Jack Canfield teaches six ways to stay present: commit to it, use reminders and breathing exercises, meditate daily, notice your body and thoughts, practice gratitude, and pay attention to your surroundings. He includes a guided five-breath exercise to get you started.
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Far too often, people focus all of their energy and their attention on their future happiness and forget to enjoy the present moment. And if you spend all of your time looking forward to the future or back to the past, you never get the chance to fully appreciate the moment you're living right now. And that's really sad, because the present moment is truly all we ever are able to experience. The truth is, you can't actually live in the past or in the future. Those are just constructs of your mind. The only time you're ever able to experience your life is right now, in this present moment. And the more time and energy you devote to fully experiencing and getting the most out of each moment right now, the more joyful and fulfilling your life will be. Now, here are six tips I'd like to share with you to help you make the most of the present and enjoy every moment to the fullest. The first thing I encourage you to do is to actually make a solid commitment to remain present. Now, a great way to do that is to spend a few moments at the beginning of each day and remind yourself that you want to remain present during the day. And a powerful way to do this is to look into your own eyes in the mirror and say out loud to yourself, today I'm choosing to stay present to give my full attention to whoever or whatever is in front of me. I choose to be aware of my breathing and how I feel in my body and as well as the person or the task I'm engaged with. Now, saying this will help you set the stage for getting more joy and more satisfaction out of each moment. Another thing I recommend you do is develop a system for reminding yourself to come present throughout the day. This could include a reminder or an alarm on your smartphone to go off every 30 minutes throughout the day. And when you hear the alarm to stop, take five deep relaxing breaths. See if you can inhale and exhale to a slow count of six. That'll give you a real deep breath. And then quickly scan your body from your head to your toes and notice what you're feeling. Are your shoulders tensed up? Is your jaw clenched? Are you slouching? Do you need to stretch or take a drink of water? In fact, as you're watching this right now, let's just take a moment to actually take five deep breaths, relaxing breaths together. And as you do, just focus on the sensation of the breath coming in and going out. Now another thing you can do is to set aside a block of time every day to meditate and focus only on relaxing into the present moment and with your eyes closed for as little as three minutes during the workday or as much as 20 minutes in the morning. You can focus on the rise and fall of your chest and stomach as you breathe in and out and allow your mind to gradually slow down. And then just be with your experience of meditating, whatever that is. It might just be noticing your thoughts racing through your mind, or it might be a sensation of relaxation and calm slowly washing over and through your body. Just be with whatever the present moment has to offer. See, Regular meditation will help you remain more fully present for the rest of the day as well. Now, next, I encourage you to take time to become aware of your body. A great way to tune into the present moment is to focus on becoming aware of the physical sensations you're experiencing in each moment. Notice any pain, hunger, thirst, tension, numbness, or physical sensations you might be feeling. Listen to what your body is telling you and take care of any physical needs that are asking to be addressed. Your body is a rich source of information and when you pay attention to it, you will do a better job of giving yourself what you need to thrive in each moment. My fourth piece of advice is to become aware of your thoughts. Have the intention to keep your thoughts positive and focus on the present moment. If you find yourself following a negative train of thought, worrying about the future, or regretting the past, shift your focus back to the here and now and focus on the positive aspects of the present moment. One of the best ways to do that is to focus on what you have to be happy about and grateful for right now. Whatever you're doing, take time to appreciate it. And by taking time each day to consciously focus on the good things that you're experiencing right now, you will come to appreciate your life so much more. My fifth tip is simply to become more aware of your surroundings. There's a lot going on around you at every moment, but if you don't take the time to notice it, you're going to miss it. So I encourage you at several points during the day to pause and take a moment to simply observe your surroundings. Notice everything you can and look for the beauty and the magic because it is there, I promise you. And when you look for it, you'll find it. Now, finally, my last suggestion is to make a conscious effort to enjoy where you are. No matter where that is, think about how much time you spend waiting for something. I want to encourage you instead to to look for what you can appreciate about where you are right now. If you have any thoughts or questions about what I've just shared, please leave your comment or question below because I'd love to hear what you have to say. So thanks for watching. And remember, nothing in your life will change for the better until you do. Now, if you found this video helpful, make sure you like it, share it with a friend who may need it, and subscribe to my channel. For more videos like this one, and for some additional resources on how to remain in the present moment, visit my website at jackcampfield. Com. Thanks again for watching.
