{"id":57942,"date":"2022-01-03T09:08:00","date_gmt":"2022-01-03T13:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=57942"},"modified":"2022-01-17T17:52:05","modified_gmt":"2022-01-17T21:52:05","slug":"being-in-the-present-moment-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/being-in-the-present-moment-2\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Ways to Practice Being in the Present Moment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Do you often find yourself lost in thought about the past or the future? Are you disconnected from the present?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his book The Happiness Trap<\/em>, Russ Harris refers to being in the present moment<\/a> as “connection.” Harris writes that connection is the practice of using our observing self<\/a> to shift our attention away from the past and future in order to be fully engaged in the present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He offers the following three exercises for developing the skill of connection. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Exercise #1: Five Things<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The first exercise Harris suggests to help you be in the present moment<\/a> aims to help you connect with your environment.<\/strong> He recommends doing it a few times each day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Take a moment out of your day. Any moment will do, but Harris suggests that taking a walk may be a good context in which to practice this exercise. <\/li>
  2. Look around your environment and pick out five objects you see. You\u2019re training your observing self to pay closer attention to the world around you, bringing you more fully into the present moment. <\/li>
  3. Concentrate on your environment and pick out five sounds.<\/li>
  4. Concentrate on your body and pick out five things touching you.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Use Your Senses to Battle Anxiety<\/strong>

    This exercise is a variant of the well-known 5-4-3-2-1 exercise<\/a> for dealing with anxiety. This exercise focuses your attention away from anxious, recurrent thoughts (which come from the thinking self, as Harris would describe it) and into the present moment.

    To practice the 5-4-3-2-1 exercise, notice:

    Five things you can seeFour things you can feel Three things you can hearTwo things you can smellOne thing you can taste 
    Tapping into each of the five senses grounds you in your physical experience in the present moment. <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Exercise #2: Doing Chores<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    In this exercise, Harris recommends using an unpleasant task as an opportunity to practice connection.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. Choose a household task that you don\u2019t like doing but that has to get done\u2014for instance, putting away the dishes, sweeping the floor, or cleaning the toilet. <\/li>
    2. Practice connection as you do this chore. For example, if you\u2019re putting away the dishes, notice the feel of the ceramic against your fingertips. Hear the sound of dishes clanking as you put them away. Observe the shape of the utensils as you stow them in the drawer. <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Harris suggests exercising connection with an unpleasant task two or three times a day. As you practice, it will become easier to achieve connection. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Single-Tasking<\/strong>

      This exercise is an example of single-tasking<\/a> (the opposite of multitasking), which entails being singularly focused on whatever task you’re doing.\u00a0

      As you become more skilled at single-tasking, you can increase your connection to the present moment even further by:

      -Focusing on your breathing
      -Noticing how your feet feel against the floor, or your body feels in your chair\u00a0
      -Noticing the sensation of your clothes against your skin
      -Paying attention to your posture<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

      Exercise #3: Breathing for Connection<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      Just as deep breathing releases tension in Step 2 of expansion (as discussed in Principle #3), Harris\u2019s third exercise uses deep breathing to lower the tension in your body to enable you to practice connection.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      The exercise is simple: Breathe deeply 10 times. <\/p>\n\n\n\n