There are five simple and immediate ways to move our minds and bodies into the present moment.
- Using our ability to see, we can look around the space we are in, and take in all that is there to see. Then, we can focus on one thing and really see all the detail that comes with it.
- Using our ability to hear, we can tune in to all the sounds that are happening around us, the loud ones, the quiet ones, the middle range ones. Then, we can choose one of those and really focus only on it, allowing more of its detail to come through.
- Using our ability to smell, we can tune in to all the odors in the space we are in, the obvious ones and the more subtle ones. Then, we can choose one of those odors and really focus on it discovering the ebb and flow of it as we do so.
- Using our ability to taste, we can approach the food we intend to eat and drink at meal or snack time and choose to bring all of our attention to each bit or sip that we take. We can choose to chew a little longer, noticing the the taste at the beginning, middle and end as we swallow our food, pausing between bites or sips to notice the effect the food is having on our bodies and minds.
- Using our ability to touch and perceive through our fingers and hands, we can choose to take up an object nearby and explore it slowly, carefully, passing our fingers, our palms, the backs of our hands over its surface, noticing the textures, temperature, hardness and softness of the object.
Our five senses are gateways into presence. To use them with any good effect on our perceptions, we have to engage what we see, hear, smell, taste and touch. The more fully that we engage a given sense, the more detail of what is present in that moment appears to us. Practicing presence in this way expands our awareness and fills us with deeper experience.
We can practice these alone, but after a little practice at tuning in to our senses and the present moment, we can do this almost anywhere and bring our whole selves into the present moment, into any gathering or activity of which we are a part.
~Bob Patrick
