Living In The Moment {A guide to recreating your reality}

Note my mood. Chose that on the day I signed up. The process of mindfulness I've been working on for the past six months. It seems challenging, but perhaps not focusing on achieving mindfulness allows one the experience of the moment.

Great thread!

Tip #5. Meditate regularly, if you are not already.

There are so many benefits to meditation that there is no reason why you shouldn't do it. It has nothing to do with religion and is something that can be practiced by a child or your grandfather. In fact, what I have been talking about in this thread (mindfulness) is a form of meditation. I use it throughout the day but I try to devote 20-30 minutes in the morning right after I wake up, and 20-30 min at night about an hour before I fall asleep to really become aware.

Why meditate you ask? What does it do? It is your homework for becoming aware. It is the part of your day where you can be focused on you and NOTHING else. As you get better doing it in your 20 minute time slot, you will find yourself having more aware periods during your day.

Time seems like it is speeding up with every passing day, but this is your time to slow everything down, relax, and just observe your body. Pay attention to it, how it feels, the weight of your butt on the chair or in your bed. Follow your breathing and let the thoughts roll on by like the bubbles I was talking about earlier.

There are many different threads on here that go much deeper into meditation. Different methods, guided tracks you can download; use the search and there will be no shortage of information if you are looking to get started.

Here is an exercise I found to show you how the subconscious is running things without you noticing on a daily basis. It is truly amazing when you become aware of the more subtle things going on in your body on a daily basis without you knowing.(If that makes any sense)

Exercise:The Stand
For this basic exercise you need peace and quiet at first in order that you can pay attention without unwanted interruption. You can conduct the exercise indoors or out: when you become more proficient, you will be able to do it anywhere in the presence of any number of people. You are about to learn something about yourself. You are about to learn what a major part your subconscious mind, acting through your body, plays in your everyday life without you even noticing.

As a matter of FACT, it is consciously impossible for you to carry out what you normally consider the simple act of standing in one place - your subconscious mind does the job for you. You are about to observe this and become aware of it.

Find a suitable space away from any obstacles and stand with your feet slightly apart. Look at a spot on the ground say three feet in front of you, keep your eyes open, let your hands hang by your side and relax. Now, as you stand there, become aware of the tiny shifts in balance taking place as you breathe. Be aware of the varying pressure as your toes, feet and legs tense and relax to shift the load about to retain balance. Feel your body swaying slightly forwards and backwards and from left to right. Notice the minute movements in your torso and arms as you shift to maintain balance.

You are normally blissfully unaware of all these movements - your subconscious does the job for you and has been doing so for years - and as you become aware of them little by little, you may find some interesting things begin to happen.

-------
Try this and let me know how it went!
Exercise courtesy of www.angelfire.com...

Sorry to burst in, but I just cannot relax when I read about those bailouts, robbing us, destroying our financial system. What do you recommend? To just forget about it? Not to worry about corrupt law makers? How can we 'live the moment' given the enormous troubles we face today?

[edit on 31-3-2009 by WonderfulWorld]

Great thread.

I have been focusing on this concept a great deal lately. Especially Step #2.

( As numerous others on this forum frequently mention Eckhart Tolle. I am currently reading "The Power of Now." It has gotten a lot of buzz recently due to exposure by Oprah, nonetheless, it is fascinating / powerful.) Overview: en.wikipedia.org...

For all the reasons you pointed out, living "In The Moment" is highly rewarding if you can tune out life's distractions. I have learned a great deal from my dogs about this. They are usually at peace in a neutral state, unburdened by the concept of the future and not preoccupied by the consequences of the past.

In a world constrained by the concept of time (watches / calendars/ faster computers etc.) It seems we have become obsessed with speed. We have become micro-impatient and instant gratification just isn't fast enough. We attempt to save, spend or invest our time as if it is a commodity rather than in the moment.

I'll try to make the long story short, great thread / topic. I look forward to the vast insight by the enlightened ones on this forum.

