Practicing Staying Present
Perhaps you’ve heard people talk about staying present before, especially in conjunction with being mindful or practicing meditation. But maybe you’re like me and thought it sounded nice but were left with giant questions about how to actually do that outside of meditation.
So let’s talk about staying present. What is it? How do you do it? Why should you even bother?
What does it mean to be present?
Put simply, being present is being aware of where you are at in a particular moment in time rather than focusing on events that happened in the past or things that may or may not happen in the future.
Sounds easy, right?
I want you to try something for just a moment. Take the next 30 to 45 seconds and sit in the silence. Pay attention to your thoughts.
What did you notice? Where did your thoughts wander to? Were you trying to problem solve? Was there some future event you were worrying over? Did you have a mental to do list come up?
All of those things are natural and normal, but they pull us away from fully being in the present moment.
When we get so caught up in all of the things going on in our mind, we lose the ability to be attuned to the things God is trying to show us. It becomes difficult to be with others and truly hear what they’re trying to tell us. It causes unnecessary stress to build up in our minds.
So what do we do about it?
How to Practice Being Present
When we have conversations about mindfulness and being present, meditation or other contemplative practices tend to be the first ones to come up. These exercises are wonderful and can help you learn to just be in the stillness. And over time that attitude shapes and influences other areas of your life. But they aren’t the only exercises you can do.
In fact, many are things you can do for 30 seconds or a minute.
The key to any and all of these practices is to be consistent. Learning how to be present throughout your day doesn’t just happen overnight. It’s a muscle that you have to exercise. Slowly, over time it develops and you find it easier to tap back into that mindset of stillness.
I’ve listed some of my favorites below. Try them out and play around with them to see what works best for you.
1. Have a Mantra or Phrase to Bring You Back to the Present
When I get caught up in my own thoughts, I find that using a mantra or a short phrase can help snap me out of it and bring me back to the present moment.
There’s a quote from Thomas Merton that I absolutely adore that describes what it’s like when your thoughts are your own worst enemy. He wrote,
“I will no longer wound myself with the thoughts and questions that surround me like thorns; that is a penance you do not ask of me.”
When my thoughts are too much for me to handle, I love repeating the last portion of that quote to myself. “This is a penance you do not ask of me.”
It reminds me that these thoughts aren’t the truth and I don’t have to accept them as such. Nowhere in scripture have I been told to beat myself up mentally, so why would I require that of myself?
Other times it isn’t that I’m caught in a negative thought spiral, instead I’m just elsewhere. I’m worrying about all of these things that frankly I can’t really solve. At least not there and then.
At those times I’ve started to use the phrase “Be where your feet are.”
I wish I knew who came up with the phrase so I could give credit, but it was one of those things where it appeared on the internet and there wasn’t even a user handle to accompany it. So whoever you are, if you posted this phrase online I’m truly grateful to you.
Having that cue to look down at my feet and return back to where I’m at has been super beneficial in helping me stay grounded.
Feel free to use these or come up with your own word or phrase to break you out of your thoughts and bring you back to the moment.
2. Use Breathwork
Sometimes all it takes to bring us back to our surroundings is a few deep breaths.
Try it out. Release the tension in your jaw. Drop your shoulders. Take three deep breaths, the deepest breaths you’ve taken all day.
How do you feel?
If I notice that stress and tension are distracting me and clouding my ability to be with others, taking a few seconds to consciously breathe a bit deeper helps me refocus.
I also really love starting out a spiritual practice, literally any and all of them, with just a few deep breaths. It’s a way of physically giving a cue to my body and mind that says, “I’m choosing to step away from all the things I can’t change or control for these moments, and I’m spending them with God.”
Changing the way I’m breathing is often enough to help me get into the right frame of mind, and it enables me get the most out of my spiritual practices.
3. Practice Noticing What’s Different
Most of our days follow the same pattern or routine. We wake up around the same time. Drive or walk the same route to work. Complete similar tasks throughout the day.
It becomes easy to check out and go into autopilot mode. Then whether you’re aware of it or not, your mind is off doing other things.
One way to combat this is to try noticing what’s different. Is there a new restaurant that just opened up on your way to work? Do you hear different things as you walk around your neighborhood? Does the sky look different today for some reason?
It may not seem like an enlightening spiritual exercise, but it’s a fun way to challenge your brain to break out of the monotony. And over time, you’ll find it easier to pick up on the changes in your surroundings. This enables you to better respond to those changes as they come up.
4. Offer a Blessing Over Parts of Your Routine
If you read the post on 10 spiritual practices to try in 2022, this one may sound familiar.
I love using this practice as another way of breaking the monotony up and reminding myself that God is present even in these small, ordinary moments of life.
Saying a blessing over a simple chore or activity you often take for granted is a fun way to practice gratitude. It trains our brains to recognize and honor all of the simple gifts we have been given by God.
This is a practice that’s easy to make entirely your own. Your blessing can be as long or as short as you want it to be. Even if you don’t think of yourself as a particularly creative person or someone who is drawn to poetry, this is a chance to tap into that side of yourself without feeling pressure.
Offering up blessings is a great way to practice the idea of praying without ceasing and inviting God into all aspects of your day.
Try saying a prayer of blessing next time you put fresh sheets on your bed or unload the groceries and place them in your fridge and pantry. There’s no right or wrong way to do this. Just go with what comes up and speak life over yourself and your loved ones.
5. Try Out Mindful Movement
This last one is great to try out when you’re feeling a bit disconnected from your body. Or if you have a hard time switching off your brain and disengaging from your thoughts.
If you’ve tried mediation or contemplative prayer before and they just didn’t work for you, mindful movement could be a great alternative.
This can take on as many different forms as you can think of. There’s no one way to approach the practice.
You could go for a walk in silence and actively pay attention to the things you see, hear, smell, and feel.
You could go through a yoga flow and concentrate on your breathing. Noticing how your body feels as you hold each pose.
You could turn on a couple of your favorite songs and dance around your room. Choosing to let go of your thoughts, worries, or problems for just those 5 minutes.
It doesn’t have to be serious. It just has to be intentional. A time you set aside to be where you’re at.
Those are five of my favorite ways to practice being mindful and staying in the moment. Try them out. Come up with your own tools and techniques to get out of your head and back into the present.
May you find more life in your days and more moments where the Divine meets you even in the simplicity and ordinary.