“The present moment is the only thing where there is no time. It is the point between past and future. It is always there and it is the only point we can access in time. Everything that happens, happens in the present moment. Everything that ever happened and will ever happen can only happen in the present moment. It is impossible for anything to exist outside of it.”

~Myrko Thum

Man has always been in search of meaning in life.

Richard Alpert was a seeker of this knowledge, an explorer of human consciousness. He was a professor of psychology at Harvard in the 1960s and later became known as Baba Ram Dass. In 1971  he wrote the monumentally influential book, Be Here Now, documenting his spiritual journey while traveling through India.

The capacity and knowledge to live in the present moment came to him while trekking throughout the country barefoot sans any worldly possessions, visiting ashrams, and meeting monks until he found his teacher, Neem Karoli Baba, affectionately known as Maharajji. He speaks about his discovery of oneness within the book, living in the present, in the now, and how to joyously live a hundred percent of the time.

He also suggests that one cannot know until one experiences it for themselves: To he who has had the experience, no explanation is necessary; to he who has not, none is possible.

Most of us have experienced being in the present moment or at least have had momentary glimpses of it. We remark that we were in the flow or the zone and how nothing exists but the now; it is effortless and timeless.

To be in the here and now is attainable for everyone who has the desire and discipline. It requires but one thing: letting go. To exist in the now occurs with simplification of our thoughts when we become mindful that we are not looking to the future or reliving the past. Along with shedding burdens of old beliefs and behaviors many carry around—anxiety, envy, doubt, jealousy, and worry, the journey to now can begin with a shift in our mindset.

So how do we live in the here and now, and why is it important?

The advantages for living mindfully are many. Those who choose this mindset are happier, carry less stress; not to say they don’t have it, they just let go of it sooner. It has been identified that those with less stress are healthier and living longer productive lives.

It is challenging to live here now when we are continuously encouraged to think about the future or dwell on our past. It is a paradox of living in the moment when our electronic devices are designed with reminders, notifications, messages, and alerts tuned in on our history or future events. So right in the middle of something that has gained our focus, our phones ding pulling us away from the flow.

Yet, it is the feeling of being in the zone that we crave. So often, the experience creates a sense of being high, and we yearn to have it back.

The need to become austere is not the end-all, yet there are clues to its reasoning. Our attachment to the stuff, whether it is material or emotional, holds us in a cluttered mind. This is the place to begin the let go.

How to Live in the Here and Now

  1. Become present-minded. When you find your mind wandering, bring it back to the task at hand. Be deliberate with your actions. When we engage in activities that we love, it is easier to stay single-minded and focused. If you are in nature, running, hiking, or riding a horse, be in nature. Instead of music or podcasts playing, listen to the wind, feel the weather, smell the surroundings, and become a part of it.
  2. Luxuriate in whatever you’re doing. Enjoy your senses. Savor the taste of the food you are eating, listen to the conversations at hand with your whole being, feel the pleasure of your body with heightened awareness.
  3. Avoid comparisons. This meal was not as good as the last time, or  I’m not as thin, young, pretty, intelligent, etc., as I used to be. All comparisons take us away from what is now.
  4. Stop documenting every second with a device and instead be in the experience. Living behind your camera lens or looking for photo opportunities distracts from just being.
  5.  Develop an un-selfconscious attitude, understanding that people aren’t watching you because they are too involved in their self-conscious feelings. Stop thinking about your performance.
  6. Start doing and stop overthinking. Sure this takes practice, as all mindfulness does. But, if we think too hard about what we’re doing, instead of just being focused on it,  it makes us do worse. We lose the magic of the moment.
  7. Observe how you interact with life. Are you the funny person, the know-it-all, the wallflower? Then stop. Let go of the roles you play and be.
  8.  Smile at life, laugh at yourself, find joy in the moments, see the magic everywhere, spread love, and be kind to all sentient beings.

While glancing at where we have come from can gauge how far we have progressed, always looking in the rearview mirror does not allow us to navigate where we are going. Whether focused on past successes or the what-ifs of the future, both are distractions to living in the moment. So let go of what was, stop fretting about what will be, and allow yourself to experience this magnificent blink in time.

Be here right now.