This short music video relates this concept to me. Please watch until end:

www.youtube.com...

A chance moment can last a lifetime.

Regards....KK







[edit on 31-3-2009 by kinda kurious]

[edit on 31-3-2009 by kinda kurious]

reply to post by WonderfulWorld


I can tell you that its all external and the only thing that matters comes from looking inwards but you have to know that to be true. Honestly, what can you do about it? Corruption has been a part of politics since its inception. The universe is a lot smarter than we are. What we are going through is a natural process, just like birth and death.

Quite frankly, things have to get real effed up before they can change. The worse things get, the more people will wake up to the corruption, and the closer we are to a better tomorrow. The only thing you can do is as Gandhi once said, become the change you wish to see in the world.

Thinking about how bad things are isn't going to change anything. Your mind will be focused on corruption and you will just start to see more of it. Like when you get a jeep for a car and all of the sudden your seeing jeeps everywhere. Its not because there are more jeeps, just that your focused on them.

Look for the good that will come out of this current situation and you will start to see it.

Originally posted by WonderfulWorld
Sorry to burst in, but I just cannot relax when I read about those bailouts, robbing us, destroying our financial system. What do you recommend? To just forget about it? Not to worry about corrupt law makers? How can we 'live the moment' given the enormous troubles we face today?

[edit on 31-3-2009 by WonderfulWorld]

Don't become attached to the outcome. It's OK to desire to see a change away from what we are currently experiencing, but your fear and worrying just creates more resistance. That's because that is the main vibration you are experiencing. More fear and worry begets more fear and worry. Maybe the OP can explain this better.

Edit: And it looks like he did while I was posting this.

[edit on 31-3-2009 by Pehrj]

reply to post by bringthelight

Excellent subject, and perfectly timed too.

In my work, especially within the past year or two, providing techniques to retrain ourselves to be in the now moment has been the overriding impetus, as my clients have all been living in the past, the future and in What If?

Over the years I've found some very simple methods to assist with our awakening to our own higher awareness... awareness being the key word here. One of these methods is for living in the now.

What we do in a session with a client, apart from counselling spiritually, is to remind them to be vigilant on their thoughts, to learn what thoughts are their's and what aren't.

The method offered is very simple, but it requires great stamina. I ask people to constantly bring their attention to whatever they are doing Now, for instance; if making a coffee, make yourself think of what you are doing..."I am now adding the coffee to the water", etc.

Interestingly, I find myself that I have/had to remind myself about every ten seconds or so to bring the attention to what I am doing. This makes it a pain in the butt type of method, but one that really does retrain the mind. Especially if we successfully do this for about 30 days so that we establish a new pattern of behaviour.

More importantly this process, among others, allows us to become the Master of our Actions as it bring us to more clarity in the moment so that we are no longer being reactionary to any impetus around us, but that we choose what our actions will be. This is perfectly illustrated with Anger, where most people react in anger and become a victim, so to speak, of themselves.

In anger we feel an incrediable power, which scares most people due to it's strength. So I learned to close my eyes and breathe. Counting was a waste of time as we only count angrily, lol. But by shutting out everything when closing our eyes for that moment, we allow ourselves to notice just our breath, and by doing so we change the dynamic, we become the one in control. You still feel the power within, but you are more capable of choosing what you do rather than simply be swept up in the moment.

So I thank you for this well times OP and hope that more people GET IT.

To achieve the ability to see yourself in the other and the other in yourself puts matters in perspective.

To see oneself as a shell with a soul/spirit/essence/inner self, whichever word 'you' choose, may help put matters in perspective.

Horace lived in a meditative state. He had something to say about humanity or how to 'achieve' it.

reply to post by Perseus Apex


Cease to inquire what the future has in store, and take as a gift whatever the day brings forth.
~Horace

That was one of my favs. Thanks for sharing. I guess when you can live in a meditative state 24/7, coming up with quotes like these must be easy.

