Sunday, December 16, 2007

Meditation Part II: Being Present

Ok. So the second part to meditation is the practice of being present. That was sort of a foreign idea to me before, I didn't really know what the heck it meant. I thought of course I'm present what the heck. But now that I did a little training I think I have a better understanding of it.

Being present means that you are not living in your imagination. Awesome examples of this can be found in Byron Katie's website and what she calls "The Work". People are constantly thinking right?, constantly having thoughts go through our heads of the future, the what-if's, the past, the negative core beliefs, what other's may be thinking, etc. Well similar to meditation where you put all of that out of your head, being present is living in reality. Instead of living in your fears, your anxiety, your worries for yourself or others, what is true right now? Live in the right now. Bring your mind and your awareness to what is happening right now.

Right now I am typing this blog and I can feel my fingers on the keys and my body sitting in this chair. I am a bit relaxed and calm. I am not worried about what I am going to do today, what I did yesterday, not thinking that maybe I said something wrong at a party last night, not worried about what others thought about what I wore, etc.

There is a time for our minds to think about what we need to do. That is the job of our minds and we wouldn't get far if we just lived in the present all of the time. But when anxiety and worry and control takes over, that is when we need this reminder that our mind went into overdrive and took over. Right now I need to gain control over my mind and let it rest. That is what being present means to me.

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