As I mentioned in one of my earlier posts I am quite an anxiety ridden person. At times this anxiety has been crippling causing nausea , sleep deprivation, and excessive emotions. As a worrier I am constantly thinking about the future. This leads me to forget that I am actually living in the present. One way to live in the present is through mindfulness. What is mindfulness? Pat Love and Jon Carlson write that:
“mindfulness means being present in the moment and paying attention in a nonjudgmental way”
There are several ways to practice mindful meditation that can help you focus on being in the present moment. One way is through the focusing on your breathing.
Here’s a simple way that I use the power of breathing to live in the present.
- Find a comfy spot in your home. I like to dim the lights or light candles to put me in a relaxed mood. Or if its the day time, I close all the blinds minimizing the sunlight pouring into my room.
- Set a timer on your cellphone. The iPhone has a timer feature. As a novice I recommend starting with 5 minutes and gradually increasing to 10, 12, 15, 20 minutes… you get the point.
- Sit in an upright position with your back straight and leg crossed. Proper posture is key to breathing well.
- Close your eyes. Take a deep breath in and feel the air move through your body. Pay attention to your stomach muscles, chest muscles and lungs expanding.
- Then exhale and feel the air move out through the nose, mouth, and rest of your body. You can breathe out through your mouth.
- Repeat breathing in and out. Focus on your body relaxing and the movement of air through the body.
- It’s helpful to repeat a word(s) or sounds such as “om.” I like to say “deep breath in,” “deep breath out.” You can say any positive phrase while breathing in and negative phrase while breathing out. Literally willing positive thoughts to enter your mind/body and negative thoughts to exit your mind/body.
- Another helpful tip to focus and relax is to conjure an image in your mind where you feel calm and relaxed. Most people think of something related to water, which is very calming such as sitting on a beach or lake. My favorite is watching the sunset in Maui.
This deep breathing exercise while it looks easy is not. It’s very easy for the mind to wander and for thoughts to float through. If they do that is okay. Just say “these are just thoughts” and focus on the breathing again. (Sounds easy but trust me its not!)
I’ve been doing this for a few weeks now and I’ll admit my mind wanders. And even finding 10 minutes in my day is challenging at times because let’s be real I’d rather watch The Handmaid’s Tale than focus on the present. And I hope with enough practice I can train my mind to focus for 5 minutes then 10 minutes at a stretch.
This the beautiful image I use to help myself focus and learn to live in the present. (Highly recommend visiting Hawaii – absolutely beautiful and calming and literally the islands are in the middle of nowhere – which is quite a scary thought for me at least).
Deep breath in. Deep breath out.