I was recently amazed to find Harvard research showing that a wandering mind has a bigger influence on happiness than any other activity a person happened to be doing. These findings confirm many philosophical and religious traditions that teach about finding happiness by living in the moment. During their study, Killingsworth and Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert tracked the happiness levels of participants. The study showed that people’s minds wandered almost 47% of the time and thinking pleasant thoughts made people no happier than focusing on what they were doing. Furthermore, unhappiness spiked when thinking neutral or unpleasant thoughts. So let’s take Key Steps today and ensure that we…
Enjoy the Wonder of the Moment without Wandering
1.How? We may think that we’re in the present moment already, but this is actually part of the problem: we often only think about the present moment, without truly experiencing it. There is a very useful technique to increase awareness of now by perceiving the information from the five senses – simply by tuning in to the world around you. Let’s try it right now …
Take a moment to perceive where you are, using the five senses. What can you see, hear, touch, taste, and smell in this moment? What are the sounds of your environment? If you are drinking a cup of tea, notice the flavours and sensation of drinking it. If you are using a computer, notice how the mouse feels under your fingers. Keep allowing information from the world around you to reach you naturally through your senses. When you maintain this awareness, you can notice a sense of peace, even if just for a moment.
2.Make it a habit. Choose a daily activity, like washing dishes, showering, taking your shoes on and off, driving and so on. Whenever one of these activities happens, remind yourself to be in the present moment and remember to become aware. If you get distracted by thoughts or feelings during this activity, just bring your attention back to what you’re doing, e.g. the warmth of the shower, the aroma of the shampoo, the sound of the water and everything else around you. With practise, these daily triggers can help you to remember to be in the moment more and more often. Take key steps today to gain the benefits of awareness, by experiencing and appreciating life in the here and now and…
