To Stop Stress Stay in the Present Moment

For much of the past year we have been focused on creating both a  free “Stop Stress Now” email course and our new e-book, Stop Stress Guide: The Brilliance Formula in Action – plus the marketing tools needed to promote them. All this attention on stress has reminded us that an easy way to eliminate stress is to stay focused in the present moment.

There are tricks to mastering this process. The only real moment is this moment.  Anytime our focus shifts to the past or to the future we have left “real” time. There is a tendency when looking at the past to remember difficult times and then to project more of the same into the future. This is prescription for stress.

Around the holidays we can get caught up in our to-do list with everything we have already done and everything we have yet to accomplish. We can be at a party with family or friends and instead of enjoying the moment we get busy with our mental list, thinking, “If I do just these two things tonite before bed, then I’ll be ahead tomorrow.” At the same time we have missed the joy of shared time and conversation with people we really love.

While practicing staying focused in the now, being vigilant about keeping our attention on this moment, we have discovered many benefits.

• We stay relaxed instead of moving into urgency.
• We get to enjoy each moment for its gifts.
• We trust that each moment will bring with it the knowing of what is most important to attend to.

The more we practice being present the less we identify with the outer trappings of our lives and the more we identify with the true presence of ourselves.

During the holiday season the best present we can give ourselves is to be present to each moment.

Live Stress Free in the Power of Now

Have you noticed how caught up we are about our future plans? High school students are anxious about what they’ll do when they graduate and college students often are consumed worrying about what their next steps will be after college. The prevalent pattern for all of us regardless of age is to be focused on preparing for the future, tomorrow, next year, retirement and on and on. We are as much preoccupied with the future as we are with the past.

There is a whole lot of programming out there about future planning. We learn to set our goals and to plan the steps. We learn to visualize and see the end result. What is often forgotten in this process is that we can’t see the bigger picture at all times. In fact the human mind/brain system can only discern a small portion of all that is available. It’s that 80/20 rule where we are conscious of only 20% of what is.

No matter how much planning we’ve done we can’t get too attached to our plans because there may be steps we couldn’t see that will take us far beyond the outcome we had envisioned.

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Take Time to Notice

When I get in the groove, I usually go into my automatic mode, setting the alarm, getting into my car to head to work, and then arriving there with hardly a memory of what occurred between starting up and turning off the car. Summertime and my niece’s end-of summer wedding got me out of ‘automatic’ and into the moment.

There is nothing like a wedding to make you take notice of what is happening in each moment. From the first sight of the bride in her magnificent dress to the dinner and dessert buffets, to the first dance, I found each moment alive with energy and joy. While talking with those I hadn’t seen in some time, and engaging with friends and family of the couple I’d never talked with before, I noticed every little thing around me.

My most memorable and alive moment was when two mothers of my niece’s friends maneuvered my 91-year old Mother onto the dance floor. You need to know that she had never danced a dance in her life. She was laughing so hard that it took a couple of hours for her to literally catch her breath. She has since recovered and we’ll all remember that moment forever.

Since returning to work after the wedding I am continuing to notice what’s around me in the moment. A friend and I ate our DQ delights in a flower garden close to home a few days ago. We were totally taken in by the amazing scents and colors of the blossoms, the industrious bees and inquisitive tiny black flies, and the antics of a bevy of hummingbirds performing mind-bending acrobatic feats, including a mid-air standoff and dive bombing incident. I couldn’t stop watching the action.

Two days ago, I walked around the lake near my office during my lunch break. I had to laugh out loud at the Canadian geese when a small group gathered their friends and honked their way from this lake to another nearby. The geese enjoying the lake just looked up and then continued their in-line meandering. I passed the sign at the Pavilion which acknowledges Energy, Laughter, Earth, Sky and Water. I realized that really noticing what was going on with the earth, sky and water had quickly amped up my energy and laughter.

I enjoy noticing each moment and I am making it into my habit of choice. Life’s complications become simpler and the rush turns into relaxation when I take time to see what’s present in my moments. My mind lets go of anything that isn’t happening NOW, my happiness expands, and I feel fully connected and alive.

I recommend grabbing your friends, dogs, or kids to keep you company on your excursions into the present moments of life; I know you’ll make some unforgettable memories along the way.