Surely you have heard about mindfulness, awareness or full attention, living in the present moment, etc. You may not know exactly what it is and the benefits it has.
The newest psychological therapies focus their techniques on living in the present moment. This consists of the ability to carry out an activity by focusing on it, without having your mind elsewhere. The benefits are innumerable: enjoying your daily life more, reducing anxiety and depression levels, etc. These are due to the fact that the mind does not spend so much time on what worries us when it is focused on our day-to-day activities.
Keep reading Psychology-Online to learn how how to live in the present and discover 10 keys to implement it in your daily life.
Step by Step
How to live the present fully? Learning to control the mind and the place where we focus our thoughts is not easy and requires great effort. Thus, start applying it little by littlewith short activities in order not to fatigue you.
An example of an activity you can do to start living in the present is to eat a piece of fruit while focusing on it. That is, while you eat it, ask yourself the following questions: what does it taste like? Is it cold or at room temperature? What is the texture like: rough, hard, soft? Where will it come from?
You will make mistakes
How to live in the present without thinking about the past? It is quite common at first that at the moment in which you are trying to make that focus in the present moment your mind wanders to other types of thoughts. Nothing happens about it. It’s completely logical because it’s what she’s used to. Therefore, the moment you realize that it is happening to you, simply refocus your attention on the activity you were doing. Known .
Daily practice
How to live the present without worries? It is important to find a time each day to practice these relaxations. For example, you can apply relaxation to your routine when you get up and another when you sleep for about ten or fifteen minutes. With practice they will become more effective and you will notice a great improvement in your mood and in your daily rest.
In the morning you can dedicate yourself to relaxation in which your mind focuses on how your body is and how your day looks: is your body rested? What is your intention for this day? How is your room? What will your tomorrow be like? At night, this relaxation can consist of focusing on your breathing.
do sports
How to live in the present? Doing a type of dynamic sport in which you don’t have time to think is also a way to focus on the present moment. Have you attended a Zumba class and realized that for an hour you could only focus on the steps you had to do? !! Congratulations!! You managed to live in the present moment for a whole hour. Another sport that can be useful for this is, for example, Crossfit. If, on the other hand, you like to run or lift weights, try to focus on how your muscles contract or, if you run, look at the landscape around you.
In this article, we tell you what it is.
Relinquishment of control
How to live in the present without getting stressed? Sometimes we don’t live in the present moment because we are constantly trying to control things that are beyond our control. Do you spend your days trying to get others to act differently? Are you trying to manage everything perfectly without any errors? Do you curse every time something doesn’t go the way you want? Try to stop doing it and focus on yourself and what you can do. Take weight off your shoulders and pay attention to your attitude before that of others.
Reflect
From now on, try, before acting, reflect. Avoid impulses and meditate on the consequences of each action. This may be a little complicated at first, however it is something that, with the practice of the rest of the mindfulness exercises, will become easier.
To train this skill you can think about the consequence of what you will do in simple day-to-day activities. For example, think about what would happen if you took a later bus, would you arrive at work later or would you arrive safely? This way you will understand what this technique consists of.
In the following article we leave you some.
make a diary
How to live in the present without thinking about the future? To live in the moment, try writing a diary with what you experienced during the day. This It will help you be more aware of what is happening to you no longer live on the autopilot that the work routine makes us be on.
When doing so, remember to write both positive and negative things, except if you consider yourself a negative person, then try to focus on the positive. What you write does not have to be big facts, it can simply be useful to write down what you have eaten that day. Don’t follow a specific rule, write about what comes to mind.
Perform only one task
In order to make it easier for you to enjoy here and now and focus your attention on the present, try to perform one task at a time. That is, if you are watching a movie, try to soak up that movie. This, as we mentioned, can be difficult because it is a mental effort and we are used to living distracted.
Over time, it will become easier. Another example could be eating without having the television on, walking without listening to music, or riding public transportation without reading a book. That way you focus on what is happening around you, on the people there and what they do.
You accept
How to live in the present in psychology? In life there will be good moments and bad moments. It is important that don’t try to run away from bad moments all the time. The next time you are experiencing a negative situation or emotion, try to live it, understand it and see how it is affecting you not only on an emotional level, but also on a physical level. Ask yourself if your muscles have become tense, if you feel a lump in your throat, name your emotion and, also, try to think about what learning you can obtain from the emotion you are feeling and the emotion you are experiencing.
Sorry
How to live in the present and forget the past? On many occasions we do not live in the present moment because we are full of resentment towards others, fear of suffering some harm or disappointment, we put on armor in front of others, etc. All these types of situations arise because you have not left the resentment behind. Being angry with yourself or with others for mistakes made in the past makes us afraid of everything in the present, being too cautious or even full of negative emotions.
Forgive yourself, understand that you may have made mistakes. Forgive others. This does not mean resuming a relationship, but rather accepting that they are not as we expected, that they made mistakes and that they may never know how to recognize or change them. Just let those people go and don’t make your past live in your present. Discover . This can also help you if you’re wondering how to live in the present with your current partner.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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Bibliography
- Hayes, S. C. (2015). Acceptance and commitment therapy. Desclée De Brouwer.