Thank You OP for a great topic! This whole issue has always been extremely important to me at almost every stage of my life. I was fortunate enough to have a childhood that was just the right mix of wonderful and absolutely horrible that I started my journey to "wake up" at a very young age. I am no where near being able to feel complete enlightenment , but I have finally reached the point where I can appreciate the slow and wonderful journey to the ultimate 'enlightenment' (which I think is when we die and whatever it is that makes 'us' feel like 'us' returns to it's pre-'our life' state!) We are obviously here to experience consciousness bound by these unbreakable rules of living in a physical body on Earth, so why not focus on that feeling consciously experiencing....EXISTENCE?

I find that I lose focus the most when I don't work at being conscious of the moment I'm in. Everyone else is right, you have to WORK for it....but the payoff may be EXPERIENCING THE PURPOSE OF LIFE. As in, actually feeling as close to achieving what we are meant to be here for (as possible.) I'm not sure what that is yet, but I'm starting to think it's ultimate peace and oneness...or something _javascript:icon('')

I also find that I lose focus the most when I feel the side effects of living in society (in general.) The problem is that I agree with the person who posted before that said these topics are a great example of why we can't give up on humanity. That is why living in solitude may seem like an easy solution to stop the over-stimulation, but really we just need to make society better. Or at least surround ourselves with people who think this way (which isn't easy either, so lets at least hope for a better ratio!) Really the best we can do is live the best way we know how personally...period.

What makes me find my focus again sometimes is art. When I listen to truly great music that makes me feel I become more inspired to be mindful and savor every second. This works the best with music because you can savor the beat tapping out it's own version of time while the music sails over and creates the moments. There are also many documentaries that inspire me as well. Say what you will about "What The Bleep Do We Know?", at the core that movie is a wonderful crash course for thinking outside of the box. Some of my friends who have had wonderful childhoods never found the need to think outside of the 'regular life' box, why bother if life feels good right? When they got older though they started to think about life and death, and unfortunately they had no practice so they felt more lost than when they were children! The good news is that they are intelligent people, and their desire to learn woke them up just fine. I noticed though that a movie as simple as "What The Bleep Do We Know" was a wonderful lubrication for the slippery slop of waking up.

Please suggest any documentaries, movies, music, or anything that inspires you to wake up! It is very easy to lose focus on this journey, and a collection of eye-opening art can be the perfect muse!

[edit on 31-3-2009 by Vismund_Cygnus]

well its because we repeat memories rather than think, as you can see with our view of intelligence especially in eduation. So you read, absorb, experience some kind of infomation and then regurgatate it later maybe on a test maybe just talking that is not intelligence that is a normal function of our brain its called MEMORY. Anything that comes up that does not correlate with this memory (apparent thought) on alot of people, they cannot see what they are being told as they resort to the memory and they disbelieve, disagree with the in coming infomation. Truely intelligence from this sort of source would be to use our memory and then think and see similarities within things that seem not so similar.

If you take a left brain person which for the most part everyone is very forced into being as you see the man made world around you very similar everywhere, structure, organisation and if you input into this infomation which it stores as it is the filing system and it sees it as logic it cannot comprehend infomation sometimes that does not correlate with this said logic and memory. The left brainer will see a chair and think oh its a chair and they will perhaps see some images of chairs you remember from this object you label as a chair. As a right brained person may see the chair and say oh well this is an animal it has four legs obviously they also use there logic to suggest its not quite an animal as such but you get the gist. Same with drawing if you aren't to great at drawing and you draw an image upside down you will draw it better than you would right side up because the left brain cannot interfere when you are concentrating and make you start to draw what it thinks it see's, the memory of the object rather than what it actually see's.

This is a main problem with awakening people because they believe they think but alot of the time they just repeat a memory and believe they are thinking. This is what happens when we rely on our bodies, senses, perceptions to form our version of reality as they are extremely limited and can be manipulated easily and will start to take over to much if overused. Our bodies are surely second to what we really are and that is our mind and not enough of us listen to it or rather use and control it. We instead force ourselves to use our suit, our bodies to suggest what is real and let ourselves be dictated by our own mind rather than use it and be it.

as i say something natural cannot understand itself if it surrounds itself in something not natural. If you take a fish and create its enviroment, its water, its food, its thoughts, what it does, is this really the same fish?

