Mindfulness: Being In The Present Moment
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About Mindfulness
“Mindfulness is bringing your mind into formation.”
– Thich Nhat Hanh
Living mindfully involves focusing on the present moment and achieving a state of mental awareness. It means calmly acknowledging and observing your feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations as they are in the present moment: your now. This practice can be therapeutic and transform what is before you or within you into greater lessons, blessings, connectedness, higher potential, and a path to inner peace.
Being present and in the moment, as in not being distracted by thoughts or worries about the future, helps you show up better for yourself and others in the now. It helps to ground yourself into where your journey needs for you to be: the present, the now.
May you journey mindfully, showing up in more and more wholeness and higher awareness for yourself, for others, and as a conduit and vessel.
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When we’re not mindful
When we’re not mindful, precious moments slip away without us ever noticing them. Auto-pilot life is largely lived from a state of mindlessness. We can choose to practice awareness and conscious pattern-shifting to expand our mindfulness practice.
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Intrusive Thoughts and Mindfulness as Alchemy
Intrusive thoughts are an uninvited and undesirable stream of thoughts that flood our consciousness without our intention or initial control. They can appear as repetitive or persistent patterns of negative thoughts, worries, regrets, judgments, desires, or fantasies.
The causes of intrusive thoughts can be rooted in an overload of mental and energetic stimuli, such as unprocessed emotions, fears, attachments, or traumas that linger within our minds and bodies. They may also arise from external triggers or stressful situations that disturb our inner peace, clarity, and sense of safety, stability, and normalcy.
WHAT TO DO: To effectively deal with or transform intrusive thoughts, we can thankfully look to the work and teachings of the modern father of the mindfulness movement, Zen Buddhist Master Thich Nhat Hanh. He teaches that mindfulness is bringing awareness to the present moment and compassionately taking care of ourselves and our thoughts, having compassion for ourselves and others, versus judging ourselves and others.
I’ve personally experienced the efficacy of mindfulness practice when intrusive thoughts are doing what they do. As I acknowledge them without judging them, they don’t win, overpower me, or carry me away with them, they pass by. Mindfulness practice helps us take our power and attention back and reframe and transmute intrusive thoughts. With steady and consistent practice, mindfulness is absolutely alchemy in practice.
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On a psychological and Physical level
On a psychological level, living in the present moment has been proven to reduce anxiety and stress. And since stress and anxiety are significant culprits in sickness, pain, and disease, living in the present moment, in turn, leads to better physical health and more joy.
Mindfulness practice can be found in many hospitals and health facilities these days as a form of pain and stress management, thanks to the works and effort of Jon Kabat-Zinn at UMASS Medical School and UCLA Health. Mindfulness in these setting is also used to improve communication and compassion levels between doctors, nurses, staff, patients, and families.
ASK YOURSELF: What can I do to best support my well being today, or in this moment? Then, be on the lookout for the answers, tests, and opportunities to do so. They may come to you in quiet thought, through an intuitive nudge or flash, a word, conversation, or some other method may capture your attention. Be open to how the answers may arrive.
How can I support someone through mindfulness in their time of illness, pain, injury, healing, recovery, or restoration? How can I embody mindful community?
Fig 01| Come home to yourself
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When it’s Hard to Be Present, call Your Energy Home
When you find it challenging to be fully present, take time to tune out the distractions and noise. Call your energy back home. Breathe slowly and deeply to soothe your restless or busy mind, and redirect your focus to the present. Disconnect from any sources of distraction that might be diverting your attention away in order to completely savor and/or show up in the current moment.
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The Past and Future: Stay in your power
Reflecting on the past and planning the future can be empowering and healthy. Just be mindful not to become a prisoner to either of them. Don’t only live there. Allow yourself the sacred gift of being free and present in the flow of the now moments of your life. This is also a great way to find balance, appreciation, and gratitude, and experience high vibrational experiences more regularly.
WHAT TO DO: When you find yourself in a space or loop of uneasiness, anger, frustration, regret, or shame over the past, come back home to yourself.
When you find yourself in a space or loop of worry, stress, anxiety, and fear of the future, come back home to yourself.
Mindfully, focus on the present moment as it is the only one you have control over. Ensure that it is valuable and meaningful to you.
Mindfulness enables us to observe and identify tendencies or potential triggers before they overwhelm us or cause imbalance by taking over or impacting our embodiment, energy, and sense of well-being.
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Catch Yourself
Our mind and vibration becoming too full, distressed, and cluttered, can happen so subtly or quickly that we don't always see it happening. We notice it oftentimes after the fact.
Mindfulness enables us to observe and identify tendencies or potential triggers before they overwhelm us or cause imbalance by taking over or impacting our embodiment, energy, and sense of well-being.
WHAT TO BE AWARE OF: By coming back to being present, the now, we have control over what we give focus, energy, and power to: we choose what we allow to continue. We catch ourselves looping into old patterns and spiraling out into spaces and embodiment that don’t serve us. We interrupt t the pattern. We consciously shift. You can sharpen your mindfulness skills by practicing in real-time moments.
“Mindfulness is tapping into higher perspective.”
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Mindfulness From A Spiritual View
In spiritual faiths and traditions, challenges and even suffering are not just that, they are viewed as and transmuted into gateways to higher potential, wisdom, fortification, and attainment of greater awakening and wisdom.
