Train Your Brain to Live in the Now

I was feeling rather overwhelmed this morning. I am in the process of moving, so I had errands to run, chores to do, and of course, stuff to move. In addition to that, I also had friends to see and phone calls to return. I have still got to do the latter. My goal is to have everything moved by Saturday since I am going on vacation next week and starting my full-time job the week after that. I caught myself lowkey freaking out as all these to-do items raced through my mind this morning, so I began to meditate as soon as I realized.

Meditation does not necessarily have to be you chanting while sitting cross-legged in a circle with other people. It doesn’t even have to be a guided practice, like a body scan for instance. Personally, I used to cringe at the word because I didn’t fully understand it. Meditation can be as simple as paying attention to your breathing. You can do it anywhere, and it doesn’t have to take long time.

This morning I made myself be still in the present moment by focusing on taking a deep breath in and then on letting that deep breath out. I did that until my anxiety went away. This is one of my grounding techniques. Another one is identifying what I observe with each of my five senses. These techniques shift my brain from future (i.e., all the things I have yet to do) to present (i.e., what I am doing right now). Because really, all we have is the present.

Anxiety comes from uncertainty about imminent events – ones that have not yet occurred or that may not occur at all. What a waste of energy! You can have peace of mind if you train your brain to live in the now. Make meditating a daily practice and watch what happens when life gets crazy. You’ll immediately focus on your breath without even noticing. You’ll have calmed the storm before it even gets started.

Don’t worry; meditate.

Lai