Three Places – One Time
Where to live in our mind. Past, Present… or the Future? Of course the reality is we can only really exist and live in this moment! Everything else from the past is no longer a fact, the future is created by each moment at this time, so past and future ruminations are simply thoughts – and as we know we are not our thoughts.
If, when I wake in the morning I immediately think about the coming day, and each thought in that moment requires no action, then I am anything but where I should be.
However, if I wake and re-mind myself “I’m awake, I am here,” …then I am!
This theme of obvious dialogue is critical for any of us wishing to reduce the mind-chatter – or the lovingly known stressed and anxious state that is ‘monkey-mind’ something we have all nurtured since we became influenced and conditioned by the events of each and every moment in our lives to date.
Recall as a child how you would simply ‘be’. Happy to play without concerning yourself with earlier, or later, just that moment at play.
This is where you can be again, as an adult, wherever, whenever – regardless of the gravity, in fact because of the gravity, of a situation, we can regain, re-tune and become truly focused and present. It simply requires you to pay attention to this moment.
And when you choose to think about a future requirement, choose to do so only when an action is required. If you’re at work and thinking about what you will make for dinner tonight, stop! When you arrive home and are ready to prepare the dinner, then that is the time to think about it, rather than whilst at work!
When you are at work, check how often you are where you should be – in your mind – and focus. Recall once more how on day one in a new job, new house, new relationship our senses are hyper-aware, checking for ‘threats’ and for that which we think or feel we need to know. This is how we can operate every day, because when we are embracing present moment awareness, we cannot be anywhere else, and this is good!
Without judgements about what you see – truly observe. Hear what you can hear. Smell what it is reaching your nose. Feel what is under your bum, your feet. Taste, if there is something to taste.
- When brushing your teeth – brush your teeth!
- When making a drink – be making that drink!
- When you are in discussion – make the other person the most important person in the world for that moment!
- When driving or travelling – be driving and travelling, but do what you are supposed to be doing – with ‘all’ your mind!
Because when we are truly aware and present, we can be nowhere else.
Reducing the impact of the 70-80 thousand thought impressions we might experience each day can open your mind to enhancements in creativity, more real and appropriate responses to stimuli – rather than the reactions we often later regret – and less anxiety and stress with greater appreciation for what is really happening in that moment. We can get to experience once again the colours and tastes, the sounds and sights of life in all its true glory, simply by clearing some of the unnecessary mind-chatter.
And when we have moments, as is the impermanence of life, where our new and more appropriate daily expectations are unmet; when turbulent emotional times visit (as they still will), we can feel and recognise the impact of those times and events as they are, based on the reality of that moment in time – coming more easily to peace, suffering for shorter durations of time.
Could you be more mindful, perhaps your employees could use some ‘mindful’ training?
Can you share the moments within your life that you would choose to enhance?
Do you have any questions around achieving mindful states?
Bob Brotchie
Bob Brotchie is a counsellor, life coach and creator of Conscious Living by Design™. He writes for Anglia Counselling, is featured on various other websites and introduces us to many guest writers all covering topics related to mental health and wellbeing.
Bob provides bespoke counselling services to clients in the privacy and comfort of a truly welcoming environment at his Anglia Counselling company office, located near Newmarket in Suffolk, England. Bob also provides professional online counselling, for local, national, and international clients. The therapeutic models offered are bespoke to the client’s needs, especially those in receipt of 'childhood emotional neglect' (CEN), whilst integrating a mindful approach to psychotherapy and cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) principles. For clients experiencing trauma and/or phobia, Bob offers EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing).