How to be in the moment
My students and clients often ask me for easy things they can do to be in the moment.
And I always answer, there’s no trick nor technique to get yourself in the moment. It’s much simpler than that. All you need to do is lift your eyes off the ground and focus your attention away from your thoughts and outward into the world.
Here’s how:
Wherever you are going, whatever you are doing, look at the world around you. Take a moment to get out of your own thoughts and notice the world around you.
When going to a store, park a little further away and look up at the sky as you get out of your car.
As you walk toward your destination, don’t think about what you need to buy or where you need to go afterwards. Allow yourself to take in everything that your 30-second walk has to offer. When crossing a little patch of grass, look and see the grass. Notice the color, is it green or yellow. Is it thick or thin? Try to imagine the last time that grass was cut and what it must have smelled like. But do watch out for that treeee. (George of the Jungle reference, if you don’t know look here.)
When paying at the checkout register, look the cashier in the eye and notice the person handing you the receipt. See the people around you as individuals with unique life stories rather than some objects moving in the periphery of your vision as you desperately check the latest news.
When you are stopped at a red light, become curious. What does your world look like at this instant? Can you see your car’s reflection in the shiny bumper of the car in front of you? Is the person in the car behind you picking his nose, seemingly forgetting that he is inside a moving aquarium? Look to your left and right, how many people are checking their phones while pretending that they are not checking their phones?
That’s how you stay in the moment, by being fully present and taking in all the little details that surround you. By enjoying each and every moment, even if that moment involves an unpleasant whiff of your neighbor’s burned BBQ or you’re the aroma arising from your cat’s litter box.
Want to know more?
Attend a class or schedule a private session
