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Engaging in the Moment for More Effective Living.
By Adam Eason
I spend lots of time working with individuals, corporations
and businesses to get them engaged in the present
moment. The reasons I think this is important in business
as well as personally are drawn upon toward the end of
this article.
My centre here in Bournemouth used to sell a wide range
of books and one that I used to stock was a book called
"The Power of Now" by a guy called Eckhart Tolle. Lots of
people that came to classes, workshops and consultations
at the centre would often tell me how great it was and give
me snippets of information about its content and for a
number of years I would occasionally think ¡°Yeah, I really
should read that book¡± then kept on deciding that I would
wait until later (yes, I am fully aware of the irony in this!)
Nevertheless, I am already sold on the power of the
present moment, for a number of reasons:
My First reason - Only this present moment exists.
I think this is by far the most compelling reason to put your
attention on the present moment. Yesterday doesn¡¯t exist,
except as a memory, with all the unreliability we know to
be true of memories; when you experienced yesterday, it
was n-o-w. Tomorrow doesn¡¯t exist either, except as an
imaginary construct; when you experience tomorrow, it will
be n-o-w. And as it¡¯s all that exists, it¡¯s a good idea to
experience it, so, have a go at doing the following¡
1) Sit with your feet flat on the floor, in a comfortable,
aligned position (spine straight, hands on your thighs or at
your sides, breathing comfortably.) With your eyes open or
closed, allow yourself to become aware of the different
sounds, sights, smells & sensations around you. This is the
present moment.
That's right. This is the present moment, & there are a
number of good reasons for keeping your awareness in
the present as much as possible (in addition to the first
reason I gave.)
My Second Reason - There¡¯s a whole lot more of it in store
for you.
If you stop for a moment, you will realise that all the
experiences of your life will take place in a present
moment. The more comfortable you are with the present
moment, the more comfortable you¡¯ll be with those future
presents.
My Third Reason - The present is where you are.
If in doubt, look at your hands. Your hands only exist in the
present moment. Rub your fingers together, feel how it
feels to be in this moment. Because it¡¯s where your hands
(& the rest of your body) are located, so¡
My Fourth Reason - The present is the only time you can
take action.
You can wish you took action yesterday (so many do; they
rue the day that.....), but yesterday no longer exists, so it will
remain a wish. You can plan to take action in the future, but
when you take the action, it will be in the present moment.
The only time you can take action is in this hot second.
My Fifth Reason - Wherever you¡¯re headed, you
presumably want to enjoy it when you get there. Get in the
habit of enjoying the present now & you¡¯ll be even better at
enjoying then when you get there.
I took some amazing insight from my running experiences
with my younger brother. When we ran and trained
together and competed in races, he always enjoyed the
race and commented on our surroundings whereas I
always had my eye on the finish line. So much can and
has been said about enjoying and engaging in the journey
rather than always focusing on the future. Have a go at this
one too....
2) Gently place the tip of your tongue against the roof of
your mouth just behind your front teeth (continue to
breathe easily.) Imagine you are holding a tiny droplet of
oil between the tip of your tongue & the roof of your mouth.
I originally got this idea from Eric Robbie on a training he
did with Michael Breen & I tinkered around with it a bit, &
it¡¯s a great way of turning off your internal dialogue.
Turning off your internal dialogue is an excellent way of
allowing yourself to focus on the present. This is
particularly important if you want to be able to pick up the
clues that people give you about how they¡¯re thinking.
Maybe I'll write another article about that internal
dialogue.......
"The only way to live is to accept each moment as an
unrepeatable miracle, which is exactly what it is - a miracle
and unrepeatable."
-- Margaret Storm Jameson
So, how do you relate this knowledge and my rantings to
ones Business or day to day life?
Business and life today seems to operate at a faster &
faster pace. People have lots of demands on their time, &
need every advantage they can get to be more effective.
When I do corporate and business consultancy, one of the
most common ¡®challenges¡¯ that people want to deal with is
being focused & making progress on important business
objectives or life goals.
As I¡¯ve investigated how people avoid being focused, I¡¯ve
found that, they are often not centred in the present.
Instead, they are thinking about what¡¯s happening
tomorrow, or what happened yesterday, or running through
a list of things that they need to do later. As a result, their
attention is not in the present.
I used to work in Victoria in Central London and if you have
ever been there during the rush hours it is a hectic place.
What I find interesting is that you can tell who is engaged in
the moment and who is thinking about their day or the next
day. Those people whose awareness is within their heads,
mulling over their day or dreading what's in store tomorrow
are the ones bumping into people or veering off in wrong
directions. Whereas those people whose awareness is
outside their heads and engaged in their surroundings are
those that are balanced, poised and agile, like a panther!
When you bring your attention & energy into the present
moment, you can accomplish things more quickly, solve
problems more effectively, & enjoy the process more than
you might expect. So, thirdly, have a go at connecting with
the moment more and more in your days...
3) Before starting an important task, take a moment to
centre yourself & relax. Then, get clear about what you
want to accomplish, then begin.
I wish you all the very best and hope to engage in the
present with many more people here.
About the Author
To receive Adam's amazing bi-monthly newsletter, packed with modern, innovative, psychological tips, techniques and information visit http://www.adam-eason.com You'll also receive a free instantly downloadable hypnosis session to enjoy at home.
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