Life is only experienced in a moment of awareness, the now. After that, it is either memory or imagination of the future. If you are lost in the past or the present, you miss the chance to be present. You miss the magic of the now. The practices of Yoga and Meditation connect you to the now.

You can retrain your brain!

The human brain can remember the past and imagine the future, but this pulls attention away from the present moment. When the brain is not focused on a task or an object, it uses its default mode network. The default mode network, or DMN, is a continuously active network of brain regions. When the default mode is active, the mind wanders. The brain’s default mode allows you to think about the past or the future; you can envision any place but the here and now. This default mode is quiet when you focus on a specific object or task, like recognizing someone’s face or remembering a telephone number. 

The practices of Yoga and Meditation help deactivate the default network. This deactivation helps keep your mind from wandering and enables you to focus on the now.

Create an Anchor

As I mentioned, your mind, by nature, wanders. It defaults to anywhere but the here and now. Sitting and trying to be aware with a flood of thoughts and senses, to-do lists, and random conversations in your head can be like watching a clown car unpack. There is way more stuff there than you ever imagined, and now you are being forced to sit with it and watch the show until the timer goes off. Watching your mind can be overwhelming and scary.

An anchor is an object you concentrate on. You use an anchor to help train your mind to stay in the here and now, lessening or deactivating the DMN.

Think of a boat’s anchor. The boat drifts away, the anchor keeps the boat from going too far away with the current.

The practice is noticing when you have lost concentration or focus on your object and gently guiding it back. Be patient while you train your brain.

The practice of Yoga uses the physical body as an anchor or the breath in Pranayama (breath practice). Likewise, meditation uses the breath and many other sense objects like sound, sight, or movement. The advantage of the breath is as the breath slows, its connection to the central nervous system helps calm the mind.

The practice of Yoga and meditation is awareness of the NOW

Yoga is thought of as a physical practice, creating shapes or asanas. But it is a practice of creating focus and awareness on the now.

The goal of both Yoga and meditation is to be present to the now. This may mean releasing a story about how you think things should be.

It is facing the moment in its complete truth without judging it. It is not rejecting the moment because it is uncomfortable. Instead, you view the moment without a lens of perception, the story.   

What do I mean by “the story”? When you experience a sense perception, like a sound, your brain attempts to label the sense and judge it as pleasant or unpleasant. Your brain is overrun with sensory experience. It develops programming to sort through and determine which sensations will be brought to your conscious awareness. Depending on your experiences with the sense object, you will perceive the sense in your unique way. 

For example, you see a dog running toward you. If you have had a bad experience with a dog, you may perceive the dog as something scary. On the other hand, if you love dogs, you will perceive the dog with joy.  

You can skillfully take action at the moment only through the full acceptance of this moment. For example, suppose you are reacting based on your perceptions, running away from every dog or other perceived negative object. Or you might be grabbing onto anything you perceive as pleasure, even if it may be harmful. In that case, you will create a never-ending sequence of actions and reactions, losing control and losing out on the other possibilities for action that exist at that moment.

Yoga and meditation are a dance between concentration, focusing your mind on one object, and awareness, noticing what is going on. 

Yoga and meditation practices start with concentration, teaching the mind not to run off, distracted by every possible stimulus it received, including your thoughts. It is bringing the mind into the Now. As your mind learns to focus, you begin to see the moment for what it is without a filter of perception. You become aware of the truth of the moment.

Why focus on Now?

You won’t miss out on the actual moments in your life

If you live in the past or future, you are not living in reality. Life happens in the now. If you are thinking about past events, generally your perception of the past event or worried about what may or may not occur in the future, you miss the present moment. You only live in the present moment. When you focus is on the past or the future, you miss out on the actual moments of your life.  

You are open to all possibilities of the moment

When you let go of an end goal, a specific outcome, you are open to all possibilities. You bring a mind unattached to the past or caught up in a future that may or may not happen. You release any perceptions based on what has happened in the past.  

A practice to create focus

Meditation practices can help increase focus and awareness. If you are a new meditator, start by focusing your mind on one object or anchor. Sit comfortably or lie on your back. Pick one sense object to place your full attention on. It might be your seat or spine where it meets a surface like a chair or bed or the sensation of your breath at your mouth, nostrils, chest, or belly. You may even choose an external sense, like the sound of a refrigerator humming. This object becomes your anchor.

Let your eyes close or gaze just in front of you. Place your awareness on this one object. Notice the sensation without labeling it with a name or a judgment, like good or bad. When your mind wanders off, gently turn your attention to your anchor. This may happen many times. Start by sitting for a few minutes at a time if your mind is busy. Over time you may be able to increase the time you sit. You can use a timer app or an oven timer to track your time.

If you become physically or emotionally uncomfortable, shift your physical position to another anchor. For example, don’t force yourself to sit if you create more physical or mental tension. If you are very tense, you may create a movement of some form and focus your awareness on the sensation of the movement.  

Interested in trying out a guided audio meditation?  Click the link below for a five minute guided audio meditation using your breath.

Guided Audio Meditation – The Breath