Distraction. It seems the norm in this day and age within our fast paced society of everything we could ever want right at our fingertips. Instant gratification. With the click of a button or a constant swipe left (or right) to the next perceived better thing. It isn’t our fault. It’s the incessant consumer mentality that our society has built to keep us ever distracted and chasing the next best thing.
Our society always makes us feel that we are never good enough just as we are. That we always need what’s right around the corner. The next new shiny thing. The grass is always greener on the other side. But what if we took a step back and saw that if we watered our own grass we would see all the richness we have right in front of us?
It’s not just over-consumerism that has kept our mental state in hyperdrive to be constantly seeking the next best thing to make our lives better. It is also the hustle culture we live in. The over-work-aholic ever chasing the next achievement and never fully enjoying the journey along the way or recognizing just how far you’ve come and celebrating that.
Being present, learning the art of fully immersing yourself in a moment like it could be your last is a very rare thing. So rare that most of us live in an amnesic state where we can hardly remember what we did the day or week before. We live in a constant go-go-go mentality just going through the motions so to speak.
If you look back and recall your most memorable moments in your life, what made them so memorable? And what was it that made that memory stick in your mind like something you want to hold onto forever? It’s the moments in your life when you were fully present. It’s the moments in your life when all of your senses were fully ignited and the world around you sort of disappeared as your body and mind fully enveloped within the moment. Those moments are worth fighting for. Because those are the moments that make life magical and filled with purpose, love, creativity, and pure joy. The highest vibration of emotions all wrapped up in a moment.
Don’t let life pass you by as you get caught up in a distracted world. You don’t want to miss all the magic that life could be. Because it truly is when you can learn to let go of all that tries to steal your attention. Your time on this earth is a gift and very precious. Below are 7 inspiring ways to help you become more present in your life. A guide to help you detach from things that truly don’t need your attention or that can be prioritized at a different time. Ways to help you feel more connected to your loved ones, to yourself, and to the things in your life that give you true joy and happiness.
- Meditation
Meditation is a practice often overlooked because of its simplicity and often in our busy lives we think we don’t have time for it. Our hustle culture has ingrained in us that an extra limited time we do have needs to be spent productively. I think what you may find if you did start to set aside even ten minutes to meditate first thing in the morning, or even just before bed, that your day would even be more productive than before.
Meditation clears your mind and helps you find clear direction for your day. It helps you heal and find answers that you may be searching for. If meditation intimidates you because of being still with your thoughts, just start with 5 minutes. If a thought comes in your mind, just observe it without judgment and let it pass along. Do not hold any attachment to thoughts or emotions that come up.
As you go further along into meditation and begin to practice it more regularly, you can let whatever things up, seeing them as things inside of you needing healing, and release whatever pain needs to be released. Most importantly meditation helps to calm your mind and still your thoughts. When you are constantly bombarded by so much noise around you it makes it impossible to be fully present. Meditation brings us back to center, within ourselves, and to the world around us.
- Become attuned to your body
Our fast paced world has caused us to become so disconnected to our own bodies. Learning the art of attunement to our bodies again helps bring us back to the present. It helps bring awareness for how we are truly feeling instead of just going through the motions of life, and essentially letting life pass you by without embodying the feeling of being in your body.
Our busy culture has designed us to become too distracted to truly check in with ourselves and feel how we are feeling. Being fully present in a moment means having all of your senses fully awakened. When you are attuned to how something feels against your skin, how something tastes in your mouth, how something smells, appears with your eyes or feels in your body; you connect to that moment you are in on a deeper level.
You attach to that moment with the senses you feel. And when you look back on that moment you will fully remember it because of all the senses you felt that brought you to that present moment. How to become attuned more to your body? Do more things that bring awareness to your body and how you feel, such as yoga, walking in nature, swimming, dancing, playing with your kids or animals, running or walking outside barefoot, etc.
