Back to the now
Staying Grounded
I still remember the days in grade school when teachers called the names of students out loud. One by one, we each raised our hands and said, “Present!”
It’s funny how automatic this moment was for me; I rarely thought about what I was actually saying. Of course, for any kid, it’s not likely to overthink such a common statement you hear every day.
But now, I can’t help but wonder how significant the phrase is for our current trends in today’s information age and digital era. For me, it feels like our minds have been stretched to extreme levels that it seems almost impossible to live in the present moment.
In many fields of work, you can expect timelines and data pulling you away from the now and into the essential information we need for our top projects: the past and the future. While few might manage to stay grounded in the process in a robust way, I think it’s safe to say that it’s not an easy challenge to overcome on the regular.
Now, more than ever, I think it’s a good idea to think about strategies that will empower you to stay active and focused on what you are doing. Here are 5 tools I’ve personally found effective in helping me live in the present moment as much as possible.
1. Take a Short Pause
One of the worst ways to start the morning is when our mental script immediately takes off in the first moments of waking up. This can appear in the form of a demanding assistant, listing all of the things to do before the day has even begun.
Personally, I find this extremely problematic and can lead to intense feelings of overwhelm and stress. Taking a moment to pause to get your thoughts in order is a useful tool that can give you clarity, no matter the time of day.
2. Use Your Breath
Breathing exercises are another method I like to come back to when I notice that my thoughts are moving way too fast. What I like about this is that it feels so natural and relaxing to breathe in and out that I can’t help but notice how the effect immediately eases my mind.
This is also great because the more you do it, the better you get at using your breath as an anchor for presence. There are so many types of breathwork to choose from that you can easily implement into your meditation practice.
3. Eliminate Psychological Time
Naturally, we can’t get rid of the need for clock time, especially since it provides the very structure and foundation we use to organize our lives. But what we can do is recognize when our thoughts are pulling our attention away toward our personal past or future in a pattern-like behavior.
This happens when we’re not paying much attention to how our minds project things from the past or toward the future, similar to a dysfunctional machine. But when we notice what’s happening, we can be in charge of the system by directing it in a creative and productive manner once again.
4. Take in Your Surroundings
If there is anything I know that I can count on to immediately anchor my awareness back to the moment, it’s my external surroundings. You can do this by simply taking notice of any object around you or even the entire space of the room you’re occupying.
I find it especially helpful to hone in on elements of the natural environment itself, things like the sky, moving clouds, nearby plants, trees, and more. Of course, one great way to level things up is to go outdoors and allow the physical settings to amplify the effect even more.
5. Feel the Energy of Your Body
Another tool I personally recommend is to use your own body and senses as a form of grounding. Similar to our breathing, tuning into our physicality is a convenient way to shift our mental state back to where we actually are and what we are doing.
If you practice meditation, you might have stumbled on this approach for exercises involving relaxing the entire body, starting from one region to another. You can even do this by simply feeling the energy of your hands, squeezing them in fists back and forth.
Sense of Aliveness
While some might deem these strategies as unnecessary and obvious for any human being, I would argue that the massive upheaval in our lifestyles proves otherwise. It’s no secret that our inability to keep our attention in a conversation or activity for a sustained length of time is a growing risk and concern.
Because we can viscerally feel the difference in the effects of a fully immersive experience compared to one in which our minds are split in multiple directions. This couldn’t be plainer to see, especially when confronted with an invigorating sense of aliveness in which a moment of presence more than speaks for itself.
