Living in the 'Here and Now'

Living in the ‘here and now’ means focusing all your  attention to the present and letting your ‘Chitta’ (चित्त) or the mind pay close attention to whatever you are doing at the moment. Regular practice of being mindful will help your mind to stick to one particular task in hand and let you work efficiently on it by letting you to be completely immersed.

If you have ever tried doing it, you must have known that it is easier said than done! It is extremely difficult to tame our mind to stop wandering. But, as I have mentioned in my previous blog (How to silence the mind), you can take help of these techniques to first calm your mind and then take it further. There are thousands of things which are going on in our mind every single moment. The multiple thoughts just over lap each other and in some cases, just one single thought is enough to split our attention and make us completely lose our track.

It is a never ending tunnel of thoughts. We are either constantly thinking about the past, about what we could have done or what we could have achieved or what we could have said instead, etc., or we are constantly thinking about the future about what needs to be done, how it needs to be done, so on and so forth. We are never really present, in the Present.

So, how can we really remain focused in the present? ‘Breathing’, is the answer to all the exercises concerning the inner work. Now, why breathing? It is because our breath has the power to control our mind. The subtleness of our mind and breath connection is beautifully described in the ‘Hath Yog Pradipika’.

इन्द्रियाणां मनो नाथो मनोनाथस्तु मारुतः|

मारुतस्य लयो नाथः स लयो नादमाश्रित:|| (4-29)

 

It says that, ‘the mind rules our senses and the breath rules our mind. The master of the breath is its absorption and the absorption of the mind is achieved by surrendering to the inner vibrations’. It is further explained in another verse of the Hath Yog Pradipika that:

मनो यत्र विलीयते पवनस्तत्र लीयते|

पवनो लीयते यत्र मनस्तत्र विलीयते|| (4-23)

It means that, once the mind is immersed in something, the breathing slows down and the mind can only immerse in something, when the Praan, or breath, is controlled. As a result, when you concentrate on your breathing, your mind becomes attentive and surrenders to the process. Thus, you may gradually regulate your mind and redirect its attention to the present moment.

For example; if you are working on an important assignment in the office, but your mind is constantly running into unimportant thoughts, just sit and focus upon your breathing. Bring all your attention to your breathing and witness the unimportant thoughts disappear. Then, remain in this state for as long as you can and resume working. If you feel that the mind is again wandering, repeat the process.

For better control over the mind, practice meditation daily at least for 30 minutes. You can divide it into two parts and do it for 15 mins in the morning and 15 mins in the evening. It helps you to take charge of your mind and improve your focus. Another method for being mindful is to observe, feel and absorb the sensations that are taking place around you and inside your body. For example; if you are eating, focus your attention to the colours and patterns of the meal served in your plate. Observe how it looks, feel the sensation of the morsel in your hand. When you put the morsel in your mouth, observe how the saliva is released and the taste buds are triggered. Feel the taste, chew slowly. Enjoy the entire process of eating, while being mindful.

Living in the ‘Here and now’ is a wonderful process that helps your mind to automatically de-clutter the unwanted thoughts. It may even help you to refrain from building castles in the air and reduce the stock of unrealistic desires and goals that you keep hoarding in your mind.

 

PS: Please do comment if you liked the blog. Share your suggestions and let me know if you need any help. The mind clinic is always a click away.