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PRACTICING STAYING PRESENT TO THE NOW
from: Dr Harry HenshawTransformational Counseling is about assisting others to
transform their life. Transformational Counseling is a process
of assisting others to learn how to let go of the past and live
fully in the present. To live fully in the present is to become
awaken to what is truly real and to our own natural power. Much
of our life is spent living in the past, and in the process,
attempting to fix it, to make it something that it is or was
not. It is from living in the past that we also attempt to
create our future, the result always being a living of life as
it was in the past. Transformation takes place when we learn to
exist in and be present to the Now.
The practice of staying present to our natural power and to that
which is real is becoming conscious to what is so, to the Now,
to the present. What is so, the Now, has no meaning and exists
outside of thought and language. As human beings we tend to give
meaning to everything, including other people, ourselves and
even life itself. It is in our meaning making that we leave the
present and create our life from the past, a life that can be
filled with a great deal of anxiety, fear and stress. What is so
merely exists and it is in the experience of the Now that we
begin to live a life of power and freedom, a life and way of
being free from our past.
A specific technique that is very powerful for practicing
staying present to the Now is meditation. It is in meditation
that one creates the space to experience a very deep state of
relaxation, a state that is very healing to both the mind and
body. As we know, in meditation ones metabolism slows down,
including heart rate and blood pressure. The consistent practice
of meditation will reduce anxiety and stress. For some the
practice of meditation allows them to access true Being. For
others it is way of reconnecting to the Spirit within us. It is
in the consistent practice of meditation that the subject and
object distinction inherent in language, thought and meaning
making collapses thereby resulting in our access to the present,
to the Now.
The meditative process can be enhanced by the use of therapeutic
relaxation music. Music has always been a very powerful modality
for promoting a very deep state of relaxation and even healings.
I have found that musical compositions that are harmonically
slow, repetitious, with sustained voices, which are
rhythmically, random in tempo assists an individual in
experiencing a very deep state of relaxation. A second important
component of the use of therapeutic relaxation music is the use
of binaural audio tones that have been interwoven into the
music. The binaural tones, through a process referred to as
entrainment or frequency following, gently guides or directs the
mind/body to generate more of the targeted frequency of brain
wave activity for an even more profound state of relaxation.
The meditative process of practicing staying present to the Now
is as follows:
1. Take a comfortable position in an upright sitting position.
2. Allow your legs and arms to be open.
3. Allow your eyes to focus upon a chosen object. The chosen
object could be a candle light in a darkened room or any point
that you choose.
4. As you focus on the chosen object, allow your muscles to
slowly relax from the top of your head to the tips of your toes.
5. Take three slow deep breathes in through your nose as you
inhale. Hold each breath to the mental count of four. Slowly
exhale each breath out through your mouth. Continue to breath at
a slow pace after the three breaths.
6. Continue to focus on the chosen object. When your mind
wanders to some thought or thoughts slowly and gently bring it
back to your focused concentration upon the chosen object.
Simply let go of the thoughts that arise. The thoughts are from
the past. Stay focused to what is so.
7. Continue the practice for a prescribed period of time and
then go about your daily activities. Each day that you practice
you may even choose to lengthen the time you spend with this
technique.
The ability to stay in the present, to access the Now, can be
enhanced with the consistent practice of meditation. What this
will necessitate is one making the practice of meditation apart
of his or her daily schedule. With the consistent practice of
meditation one will also create the ability to stay even more
present to what is so even when not actively engaged in the
meditative process. It is through a commitment to the practice
of meditation on a daily basis that one will begin to live more
fully in the Now.
Harry Henshaw, Ed.D., LMHC http://www.enhancedhealing.com
About the author:
Dr Harry Henshaw is in private practice in North Miami Beach,
Florida. http://www.enhancedhealing.com
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