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Being in the now

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13

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    #62
    Call Me Jimmy
    Registered Users Posts: 8,449 ✭✭✭Call Me Jimmy


    Oh great yea let's bash the buddha why don't we


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    #63
    ToddyDoody
    Registered Users Posts: 4,421 ✭✭✭ToddyDoody


    Living in the now can be a bit stupido tho, I find. A bit like unbalancing a boat then running side to side to keep it balanced when you could just balance your weight in the centre.


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    #64
    ytpe2r5bxkn0c1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 32,688 ✭✭✭✭ytpe2r5bxkn0c1


    ToddyDoody wrote: »
    Living in the now can be a bit stupido tho, I find. A bit like unbalancing a boat then running side to side to keep it balanced when you could just balance your weight in the centre.

    OK :confused:


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    #65
    Pumpkin PJs Fan No.9
    Closed Accounts Posts: 87 ✭✭Pumpkin PJs Fan No.9


    Call Me Jimmy wrote: »
    Oh great yea let's bash the buddha why don't we

    Well, why not? Why should he be held in any higher esteem than any other historical or mythological figure?

    A lot of **** taught in Buddhism too.

    Here is a book about the sound of one hand clapping, now go far the **** away, and read it over and over and over again then come back and tell me how enlightened you feel!

    ___________

    "An Awesome Pumpkin!!"


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    #66
    Aineoil
    Registered Users Posts: 1,358 ✭✭✭Aineoil


    Wibbs wrote: »
    Eh yes you can. We do it all the time. This idea that somehow the mind is this separate uncontrollable wild horse that we're strapped to is IMH the cause of a lot of needless suffering. Every time you learn something new you're controlling your mind, every new habit you make, you're controlling your mind. You can make new better habits. It takes work of course and that seems to be the stumbling block for many. They want the easy fix.

    Wibbs, thanks for that post.

    I suffer from panic attacks and it has taken me time to learn how to control
    what are my irrational fears - though when you're having an attack they are far from irrational - and yes they cause needless suffering, both for me and my family.

    You are right, you can make new better habits and it does take work and a lot of courage too. Again as you say there's no easy fix. I don't have the right words to express it...but every day when I wake up I say to myself, "Yes you can do it".

    So to answer the op's question, I try as hard as I can to live in the present. There's nothing I can do about the past, it's gone. I do have certain regrets but that's just dragging the past into the present. Mistakes I have made in the past hopefully will make my future a better place to be in because I will have learned from the past.

    The future? Of course I worry about it but I only have a certain amount of control over that. So when my mind is racing about what may or may not happen I just have to drag myself into the present again because nobody knows what the next day will bring.


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    #67
    ToddyDoody
    Registered Users Posts: 4,421 ✭✭✭ToddyDoody


    Milena Millions Rubber-stamp wrote: »
    OK :confused:

    Yay, I've created a riddle


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    #68
    Maximus Alexander
    Registered Users Posts: 13,080 ✭✭✭✭Maximus Alexander


    eternal wrote: »
    What are you supposed to do, not think?

    Isn't that what 'mindfullness' is?

    Which makes the name pretty stupid really.


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    #69
    r93kaey5p2izun
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,962 ✭✭✭r93kaey5p2izun


    Sometimes the now is pretty sh1t place to be. I have wasted a lot of time hoping and dreaming for a better future where certain issues may be resolved or improved. But that doesn't help you achieve any improvements in the now. I have also spent a lot of time actively seeking to improve the situation and looking to resolve current difficulties. But that has not worked either. I think it was easier to live with the vague hope of things improving than with the knowledge that recommended courses of action have achieved nothing. The now is not always easy to live with.


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    #70
    ytpe2r5bxkn0c1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 32,688 ✭✭✭✭ytpe2r5bxkn0c1


    ToddyDoody wrote: »
    Yay, I've created a riddle

    But it's long forgotten, as that was yesterday. Today is a fresh riddle.


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    #71
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    Maximus Alexander wrote: »
    Isn't that what 'mindfullness' is?