You can also do this by setting aside one thing a day that brings you full enjoyment, such as cooking yourself a good meal, doing something creative for yourself, gardening, or reading a good book with some hot tea. It’s inevitable to tune out mundane tasks and errands and go into autopilot mode. But practicing being fully present in a moment at least once in your day will help you lead a more fulfilling life as those moments will become the memories you look back on with a smile.
3. Plan out your day
Before you begin your day and get caught up in the business of it all, you can write in your journal or even a daily planner either the morning or night before your day begins. In it write down your top 3 tasks that are essential to complete.
Doing this act will help you find focus and presence within those tasks and help you feel more productive and accomplished for the rest of your day if the tasks you have prioritized are completed. Planning out your day will also help you decide where in your day you can devote more intention to being present.
4. Limit time on social media
Social media, and screen time in general can be a form of escapism, but it is also a mindless distraction from being fully present. Too much screen time can also add to our anxiety and depression, especially if you are comparing yourself to others. Limiting time can help realign the energy and time you waste on mindless scrolling towards more productive tasks or time being present doing something you love.
Think about the many times you feel the urge or need to check your phone or use it to scan social media with any idle time in your day. What if instead of using that idle time to mindlessly scroll, that you used it to notice your surroundings more. Notice how you’re feeling in your body. Engage with those around you with more presence.
Use that time for yourself or for your loved ones with intention. I think you will be surprised not only with how much more freetime you have in your day, but also with how much richer the time spent will be when you do engage with more intention to be present.
5. Spend time in nature
Nature is one of our greatest healers. The more time we spend in it, the more rejuvenated we will feel. Nature teaches us to sow down. You also have to be fully present to your surroundings when in nature to fully take everything in and appreciate all its beauty.
It can be incredibly therapeutic to be in and walk in nature to take a break from all the busyness of our fast paced world. Nature reminds us to breathe. To enjoy the simplest of things. And that is the art of being fully present in a moment, to appreciate the simplest of things in life.
6. Journaling
Journaling is a very therapeutic way to empty out all our thoughts onto a page. When you are caught up in the energy of rushing around with endless to-do lists and never ending mind chatter, it can cause you to feel overwhelmed and overburdened. Thoughts that keep circling around in our minds, repeating things over and over obsessively, not only steals our presence, but makes us feel anxious and stressed.
Journaling is a beautiful way that can give you the space to write down everything in your mind. The act of doing that, of seeing all that swirling in your thoughts written on a page makes the burden less heavy and helps you see things more clearly. It also most importantly allows you to not continue obsessing over thoughts you may have and release them onto the pages.
You can also feel free to burn any pages to help the energy of those thoughts release even more, but it is not entirely necessary for you to feel the effects that journaling can have on your mind. Having peace of mind will give you more freedom and energy to bring back to the present moments.
7. Find your flow state and get lost in it
Flow state is an energy state where you become so immersed in a passion project that you lose all sense of time and space. This may sound the opposite of being fully present, getting lost in something, but it truly is the fullest embodiment of being present with something that you can be.
Finding your flow in something and allowing yourself to get lost in the moment will breathe so much purpose and passion into your life. You will feel so renewed and fulfilled after such flow states. How does one find their flow? It can be anything that gives you great passion. Something that you truly enjoy, but that is challenging just enough to keep your attention and not tune it out to a mundane task, but not too challenging to the point of you having to overthink things. It’s allowing your mind to get lost in a moment while all your senses become fully alive.
Flow states can be incredibly fragile so when you do find something that brings you to that state it is important to try and eliminate distractions around you. If you can tap into this energy daily it is most ideal to live a truly fulfilling life, but even if you set aside time for a few times a week, or even just weekly it will become such a sacred time for you that you will look forward to and crave.
Conclusion
We live in a busy fast paced world caught up in distractions, escapism and always seeking the next best thing. Finding time in your day and your weeks to be fully present in a moment will allow you to feel more fulfilled and live a happier life.
So challenge yourself to take just one of these actions listed above to practice the art of living more in the present. Do this until it becomes a habit and then continue on with the next action until tapping into being present more becomes second nature and distractions don’t have the same power over you that they once did.
Leave a Reply