Learning to be Present in the Moment

“It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood,” to steal a line from Mr. Rogers.

What is your neighborhood? I’m on the train to the city was I’m writing this. At this moment, the train and the people on it are my neighborhood. I can include the people whom I communicate with via cell phone too, I guess, since I can interact with them directly as I want to.  But I consider my neighborhood to be the people I am in direct contact with at any moment. Indeed, they are my “reality” in that moment.

How aware are you of what’s going on around you? Who are the people you’re seeing? What are they doing? What are they saying? The richness of life is in your neighborhood, in the moment. But are you engaged? Where are your thoughts? You may be thinking about work, the stories you have read in the news or any number of things that you’re not directly involved with at the moment.  Are you doing so at the price of missing what is going on right in front of you?

TIWIKE:

Life is now – in the expansive present moment

Like most people, I tend to get wrapped up in distractions, rather than being focused in the moment. To be sure, there are times when I need to be focused on a certain matter or task-at-hand, and that’s appropriate. But there are many times when I am doing something that doesn’t require a lot of concentration or attention, and I am missing the richness of everything that is going on in the present moment in my immediate “neighborhood”.

Activity:

When you find yourself in a situation today that doesn’t require a lot of your attention, decide to explore the present.

Start by fixing your attention on something close. Look at an object. Focus your gaze on it. Don’t fix your attention on anything else yet.  Settle into the present moment. Once you feel that you’re settled, start to look at the whole environment. Little by little, look at the objects around you. See all of them. Feel yourself in the environment. Once you feel that you’re aware visually, focus your awareness of sound. What are the sounds around you? Are people talking? About what? Are they happy? Excited? Thoughtful? Do you hear laughter? Add the other senses. Are there scents in the air? What are they? How does the chair you’re sitting in feel against your body? If you’re walking, what does the ground feel like? Is it smooth and even, or rough and loose? Is it pavement? What sounds do your shoes make as you walk there? There is a lot
to explore.

Why do this? Training your mind to be aware of your environment adds a level of richness to everyday life that you might be missing. Reaching out with your senses sharpens them. Learning to focus on what is going on around you, rather than being distracted by thoughts  of the things in the periphery of your life will increase your enjoyment of it.