Being Present

When we are walking around in our every day life, the average person uses about 2% of their conscious mind. You heard me correctly... 2%. That means that normally, we're walking around on auto-pilot, not really being present at all. Couple that with the fact that the average person has about 50,000 + thoughts per day and it's no wonder you forget to stop somewhere on the way home from work. You're on auto-pilot! You're not even driving your car, your subconscious is. Now that's really scary.

So what do we do about this? How can we learn to stay more present... in the moment? Well, we do this through meditation or deep relaxation. There are many, many different ways to meditate. It's a lot easier to do then one might think. Yet the benefits one reaps from a daily practice is stunning (see link to 108 Reasons to meditate).

I practice (and teach) a mantra mediation. I use my mantra that was assigned to me by my Guide in 1975 to keep me present. When my mind wanders I bring myself back to present by reciting my mantra silently to myself. I am a very firm believer in meditation and the mantra meditation especially, but even sitting quietly for a few minutes a day is very beneficial.

Meditation is a process and it's effects are cumulative so the longer you've been meditating, the more results you will have from it. Meditation will help the mind to slow down its rapid series of thoughts and feelings and replace that mental activity with inner awareness and attention. Therefore, while meditating, it's not as though your thinking or analyzing different situations, it's not as though you're having an internal conversation. Meditation is simply a quiet, effortless, one-pointed focus of attention and awareness. *

There are other ways for one to practice mindfulness. Try one of these the next time you have a little time to spare. When you're washing the dishes, opt out from using the dishwasher. Use your hands, soap and a sponge and really pay attention to each little detail of how you wash, rinse and dry the dishes. How the soap forms on your sponge, how the bubbles spill off the item as you're rinsing it. How the dishes might squeak when you're drying them. Do the same thing when you're folding clothes. Fold each item with care and much thought. Notice how you fold short sleeved T-shirts compared to long sleeved ones, etc. This may sound silly and boring, but if you are able to practice some mindful exercises each day, it'll help you to use more than 2% of your conscious mind.

I hope you're able to find a way to bring yourself to a more present state of mind. Whether it's through meditation, deep relaxation or practicing mindfulness every day, or a combination of the three.

Namaste and be well...

*Some are thoughts from Swami Rama in his book "Meditation and Its Practice". You can find this book at my store on my website at www.pathwaypartner.com/doula

You can also check out my website to find a mantra meditation class that I am teaching in the Metro-Detroit area.

Link to 108 reasons to meditate.

http://caeyc.org/main/caeyc/proposals/pdfs/Bridgesmeditate.pdf