    Certainly not no - but it is the single most prevalent misconception about the practice. Nothing in mindfulness meditation is about not thinking. Quite the opposite.

    In MM we do not stop thoughts so much as overcoming preoccupation and obsession with them. Rather than being a slave to any neurotic notion that comes careening into consciousness you become an observer of those thoughts - notice them - and let them continue on their way.

    It is essentially a training of ones moment to moment awareness - a goal-less present moment awareness and the practice can include any thought - emotion - or experience that emerges. In fact the idea the goal is to quiet and stop the mind - which it is not - is one of the top reasons newcomers are discouraged from the practice because they feel they are failing at it.


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    #72
    RaRaRasputin
    Closed Accounts Posts: 394 ✭✭RaRaRasputin


    Deleted User wrote: »
    Sounds like you have been bitten by the bug. There has been a few posters lately espousing this stuff. And I have been one of them in a small way which sparked one regular user to think I was a sock puppet :)

    I was first confused by the sock puppet phrse but when I read the whole post (which was interesting in its own way actually) it became clear to me that you must be talking about a **** sock :)


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    #73
    Fleawuss
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,681 ✭✭✭Fleawuss


    Today is the tomorrow we worried about yesterday and all is well.
    Someone said sometime.


    I'll get my coat. Again.


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    #74
    take everything
    Registered Users Posts: 9,804 ✭✭✭take everything


    Central to this is attention.
    What one chooses to attend to.
    Attending to thoughts about the future? About the past? Or attending to perception of what's happening right now. Anyone can choose any of these. It's basic logic.
    You can dial down the needless thinking about future and past and instead choose to tune into current experience which although not immediately obvious at first allows greater space for creativity etc. What's good about this is it is logical and reality based (what's more real than the present moment).


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    #75
    4068ac1elhodqr
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,586 ✭✭✭4068ac1elhodqr


    Central to the concept of being 'in the now' is the primary purveyor of general 'nowness':

    Eckhart Tolle, and his book 'The Power of Now' (A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment).
    Ironically a very dry read and the audio book version - takes up about 20hrs of your time.

    This and 'mindfulness' (closely related) is a recent marketing term for what's been around for millennia, i.e. meditation (and it's variants).

    The success of meditation is simply to relax the body and slow brain wave activity to alpha/theta rates,
    whereby the brain operates in a more effective and cross-hemispherical way. The body also naturally benefits from relaxation
    and in particular deeper, slower oxygenated breathing. Possibly positive effects are also to be had on meridians/chakras etc.

    All very straightforward, natural, elaborate stuff really.


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    #76
    Wright
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 1,120 ✭✭✭Wright


    lazybones32 wrote: »
    And some TD or Senator quoted it not long afterwards in one of the houses. The plagiarizing boll0cks didn't even reference the quote...

    Dreamworks' lawyers hanging in the rafters waiting to swoop down as we speak no doubt, don't worry.


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    #77
    Aongus Von Bismarck
    Registered Users Posts: 1,794 ✭✭✭Aongus Von Bismarck


    One of the core tenets of mindfulness is being in the now. Many people assume it's about not thinking, but that isn't the case. It's about observing how you feel both physically and emotionally in the current moment. You can then choose to either explore the emotion you are feeling, or to let it float away like a wispy cloud.

    I incorporate at least 20 minutes of mindfulness into my day; 10 minutes in the morning, and 10 minutes in the evening. If I've had a stressful day at work, then I might practice for 30-40 minutes in the evening - a body scan, loving kindness meditation, exploring difficult emotions meditation.

    I find the 10 minutes in the morning to be hugely beneficial to my day. I can put the best foot forward from the outset.

    Mindfulness costs nothing, requires no equipment, and is available to you whenever you need it. I'm a big fan.


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    #78
    J Mysterio
    Registered Users Posts: 11,035 ✭✭✭✭J Mysterio


    most people who talk about being into 'mindfulness' are generally massive assholes.

