How to be here and now? Many psychologists and journalists have written about this in recent years. Both professional literature and popular periodicals indicate the enormity of research on its beneficial influence on the emotional state, he alth and interpersonal relations. So how to be here and now? Get to know the psychologist's advice!

How to live here and now - many of us often wonder about the answer to this question. Since the techniques that facilitate the experience of the present moment are so popular, available and quite well researched, why in practice do we so rarely decide to use them?

It turns out that access to professionally conducted trainings, reliable literature or helpful applications and free videos is unlimited, but many people choose not to develop the skills of being here and now, experiencing the moment or strengthening mindfulness. As with many beneficial activities, the difficulty lies in the lack of awareness and reluctance to engage in systematic exercise. Instead, we submit to habits that effectively distract from the here and now.

Where are we usually?

If we wrote down our thoughts meticulously, it would probably turn out that a large part of them concerns what was or what will be, and only a small part would concern what is here and now. With love and almost automatically without awareness, we dwell on the past, awakening the emotions we have already felt when analyzing every detail of what happened. The same goes for what will be, things to do, worries about things that will never happen. We feed our head with all of this, effectively making it difficult for ourselves to experience those moments that are just going on.

Probably it would be difficult to recall details in response to the following questions: What was your last meal like? What flavors, spices and products did you really feel? Where do you feel the tension in your body? Not the pain that is strong and pronounced, but the tension that subtly alerts you when there is pain.

It's not about forgetting the past or not caring about the future lightly. There's nothing wrong with mentioning or planning, but when there's more to it than being in the moment right now, it becomes harmful.

There is a reason to develop an attitude of mindfulness,which allows you to consciously live and experience the present, is gaining popularity. The need to consciously manage one's own activity, the desire to return to a balance between the past, present and future, but also between the body, thought and emotion, creates an opportunity not only to improve the mental and physical condition.

What does it mean to be here and now? What are the benefits?

Being here and now, being aware of your current needs, emotions or feelings from the body has a positive effect on many areas of human functioning. Many studies - including the creators of Jon Kabat-Zinn's mindfulness training - indicate an improvement in the functioning of people experiencing, among others: excessive stress, low mood, emotional tension, chronic pain, etc. The factors that noticeably strengthen this improvement are to a large extent :

  • Regaining a sense of influence and simultaneously lowering the feeling of helplessness.Being aware that you can decide to feel better at any moment by engaging your attention in specific exercise has a positive effect on us. The purposefulness of the actions taken and the sense of influence are crucial in the case of many mental difficulties.
  • The ability to separate actual, actual emotions and experiences from those that have already beenand those to come, while strengthening your ability to experience the present moment.
  • Weakening the assessment of current experiencesand reading subtle messages about the needs of the body and mind.
  • Developing the ability to consciously manage or direct the attentiondirected at what actually happens inside and outside a given person.

Conscious being here and now is also the ability to weaken unfavorable automatic reactions and behaviors. Directing your attention allows you to stop before taking thoughtless action and decide on beneficial steps and adequate to this current needs.

A simple example is reaching for a sweet snack in a situation of emotional tension, which for some people almost immediately gives the appearance of relief. A careful reference to the here and now will allow you to pause after reading the first signs of nervousness and see what your body really needs. Perhaps it will turn out that the decision to take a moment in a quiet and peaceful place will be what the body actually needs to be able to regain its balance, and the dose of stimulating sugar is unnecessary.

Being here and now … causes changes in the brain

Interestingly, systematicMindfulness training translates into anatomical changes in the brain over time. An example of this may be the development of areas in the brain responsible for the processes of inhibiting the body's response to severe stress, which translates into the ability to return to balance faster after the occurrence of a stressor.

Often times, the reaction, both physical and mental, to a stressful situation is inadequate. An example may be an argument with the boss, which activates in the body and mind mechanisms that appear in a situation of risk to life and he alth, completely incompatible with the real threat.

The ability to be here and now allows you to regulate the state of tension in accordance with the actual state of the situation. And a faster return to psychophysical balance as a result of regular exercises strengthening being here and now seems to be an attractive option.

