The here and now, living in it

I am currently reading a book about presence... being present in the here and now and transcending our physical being into our spiritual being through retreats and other such malarky! What a waste of paper, I feel guilty about the tree which created this book!

Unfortunately (or fortunately) most of us cannot afford the time and or cash to head out on a month long retreat to find our inner selves and to be honest the experience may fill our souls with wonder but it is short lived when we return to our here and now and our general lives.

It is more important to find 'presence' in our existing lives, our realities rather than head off into the ether to discover it.

If you suffer from living in the future, constantly striving, making no time for yourself in the now, please consider the following time effective but real ways to wake up to the now.

• Sit for 2 mins and focus on your breathing or your heart rate- nothing else- and if thoughts come into your head tell them you will deal with them in 2 mins.
• Go for a walk without head phones and actively look at the surroundings, the trees, houses, grass, listen to the noises, birds, traffic, feel the breeze as it passes over your skin
• Sit and watch ants for 2 mins as they scurry about their day, imagine what it would be like being an ant
• Every hour stand up from your desk and stretch up as tall as you can, feel your fingers extend to the ceiling and ground your feet on the floor. If you want add a mantra (something like "I am most enjoying x y or z about today," "I feel x y or z at this moment in time,"- (don't worry if you feel angry/ upset or disappointed, these are real feelings and acknowledging them is important)

And for the really brave!

Select a day where you don't have any plans and keep it completely free (no job list at all.)

When you wake up (naturally- no clocks) ask yourself what you feel like doing- and actually listen to what you say. If it is nothing, do nothing until you feel like doing something and when you have done that thing ask yourself what you would like to do next.

Go on, try it, what do you have to lose? And as always let me know how you get on.