Being Present means being here, being now. Letting go of all thoughts of the past and future and focusing on what is happening right now. This allows us to experience the fullness of each moment we live, we miss nothing, we are fully engaged, we feel our bodies and our emotions as we take in our immediate environment. We can only do this by consciously letting go of anything other than what is happening right now.
Being Present is a lot like Mindfulness. You have a single focus on the here and now. It is a discipline of the heart and mind. It takes practice to be present, many people get stuck in the past wishing it was different, or in the future trying to control what will happen. Anxiety is caused by this future projection as we seek to control what may happen based on our past painful experiences. Being present is a cure for anxiety. When we focus solely on the now, there is no future to worry about.
Take the time to practice being present. Your mind will wander, simply acknowledge the thought and then let it go. Bring your focus back to now. Don’t be too hard on yourself if your mind keeps wandering, even the master Yogis can only keep their minds from wandering for 9 seconds at a time.
Being Present is important, it is the only way to really experience the moment, to feel it fully. Otherwise, you are missing what is happening and living constantly in the idea of moments that have passed or are yet to come. Being present is like a photograph, capturing what is happening in this exact moment in time.
Enjoy it.