I'd also like to add that through the "one way system" of education our creativity and different perspectives are destroyed systematically obviously you will remember infomation more if you like it and in school a great deal of the time it isnt so greatly appealing to learn especially the way it is pitched towards CHILDREN. I believe this way of viewing intelligence helps to show how controllable people are and where they stand, they won't allow people who do bad because they refuse to deal with the infomation they are presented so this shows they are less controllable so they will not be allowed to have oppourtunitys that will give them great responsabilitys because they will not conform to other peoples ways and the people "above them".

Surely it also inherently useless to live for the future considering that is what it is and will always be, it will never come because its the FUTURE, you never live a day in the future always the present. I'm quite sure that being told to plan and live for the future may have its benefits but for most people its just a scapegoat for all the horrors you must wade through in the present to get to this so called magical future place but it can never come and you will always be swimming through the feaces if you accept bad for good later.

[edit on 31-3-2009 by steven barnes]

[edit on 31-3-2009 by steven barnes]

reply to post by odi_gid_niria


Odi
I read your comments. I am just like you in every sense. As long you are not aware of what is going on around you, the manipulation does drown you and you cannot protect yourself. What I read in this thread, I have been practicing this for a long time as part of my religion that anything is not in your control leave it to God. God will take care of it. The stronger the faith you have, the more you are successful to let go and you enjoy the peace. It is like taking a shower with cold water that calms you down. I am thankful to these intelligent people that take their time and write about it. It does help to make you aware of your surroundings. After all we are all human. The more we stay together, the more we will be successful and peaceful. May God help and bless you all.

reply to post by Vismund_Cygnus


I actually watched Peaceful Warrior last night and thought they hit the nail on the head. Great movie that is all about this very subject. I thought nick nolte was amazing as Socrates. Also any of Dan Millmans books are great. I read The Sacred Journey and couldent put it down. The Power of Now helped me immensly as well.

Originally posted by odi_gid_niria
Yes I believe you're right but it's difficult for me to feel like I do have the ability to do that.

I know this sounds silly but my depression is characterized by fearing what other people think and may do in the future to me based on my past. I feel highly threatened by others constantly.

Even if I forgot about everything that I've done in the past and thought that my mistakes meant nothing, other people won't. So I feel I have to hang on to the past in case someone else is still judging me based on it. It's almost like a control issue and worrying about what other people think has become such a major problem for me.. it's truly a sickness of the mind.

I obviously don't want to be this way. It's difficult to explain though. I'm not even able to judge my mistakes properly because I feel overly guilty about every single thing I do. So everything's out of proportion in my head and this way of thinking and worrying continues the cycle of making mistakes in the present as well.

You are already on the road to recovery as self awareness of your thought disorder is the first step to retraining your thinking. Keep searching keep pushing forward and make positive thinking a full time job. Research, study and daily apply the things you learn.

The concept of living in the moment as described by the OP as well as mindfulness, self awareness and the power of acceptance has saved my life. I have been off meds for depression for almost 2 years. I had tried every med over the coarse of 10 years and was diagnosed as BP 2.

Once i had that light bulb moment that i had the power too change how i felt there was no looking back. Depression, anxiety, low self esteem etc. etc. is a fading memory.

Nothing can stop me now. I hope you can find strength in my experience.

I am enjoying your post Bringthelight. I think people tend to go off in one of two extremes: It's either all 'push' or all 'pause.' Now what I mean by that is folks get so keyed up and living out of the moment that they find life impossibly difficult and meaningless (all 'push'). What happens then? They feel they need to 'escape reality' and become a hermitized, meditating monk (all 'pause').

