{This article was written by our lovely intern Sahahat Fatima}
We have all had moments where our mind has travelled to a place far far away that’s definitely not the present, either we are too busy worrying about what the future has in store for us or too affected by the stories of the past. As it was rightly said by Lau Tzu “If you are depressed you are living in the past, if you are anxious you are living in the future. If you are at peace you are living in the present. Wouldn’t we all at least once in our life if not more want to feel peace of accepting and living in the moment. Sometimes all it takes is taking a deep breath and allowing our mind to come back to the present which in turn will go a long way in feeling satisfied. Any time where you feel the rush of life and the hustle of everyday activities is too much to handle try following these four simple steps of breathing.
First of all, place one hand on your belly and the other hand on your chest. Then take a deep breath in allowing your stomach to come out. Let your belly come out to a count of 4. Then release your breath preferably from your mouth to a count of 8.
Doing this simple breathing exercise at least five times a day as is frequently advocated by Ms.Aarthi Selvan allows your gut to press down which in turn activates the Vagus nerve to activate the parasympathetic nervous system which is responsible for calming the brain. This way the simple breathing exercise actually has a scientific base for relaxation.
If that isn’t enough to bring you back in the moment then just take a moment to become aware of your senses and your surroundings focus on where you are at the present moment by asking yourself these simple three questions
- Where am I?
- What am I doing?
- Is this helpful to me?
Asking yourself these simple questions will allow yourself to focus on the present instead of the thoughts that are constantly running through your mind about things that are going to happen or have happened. When you ask yourself these questions you are forcing your brain to come back to the present moment and focus on your surrounding and really understand if what you are doing or where you are is where you want to be. Its and excellent way to organize yourself and manage your time as well.
So at the end of it we really have little control over the moments that have already passed and we can only control so much of the moments in the future by focusing on the present, so the important thing to understand is not what lies beyond the moment but in fact the moment itself, laugh louder, feel more, let yourself breathe and just simply live in the moment and let these moments cascade your feeling of peace.