As people, we are rarely wherever we are with our full attention. Usually, our physical body is somewhere, but our focus is somewhere else entirely. For example, it is on the future, focused on something we are worried about or on something that we want. Or it is on the past, focused on something that happened. Or it is dissecting concepts. These applications of the mind are very powerful and serve great purpose, especially when they are done consciously. But when the mind is focused elsewhere than in the present moment (wherever we are) we are not present. We are not really there for the life experience that is occurring in the here and now. This is a problem because the present moment is the heartbeat of life experience. For this reason, today I want to share with you my favorite exercise for getting into the present moment.

This exercise is an NNE experience. NNE standing for noticing, naming and experiencing process. And version one of this exercise is to do it as a walking meditation. To do this exercise, you will go for a slow, deliberate walk. On this walk, you will put all of your attention on the elements of the present moment one by one. And you will name each of them. And you will experience being in the presence of them. For example, if you see pebbles on the trail, mentally say to yourself “pebbles” and notice how those pebbles look and how it feels to be in the presence of those pebbles. If you wish, you can stop and pick some up to experience the physical feeling of the pebbles. If you see a bird, you mentally say to yourself “bird”. And you experience being in the presence of the bird. Noticing every detail of the bird and attuning to the sound the bird may be making, noticing how the sound that bird is making feels in your body and how it feels emotionally to be in the presence of that bird. If you notice a thought arising within you, name the thought. For example, if you think a thought about needing to run an errand later, mentally say to yourself “Thought about picking up detergent at the store.” And rather than getting sucked into the future scenario, simply experience the way that thoughts like that arise in the mind, as if you are watching the arising of that thought simply being something that occurred in the present moment, just as you would the sound of a car going by. You are the observer and experiencer of the thought having occurred. You do not insert your consciousness inside of that thought. If you feel an emotion or a sensation arise within your body, mentally name the emotion or sensation. For example, “buzzing in the heart area” or “Irritation flaring up”. And experience that sensation that is occurring within your body, as if you are experiencing a feeling flavor in your body. If you feel a physical sensation, name it. For example, “cold fingers”. And really experience the sensation of having cold fingers, as if you were brand new to earth trying out a body for the very first time, really noticing all the sensory details of that experience.

So, if you put this all together, on this walk, naming things might look something like this: “Sunlight filtering through trees, dust, blue sky, compression sensation in knee joints, shade, sound of a car, frustration with this exercise, sea gull, sound of wings flapping, dog running, bright color green, air against my skin, soreness in my back, blue sky, moving cloud, needles on pine tree, bark, shade, a turn in the path, sound of a dog bark, a thought about what to eat for dinner, whooshing sound of a car, feeling like someone is coming up behind me, turning around to look behind me, bicycle, metal spokes, sound of pebbles on rubber tires, dust in the air, smell of cologne, beautiful plant, purple petals, smell of pine, feet against shoes, shoes against ground, sparkles on water etc. And with each one of those things, as you named them, you would be experiencing them, as if for the very first time, even if they seem or feel familiar to you. Keep in mind that it’s totally fine to name and notice the same things again and again.

While you are doing this exercise, if your mind becomes preoccupied with something outside of the present moment, such as a concept or idea or something that happened earlier or some worry or thought about the future, you are simply going to direct it back towards something physical in your vicinity in the present moment and name it and experience it. And pick the exercise back up from there.

Version two of this exercise is to do this exercise wherever you are, no matter what you are doing, for example, sitting on a couch at home or doing a hobby of yours or spending time with friends or family or while you are driving etc. You can use this exercise any time you want to be fully present in the here and now of any life experience you are having. And by practicing this exercise, you will be training yourself into the habit of being present in the here and now.

Just to name a few things, doing this exercise can make it so you are fully in and truly present to what it is to be alive. It can make you aware of a richness of existence on earth previously un-noticed by you. It can decrease your anxiety and stress. Make you more present in relationships which improves them. Help you to move forward emotionally from past wounding. Increase your emotional intelligence. Heal self-abandonment patterns. Enhance perceptual awareness. Help you to disidentify from the ego. Increase your experience of joy. Increase feelings of safety. Give you greater access to objective perspective. Increase your capacity to identify better solutions to problems you may be facing, enhance your creativity. Slow down mental activity, bring a sense of peacefulness and restore a sense of child-like wonder for the world within you. So, make this exercise one of your new habitual practices and watch what happens.

Life unfolds in the present moment. One of the deepest spiritual practices of all, is to be truly present for and with that unfolding.