    Mod: Banned


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    #79
    Aongus Von Bismarck
    Registered Users Posts: 1,794 ✭✭✭Aongus Von Bismarck


    J Mysterio wrote: »
    most people who talk about being into 'mindfulness' are generally massive assholes.

    Mod: Banned

    I couldn't disagree more. I attended a three day mindfulness retreat in Mayo when I was last back in Ireland. It was a silent retreat, so there was no talking, but the feelings of compassion, friendship and mutual understanding in the place was quite humbling.


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    #80
    Reiver
    Registered Users Posts: 782 ✭✭✭Reiver


    I think whenever I drink I most definitely live for the now. It's like I'm detached from my actions and watch the suave, smooth, scintillating me get to work, I go to bed with my mind easy knowing the other side of my mind is in charge.


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    #81
    4068ac1elhodqr
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,586 ✭✭✭4068ac1elhodqr


    The issue with the term 'mindfulness' is that it's exactly the same as 'meditation' and that's what it should really be called.
    It's not some brand new revolutionary psycho-reorientation practice or newly discovered mental programming technology.


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    #82
    ronan45
    Registered Users Posts: 1,584 ✭✭✭ronan45


    Find myself every day being dragged back mainly to old friendships.... that are gone... the lads for the pints.... im not sure when everone moved on but i aint seem them in years lol


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    #83
    JupiterKid
    Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 12,619 Mod ✭✭✭✭JupiterKid


    Do you live in the now? Do you savour every moment of your life or do find
    yourself dwelling in the past or projecting into the future?

    Have you heard of the concept of mindfulness? Current thinking in CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) is to encourage people to be in the present moment and to avoid thinking too much about the past or worrying about the future.

    So - do you live in the "now?"


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    #84
    Eugene Norman
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,191 ✭✭✭Eugene Norman


    I tried living in the now a few years ago until I was evicted.


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    #85
    AnonoBoy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 22,559 ✭✭✭✭AnonoBoy


    I lived in the Neale in county Mayo for a while.


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    #86
    OneOfThem
    Closed Accounts Posts: 667 ✭✭✭OneOfThem


    Trying to live in the now is the same trap as living for the future or thinking of the past. It kind of misses the point. Too much trying.

    "Life's about more than having fun, you know" - Never a greater load of sh1te ever spoken. "Back in the box you go!"


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    #87
    mattP
    Closed Accounts Posts: 255 ✭✭mattP


    You need a balance of all three.
    Last year in 4th year I lived in the now and got in a heap of trouble, bimonthly
    Now im preoccupied with the future, I work 16 hours a week aswell as school and I never go out :(:p


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    #88
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    I must dwell on the past because my first reaction was that we had this almost exact thread not too many months ago :)

    But yes I am a practitioner and "teacher" of a sort of mindfulness. Though I use teacher in the loosest sense. I put up a few notices in the local college for anyone who wanted any guidance or just group stuff on this kind of thing. Which I happily give - though I do not like to see myself as teaching it.

    Heartily recommend it.


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    #89
    DivingDuck
    Registered Users Posts: 1,396 ✭✭✭DivingDuck


    JupiterKid wrote: »
    Current thinking in CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) is to encourage people to be in the present moment and to avoid thinking too much about the past or worrying about the future.

    This seems like madness to me. If you don't worry/plan for the future, how to you expect to make it not crap?

    Often you have to do things in the present that are drudgery, and aren't worth being "present" for, but you still have to do them in order to have a more enjoyable future. I think a bit of daydreaming while you're doing it is a good thing.

    An obsessive focus on the present seems too much like hedonism to me, which is rarely a recipe for long-term happiness.


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    #90
    wil
    Registered Users Posts: 4,188 ✭✭✭wil


    I prefer to live in the wow.

    Now wasn't all it was cracked up to be.


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    #91
    DEFTLEFTHAND
    Registered Users Posts: 16,500 ✭✭✭✭DEFTLEFTHAND


    Live in the be here now.


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