How to Breathe in Now, and Breathe out Past or Future

“Time isn’t precious at all, because it is an illusion. What you perceive as precious is not time but the one point that is out of time: the Now. That is precious indeed. The more you are focused on time — past and future — the more you miss the Now, the most precious thing there is.” ― Eckhart Tolle

Last night I was at a party where some close friends from my college days met. John was still full of adventure as usual. Abhi and Salman had changed a lot. Remembering the incidents of those days, we were lost in memories. All four of us forgot to check the time. After midnight, suddenly we pulled back the present and left for our homes.

The next day was Sunday. I got up very late. Soon after I went for a wash. As I was brushing my teeth, I started seeing the flashback of the party when John was telling his adventures. He joined some mountaineering Club and went camping on the icy mountain.

A loud knock at the washroom’s door brought me back to the brushing of my teeth. My wife was getting anxious. Some guests checked in at night. They were waiting for me at breakfast. Usually, I take just 20 minutes in the wash but it was over an hour and I was still inside.

We spend so much time every day wandering either in the past or the future. You can never relive your past. You can think about your past at the cost of your present. And thinking about the future can’t make it bright, but it can harm the foundation of ‘a bright future’ in the present.

Breathing in now means neither worrying nor relishing about what happened in the past and not judging what will happen. It means to stay present because you are all-powerful in the present. You can make the desired possible changes to what is happening.

Wandering in the past or future not only deprives you of actual pleasure that you can have but it also makes you inactive at a time when you can act to fulfill your desires.

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. — — Lao Tzu

Apply the following tips to live in the “now”

Focus on some physical object at leisure

If you’re not doing anything at any given moment, your mind finds freedom to wander in a preferred period of time. The mind is ever much concerned to make you ready to face any situation for your well-being. At such a time you need to find some physical object to focus and stay in the present to track your thoughts.

Look at the focused object to find other features of it. Don’t compare it with other similar objects, otherwise, your mind will find an excuse to wander in the past in search of a similar one seen earlier.

Be an observer, not a feeler

Most of us are in a habit of feeling or comparing with ourselves after hearing or watching some happening, that takes us groping into the past. You can avoid this situation if you change your role from a feeler to an observer.

News media draws your attention to the past and advertising to the future. Politicians talk about dreams. Just observe these, never give a role to yourself in it. Hold tight to your present root.

Make a frequent change in your daily routine

Our mind is not directly involved in habitual routine actions like brushing the teeth, shaving, driving, and eating. During such actions, our mind easily escapes to wandering away. To keep the mind in the present moment while brushing, think about the quality of the paste and brush and effect on your teeth.

While eating, think about the food, cooking method, and taste. Boost executive functions of the brain. Keep your things in a new order and change the interiors after certain intervals. Our mind attracts to what looks different and interesting. Always explore alternative ways to carry out a routine task to avoid monotony.

Be attentive while doing a task

Never absorb yourself in your work too much and forget yourself and the purpose of your task. By doing so, your mind may escape to some inactive period. Remind yourself of what and why you are doing a particular task. You have to be attentive to what you do and think. While driving, mind the places you are passing through. Keep on checking time and speed.

Concentrate with a Check

You need to be very cautious when you meditate or do a task requiring perfect concentration. Your mind may slip away unnoticed. The best method to meditate is to count your breathing in and out. To stay cautious in a state of absolute concentration, keep with you some physical objects like a pen, pencil, or some object to connect you with now.

To sum up

"Now” is the most significant time to improve our past with no remorse and build up our future without any anxiety. We have plenty of time for the present if we manage to tap our wandering mind. Applying the above-mentioned tips you are hopefully going to live in your present most of the time.

When you find it hard to slow your racing mind down because of something that happened. Your mind has become overactive and is veering away from the present. To keep your mind in the present, you can try these activities to be alert and attentive, e.g. washing dishes, ironing or folding clothes, mowing the lawn, showering the plants, or playing the cards.

“If you were conscious, that is to say totally present in the Now, all negativity would dissolve almost instantly. It could not survive in your presence.” — Eckhart Tolle

I have published this story on medium.com in June. 2020.

Thank you so much for giving your precious time to read. If you like this story, please appreciate in the way the most convenient to you.