Know that “this too shall pass”. Grow through and transform from whatever you go through, this is the spiritual path’s way. Even small moments are big opportunities for big change. The spiritual path teaches us to grow and transform continually, regardless of the situation's size or magnitude and no matter our current level. We have access to divine assistance and strength that can aid us in overcoming any difficult moments, whether they last for a day, a night, or beyond. Seek refuge and solace in The Divine and the many ways the divine offers relief and support.
Cover yourself in your spirituality and practice mindfulness wherever you find yourself daily. This will invite inner peace, calm, and a sense of solace beyond your current state. As a result, you’ll experience higher vibrational inspiration, and boldly transform any challenges beyond their mere surface level into opportunities for growth and development beyond current ‘perceived’ limitations. From here, you’re on a roll. Keep up the wonderful work! Remain consistent so that it becomes your new way of life, a conscious pattern shift, and a positive and powerful form of re-programming. This is how mindfulness can expand you as a transformative part of your daily spiritual practice.
Gratitude is a sacred way to call yourself back home to your spiritual center, wherever you are.
REPEAT the following mindfulness affirmation by Thich Nhat Hanh:
I have arrived. I am home.
I have arrived. I am home.
I have arrived. I am home.
I am no longer running from myself.
I am here to take care.
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Practice Mindful Equanimity
The practice of equanimity helps us develop the capacity for stillness, strength, resilience, composure, and understanding of ourselves and others in challenging times. By merely observing without absorbing, we can prevent other people's emotions and energy from impacting us negatively. Practicing mindful equanimity empowers us to remain in charge of our own energy when faced with external disturbances and energetics. Individuals who remain calm and cool under pressure or in times of challenge and even chaos have great mindfulness and equanimity skills.
Mindful equanimity can help you remain resilient and mindful when challenges originate from within yourself, eventually allowing you to transmute challenging or negative energy. This is a pathway to come back home to yourself and/or remain at home.
Fig. 02| Balance
09 Remedies For Becoming More Mindful
Mindfully practicing stillness is about slowing down your mind, breath, and life, to allow a higher power to move within you and through you. It’s also about switching modes.
Mindfully don’t ignore what you feel, transform it. This allows you not to remain stuck in denial, distraction, or pain. Feel it, to heal and transmute it.
Mindfully explore flower essences. Clematis Flower Essence by Bach is used to help ground and anchor us into our bodies, into our now, and effectively into our goals. In urgent cases, Recuse Remedy by Bach, which includes Clematis, helps you to quickly destress and return to a sense of calm and power.
Mindfully practice aromatherapy; it has the sacred ability to help us ground and connect with the most powerful grounding force, the earth. This connection allows us to reach deep within ourselves and the deeper chambers of our mind, where we may experience discomfort, unease, disorientation, lack of focus, and lack of grounding. In this way, aromatherapy, in turn, helps us feel more whole, balanced, and grounded. In my personal experience, rosemary, lavender, rose, cinnamon, sandalwood, and citrus have proven effective in restoring grounding and facilitating a smooth transition when I need to come back home to myself.
Mindfully spend time in nature for psychological restoration. Because you are also part of nature, spend time in natural environments and green spaces. This offers a warm sense of belonging and a vibrational sense of stability and comfort. Being immersed in nature provides access to organic, high-vibrational energy fields and environments with therapeutic effects. Within natural environments and green spaces, there exist invisible frequencies and vibrations that interact with you and permeate through you, raising your vibration.
Green spaces can help with psychological restoration; that is, green space provides a respite for over-stimulated minds. – NASA, Green Space is Good for Mental Health
Keep your head up. Keep in mind that all transitions are temporary and that all weather passes. Do all you can to fortify and live in mindfulness and awareness. Tend to your daily life, experiences, and transitional seasons well. Journey in grace and mindfulness.
Breathwork, massage, reflexology, binaural beats, and meditation practices help the mind and body release tension and realign to higher vibrations. These practices are also powerful amplifiers of other practices, paths, and remedies. They enhance their effect by raising your vibration to better receive their ‘medicine’.
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17 Things To Try Out
Cherish the day (Shout out to Sade!)
Slow down
Slowly cook and/or eat a nourishing meal without distractions
Disconnect from electronics, tasks, or work for a while
Enjoy doing ‘nothing’
Don’t look at the clock for a while, and enjoy quiet time
Feel at home wherever you are
Focus on your in-breath and your out-breath
Practice breath work and meditation to release and transform mind chatter and stress
Practice having mindfully engaging conversations and moments with others
Think of 3-7 things you’re grateful for each new day
Engage your senses with your current meal, your location, your outfit, your experience, your view, your mood, your blessings, and the beauty and love around you. Have a sensory experience.
Aromatherapy for engaging your senses and being present
Be mindful of your vibration, energy, perspective, and mood, toward yourself and others
Be fully present in conversations with others
Listen to your life. What’s going on around you?
Release restlessness and a busy mind and find peace through mindfulness, which focuses the mind on the present moment.
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Practice Awarenesses:
Acknowledge and transform.
What’s going on in your body?
What’s going on in your feelings?
What’s going on in your mind?
What’s going on around you?
What's going on in your spirit?
What's going on in your vibration?
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Getting Help
If you find yourself struggling, or in severe cases or concerns, psychotherapy can be a supporting tool for gaining greater traction with living mindfully and in the present moment.
Fig. 03 | “I have arrived. I am home”. – Thich Nhat Hanh
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Contemplation
How will you challenge yourself to live more mindfully and in the represent today?
Thanks for being here. Sending divine love.
