindful means being aware of what is happening right now – in our lives. When we’re fully present, we can listen to others, understand them, help them and ourselves. Mindfulness also allows us to stop and think about things. It gives us perspective and wisdom.
Mindfulness means being aware of what is happening around us, rather than letting our minds wander away into thoughtless activities. The practice has been proven to help reduce stress, anxiety, depression, and other mood disorders. This is why mindfulness is becoming increasingly popular among adults and teenagers alike.
How does presence change our lives?
Being present changes how we approach life because we need to be present to our loved ones, and to ourselves. It also teaches us about being grateful for what we already have, rather than focusing on what we don’t. We learn about living in the moment when we cannot think about anything else. When we are too busy thinking about the past or planning for the future, then we are not present.
Being present means living in each moment rather than focusing too much on the past or future. We should stop thinking about the past and future because they will never be here. Instead, we should focus our thoughts on where we want to go and what we would like to do right now. This gives us the courage to live fully and brings positive energy into our lives. The best thing about being present is that you’ll experience more joy in your life.
The importance of letting go of the past
If you want to be successful long-term, you must learn how to let go of the past. For instance, if you are upset because something did not happen, or it happened differently than you expected, then you need to let go of it.
You could spend your entire life wallowing in regret over things that went wrong in your past. It’s a waste of time and energy. If you are going to move forward in your life, you need to let go.
People who don’t let go tend to live through the same disappointment again and again. They may feel stuck. This stops them from moving ahead. Life becomes a series of ups and downs that repeat themselves every day.
Letting go allows you to focus on what matters most: the present moment. When you do this, you realize that everything happens for a reason. Some people call this “the law of attraction,” and it works in a similar principle to the Law of Attraction.
Practicing releasing expectations of the future
Why should we release our expectations about things happening in the future?
Releasing your expectations can improve your life by making it easier for you to let go of stress and worry.
As children, we expect our parents to provide everything we need, and we expect ourselves to do well in school or sports. We set goals for ourselves as adults, too.
Setting unrealistic expectations can lead to disappointment and anxiety. It also makes us feel like we missed something because we didn’t meet the expectation.
When you learn how to manage your expectations, you can enjoy your life more. We should release our expectations about the future because life is uncertain.
Being present helps reduce stress by calming us down and making us feel happier.
Relaxation techniques involving meditation and guided imagery are a type of meditation that can be used to help ease anxiety and depression. These methods also help improve sleep quality and control pain and discomfort.
Learning how to meditate can change lives through the practice of accessing the present moment, releasing the past, and letting go of future expectations.
The practice and effects of mindfulness and meditation
Mindfulness is available to us in every moment, whether through meditations and body scans, or mindful moment practices like taking time to pause and breathe when the phone rings instead of rushing to answer it. (mindful.org)
“Mindfulness is the awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgementally, and then I sometimes add, in the service of self-understanding and wisdom.” – Jon Kabat-Zinn
Being and staying present in practice through mindful meditations
Humans are not meant to multi-task and when we look at giving our divided attention to different things at a time our brain struggles to cope.
We should focus on one thing at a time, but if we’re going to do that then we need to make sure that our attention isn’t divided by something else.
We should be aware of what we’re doing right now. We need to focus on the present moment. We should spend most of our time in the present moment and by doing this we realize life is actually just made up of many moments – we are simply living moment to moment.
In this day and age missing out on the present moment is very easy.
Rehearsing the past is problematic since it’s something that can never be changed. It’s already done, set in stone, and immutable. You can’t change your relationship to the past. Staying there is simply ruminating and destructive.
Anticipating the future is also problematic since you can’t control the future. You can set an intention, but in the end, the Universe has a way of deciding what happens.
Breathe deeply through the nostrils and relax. Don’t worry about anything else. Be present. Stay here right now.
Mindfulness of breathing
A breath is a simple thing. When we breathe in, we inhale oxygen into our bodies. When we breathe out, we expel carbon dioxide. That’s it. We do nothing else. But if we concentrate on breathing, we notice that there is something more going on than just breathing.
When we breathe in and out, we feel something.
Often when we try to practice clearing our minds our mind moves around in circles, and we think about things. We think about how we feel. We think about what we want or need. We think about the past. We think about the future. We think about other people. We think about ourselves. We think about work. We think about school. We think about sports. We think about movies. We think about books. We think about music. We think about TV shows. We think about the news. We think about politics. We think about religion. We think about sex. We think about love. We think about money. We think about life. We think about death. We think about everything.
When we become mindful of our breath and the way our breath feels in our bodies, we practice being present and clearing our minds.
There’s nothing but us. We are here. Now. This very moment. Right here. This very second. Right, this second. Right now. Right, this minute. This very minute. Right now. Right here. We are here. We are alive.
Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breath out. Breathe in…Breathe out…
“Being present is very important. We need to be attentive and available for our friends and family but most importantly to ourselves. Being present can therefore be a form of self-care because we pay attention to what we want and need at the moment rather than what we think we should want or need.
We learn to live our lives away from the ‘shoulds’ or ‘woulds’ or ‘what ifs’.
The mind cannot be stilled easily and this is not what meditation aims to do – it simply aims to detach from our busy minds and let our thoughts go as quickly as they come up. We are not our thoughts we simply just observe them.
You need to train your mind to not get caught up in things and meditation is the best tool for that.
It teaches us how to let go of thoughts about the past and future and focus on what is happening right now. Let the rest go.
Much as bearing witness, or engaging in witness consciousness as the wisdom traditions refer to it, whatever isn’t there in that moment let it go. Be there, be right there, be right then. That’s it.
The concept of “letting go” is often misunderstood as the experience of great joy and the attainment of enlightenment. It can be viewed rather as “No holding,” or “No clinging.”
It is this letting go that brings freedom, which allows that great joy and attainment of enlightenment.
Travel lightly through life and put down what you are carrying – what you don’t need at that moment, do not take on board.
Breathing deeply calms down the mind and makes us aware of our bodily sensations. When the thoughts start to get too much, you can breathe out and let them go. You can also do this when you’re feeling anxious about something. Just focus on your breathing and relax.
6 quick ways to be present
1. Focus on your breath by practicing deep breathing techniques – notice every inhale and exhale
2. Immerse yourself in nature
3. Be an active listener in conversations with others
4. Practice the 54321 sensory method – notice your surroundings by involving all the senses and become aware of physical sensations.
5. Play with a dog!
6. Meditate (any form of meditation or mindfulness-based therapies).
Guided Meditation 10 Minutes – Releasing The Past, Experiencing The Present
So with all of this talk of ‘presence’ and why it is important to access it why not try a short basic mindfulness meditation (10 minutes) here and now!
Click on the photo below to get started.
