Staying Present is the Best Gift You can Give Yourself

On average, we are not contacting the present moment for 47% of the day [1].

Contacting the present moment is an important skill because being in the here and now is where behavior occurs. 

Additionally, being in the present moment can reduce the impact of “there and then” thoughts - excessive worrying about the future and ruminating about past events can be significantly clinically problematic and drain away moments of a life well lived.

The same Harvard study also found that people's minds were more likely to wander to pleasant topics (43 percent of the time) or neutral topics (31 percent) than unhappy topics (26 percent). Importantly, people were considerably less happy when thinking about neutral or unhappy topics and were no happier when thinking about pleasant topics than when fully engaged in what they were doing.

Simply put, when you're not present in the moment, all roads point to unhappiness.

Spending too much time in the past can lead to feelings of sadness, regret, worthlessness, and guilt.

Spending too much time in the future can lead to feelings of stress, anxiety, worry, and anticipatory grief.

Mindfulness and grounding with your senses can connect you with the here and now, finding you peace, calm, and clarity.

All of life is experienced in the present moment. It’s in the present moment where you continue following through on your chosen commitment in accordance to your values.

Some ways to practise staying in the present moment:

1. Be a curious scientist - Observe your surroundings

2. Practise 5 senses grounding - Pay attention to what you see, hear, feel, smell, and taste

3. Set an intention before an activity - By setting an intention, it reminds you to be mindful of that intention as you do any activity.

4. Focus on one task at one time

5. Catch your drift and redirect your attention to the task at hand

6. Practise, practise, and practise

Humans are natural learners, we learn best when we practise the skills.

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Reference

[1] Killingsworth, M. A., & Gilbert, D. T. (2010). A wandering mind is an unhappy mind. Science, 330(6006), 932-932. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1192439