Today we want to look at why we should strive to stay in the present and things we can do that can help us to do this. One of the key things about being in the present is really to understanding that the past is over and the futures not here yet, all we truly have is the present. I think it’s easy to get lost in the past, reflecting on what didn’t work, the things we lost, the times we got hurt and the fears that this will happen again. Our primeval mind is programmed to respond this way, is to enables us to stay alive, this was great in the days of grizzly bears, Viking wars and the great plague of London. In fact, this part of our mind has made us the most over populated species on the planet. But hopefully this is not the lives we are live now and our responses are set at this heightened level, which in fact is limiting us not protecting us. This being the case, it is key that we re-educate our mind, sending new messages of calm and safety into our minds. With us starting to head down these routes and not diving off the deep end into catastrophising the worries and fears, we will start the process of developing a calm mindset. The old patterns only continued to compound our minds need to stay in the fearful negative state and limit our ability to live in the present. Whereas the new ways of using the moment to stay more present will over time help have the opposite effect.
The reason why the present is called the present is that it is a gift and we should learn to love embrace every second of it.
It’s time to take a positive stance against our negative mindsets and bad habits, starting to send the new messages, then we can choose to accept and let it go of the past like a positive submission of the thing we can’t change. The more we don’t entertain these thoughts, fears and negotiating habits the more we can focus on the present and what is happening in the now. Over time we can train our minds from living in the past, to living in the moment. Some of the greatest times we have ever had in our lives are when we have been in the moment, we lost track of time, we didn’t think about anything we are just present and focused in the now. If we are living in the worry state then we are only half in the present and that will only just give us half-hearted experiences. These won’t be as connected, fun, exciting or even as vivid as we aren’t fully there we are only partly there, we deserve to be fully present and enjoy the maximum we can out of the experience. Also, the people we are experiencing the moment with deserve all of us too, it’s time to re-focus on the moment and keep pulling yourself back into the present. If you catch yourself in your head then, just start to over focus on the now, what is happening, what people are saying, what can you see, hear and feel, pulling yourself back to the present. The more we do this the more we train our minds to live this way, lots of clients I meet feel that their mind controls them and that they are not in control. This isn’t really the case it may feel that way as our conscious mind is only 10% of us but it’s just not true. Our minds are just like massive computers and respond to the things we input into them and the programs they already have, it’s time to change what we are imputing, so we get a different output.
Now that your learning to leave the past behind, it’s also important to not live in the future as that also stops us being in the present. Of course, we all need to make plans, have hopes and dreams, but we can’t get lost in those or we might be fearing what the future will bring which is not great either. None of us know what the futures has in store and that’s fine as that is the same for every single one of us.
The past is over and the futures isn’t here yet so let’s live in the present.
If we spend our time positively focusing on being in the present, we will feel calmer and happier, if things are hard in the present then the worry won’t help. Take the time instead to find joyful pursuits in the now, music, painting, creative hobbits, dance, exercise, song, laughter, conversation, nature to name a few. Even if it is just to watch children play, listen to the birds singing, the trees moving, the sun glistening, someone smiling, a deep conversation, feeling your body alive with exercise, your mind in total focus in that moment. All of these things bring the joy of present into our lives and helps our minds distract from the old habits of negative past reflection and fears of the future. The more we work to be present and, in the moment, the more our mind will create new patterns that enable us to live this way more easily and effortlessly. The moment is just here for that second and then we move into the next moment, choose to embrace every one of them and feel the joy of being present and focused in the now. Just like finding stillness when we walk down a quite route or deserted beach, this is what we will find by being in the present. The joy is we don’t have to travel miles to get there, it’s here within us, and every day we can gain the peace and calm this brings to our minds, body’s and nervous systems.
Take the time to send that smile, make that joke, embrace the joy of life and the pleasures of the world we live in, spread this to the other people in your life. This will help all of the people you meet and interact with, to be more in the present and of course it’s a great distraction for those old pesky habits you are breaking from yourself.
Have an amazing day, thanks for dropping by Sara x
HYPNOSARA 
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