I think that we humans are optimally designed for a balance of push and pause. As the OP points out, our modern lifestyle has us generally way more lopsided towards the push mode. However, don't be of the opinion that you can become happy by totally meditating and retreating in to yourself without goals and/or plans (as this can lead to depression).

Try to find a balance between the push and the pause. Just like when you swing a hammer to drive a nail - you don't just keep pushing without the pause before the next swing! We do need to get out of the present at times in the setting of goals, and we also need the feedback from the past in helping to establish those goals. But once we have set our course, practice what the OP suggests.


[edit on 31-3-2009 by whatsup]

reply to post by bringthelight


Very good post. I have been attempting this process of being outside myself for some time. Some day's I am better at it and others not.

Man is so apt to let his emotions rule his actions, decisions, moods and ultimately his lifestyle. (edit to erase peaceful warrior comment, already mentioned)

By understanding how we think, we can come to the point in which our thoughts float up as bubble's like you described. From there we can choose to enact them and we can also choose to control our emotions by recognizing them when they surface instead of being on auto-pilot and allowing our emotions to drive our daily lives, responses, relationships and actions.

With living in the moment we gain control of our self and our thoughts and from there can choose to act instead of react from the emotions in the cockpit. With consciously noting the endless flurries of thought in our heads will we have the ability to choose our actions instead of having the regrets from acting out. We can understand our emotions and choose to give or not give them access to our immediate surroundings and world.

My all time favorite saying is: Vincit Qui Se Vincit which means:
He conquers, who conquers himself.

Very good info! S&F!



[edit on 31-3-2009 by N3krostatic]

Bravo Bringthelight! What a fantastic and timely post this is. I am a completely changed person due to these concepts mentioned. But there I times I forget and then people like you bring it all back home. It's funny. I was wolfing down some hamburger helper (hey I like it and it's cheap) and I came to the part about enjoying each bite of your food and remembered that is how I used to eat. In this day and age we have a wealth of flavors we never had before and mostly within our budget. but we sit down and just devour like we can never get enough! If we would actually chew our food and "savor the flavor" in the moment, we get full faster because we are not in a race against our stomach. Our food is unhealthy mostly yes. But I think when we pile it on while our minds are elsewhere not even thinking about it that is where the obesity in our world comes from. Like the other person said, everytime i give up on humanity, someone like you comes along and restores my faith. Great post and advice

Originally posted by WonderfulWorld
Sorry to burst in, but I just cannot relax when I read about those bailouts, robbing us, destroying our financial system. What do you recommend? To just forget about it? Not to worry about corrupt law makers? How can we 'live the moment' given the enormous troubles we face today?

[edit on 31-3-2009 by WonderfulWorld]

Every moment we have in life has to be used to connect with others. It isn't about what the moment "is" but what you do with it. Everything is given for a reason. Right now egoism is becoming more and more noticeable by the day. Our own egoism causes us pain, which is ultimately what the focus needs to be on. Until egoism is corrected individually and as a whole, we'll feel pain. Globalization has taken egoism to a new level and adjusting to that is going to be difficult, but if we each take it onto ourselves a personal mission to fix egoism, it will make the adjustment much less difficult and help perfect the whole.

The only thing needed then for a person is to "fix" themselves. Unfortunately nature is having a field day globally and until we can rise above our given nature, nature will maintain its control over people.

It really isn't about recreating your reality as it is understanding your reality.

[edit on 31-3-2009 by ghaleon12]

Originally posted by WonderfulWorld
Sorry to burst in, but I just cannot relax when I read about those bailouts, robbing us, destroying our financial system. What do you recommend? To just forget about it? Not to worry about corrupt law makers? How can we 'live the moment' given the enormous troubles we face today?

[edit on 31-3-2009 by WonderfulWorld]

Why worry about something you ultimately can't control? The corrupt leaders must be voted out, eventually... only to be replaced by even more corrupt leaders. See any pattern there? Why worry so much about that?

The best advice I ever accepted was to turn off all mainstream news. I have been profoundly happier without all that senseless and distressing brainwashing.