How To Catch These Fleeting Moments? Here and Now.

We consistently get lost in time: at work, on social media, in thoughts. Time flies, and, when we do something pleasant – we want to “catch the fleeting moments.” When we learn to be here and now even if nothing special is happening, being here and now becomes a fulfilling, rich experience. How do we do that?

Looking back I remember the moments, when I slowed down, and allowed myself to be there and then, with all my senses. Do you watch the passing time, or does the time stands still? Time is illusion anyway, what matters is you EXPERIENCING THIS MOMENT.

If you don’t have time to slow down many times throughout the day, then your life may feel like a disaster. In the past I worked in a profession when every minute mattered. It took an effort but every time I found myself on a brink of falling apart – I took a minute here, 5 min there and 15 seconds here… to calm my nervous system and return to balance.

The difference between being present and times when my mind is in the past, future or completely different place all together – is a difference between time wasted and “caught” time. It’s not easy to be present in here and now with all our senses, but it can be practiced.

How can we catch the moment? How do we make it memorable, special, meaningful, so looking back we won’t feel that the time was wasted

So what really helps to “catch” the moment?

1. Stop several times a day just to take a breath. Fully, deeply, consciously.

We connect with the present moment through our breath. The breath brings our awareness back to here and now. Focus on what feels in your chest like expansion which the conscious breath creates. (vs constriction that you might have felt before). Focus on how the breath creates oneness ( and how different it may feel from separateness).

Of course the most difficult will be to remember to do it. When we remember to connect with our breath, (and we learn it fast because it brings peace) the rushing, the tension, worrying have no chance to last more then few moments, few minutes.

b. return to here and now. 

Thoughts travel naturally to the past and the future, to worry, recollections, planning, anticipation, or anxiety. How can we live without this happening?

c. Observe the moment. Take a mental picture of what is around you.

Connect with the surroundings with your senses. Simple. Notice the colors, texture, sounds, especially if you you can observe nature. (Maybe you can even start feeling grateful for what you see and hear, and for the fact that you are here. Now.) You don’t need to do anything for sense of smell to kick in…

Even now when I’m writing at my desk, I stop every few minutes to look outside at the sunny December sky, maturing tangerines on a very old tree, and at the autumn colors on the neighbor’s trees. And I focus completely on them.

d. Observe your mind: what’s going on in there?

Did you worry? Were you rushing? Did you feel your shoulders and neck getting tense? When you notice it, take a breath, relax shoulders, straighten your back. If your thoughts were creating the tension, change their direction.

Being here and now allows us to expand the moments of peace.

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“Y’all call it a moment – I call it life”  Pitbull