Unfortunately, much more often severe stress reactions are not neutralized properly, accumulating in the body for years, and consequently causing or accelerating the occurrence of many diseases. Being here and now teaches you to catch the first, still weak messages coming from the body and mind, enabling you to make a decision about he althy action.

Otherwise, being deaf for many years to messages from the body ends with a sharp and often dangerous reaction. Attentive listening to the body's promptings and satisfying its current, small needs (a moment of rest, sleep, regulation of breathing or pressure, nutritious meal) does not force him to scream ending with chronic ailments.

The changes worked out in this way make it easier to take an adequate response to the difficulties we encounter. The emerging tension will not cause an avalanche of automatisms, but will allow you to stop and check what the perceived stress, anxiety, tension in the body, etc. are about.

How to be here and now? Basics

When considering ways to make it easier to be here and now, mention should be made of the MBSR (Mindfulness - Based Stress Reduction) course, based on selected exercises involving breathing, body and imagination. Systematic training enables conscious being here and now and separating what is currently happening with us from past and future experiences. At the same time, it effectively strengthens the ability to deal with specific situations or to easily endure both physical and mental pain.

Condition: Mental and physical exercise requires regular training. Even just a few minutes of daily exercise allows you to notice real improvement. However, when you stop practicing, your head returns to its original state over time, as does your waist circumference after giving up regular exercise.physical.

How to be here and now? Exercises

1. Body scan- the exercise consists in directing the attention to the sensations flowing from the various parts of the body. And so, like the light of a scanner, the attention flows one by one to the feet, calves, thighs until it reaches the top of the head. This exercise strengthens the ability to consciously redirect attention, collect information from the body, be here and now without judgment and with acceptance.

2. Concentrating on the breath- the exercise consists in the conscious observation of the breath with all related sensations. It is not about deepening or slowing down your breathing, but accepting looking at it as it is at the moment and reading the signals behind it. The focus is on how the air flows through the various parts of the body from the nose, through the throat to the diaphragm. During practice, it is worth paying attention to what the breath is like, without trying to change it, check whether it is slow or fast, shallow or deep on a given day, feel, among others. how the ribs move under its influence, what temperature is the air inhaled and exhaled.

The more details you can observe, the better. If your breathing is accelerated or nervous at a given moment, it is worth asking yourself what does it need to be able to calm down? What need is it for what breath is on a given day, at a given moment? Over time, regardless of your intention, your breathing will slow down, positively affecting your well-being or heart rhythm.

3. Raisin- the popular version of the exercise uses raisins, but the practice may apply to every meal and many activities of everyday life. The exercise is to engage only one sense in eating the raisin in turn. You should pay attention to the sense of sight, check what color, shape, etc. is the raisin. Let all attention to the eyes catch as much information as possible about the raisin. After that, all attention should be directed to touch, closing your eyes may be helpful. What raisin does the touch feel? Is it soft? What is the texture, shape, etc?

Shifting attention one by one to the individual senses will allow the attention to latch on to what is here and now and move away from the past and the future. Exercise also facilitates conscious reading of stimuli coming from the senses, careful eating of meals, which is not without significance when thinking about the need for he althy eating, eating disorders or digestive difficulties. When consumed during a meal, it helps the body to notice that it has just eaten without haste and concentration. The task can be performed during everyday small activities, giving yourself a moment to be here and now, e.g. drinking coffee in the morning, eatingsnacks during a break at work, evening teeth brushing, etc.

The exemplary exercises make it easier to be here and now, bringing all the resulting benefits. Ideally, you would be able to complete the eight-week MBSR course, the program of which has been supporting people all over the world for many years. However, let lack of funds or time not become an excuse to take care of this, the here and now is important. Bookstores and the Internet are full of literature and exercises prepared for independent practice of mindfulness. Even a few minutes of training a day can bring noticeable, beneficial changes to your life. Being here and now is not mindfulness training a panacea for everything, but it can improve the quality of everyday functioning with great effectiveness, so why not use this method?

Category:

Psychology