A Practice to Help You Snap Back into the Present Moment

It came to me on my bike ride a few days ago.

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

Being in the moment. Living in the moment. Being present. Is it all it’s cracked up to be?

Heck yes it is. Why? Because the present moment is the only place where life actually occurs.

The past doesn’t exist. It never has. The future doesn’t exist and never has.

The only thing that exists is now.

The world’s main problem

The chief predicament for humankind is that our minds are so active and frenzied that staying in the moment for even a few moments is difficult. In fact, it’s beyond difficult.

Many spiritual luminaries, most notably Eckhart Tolle, teach that we should be vigilant about being present as much as possible.

What makes more sense to me is Michael Singer’s approach, which is to do the work of removing, or letting go of, that which prevents us from being present. In other words, rid ourselves of the energies that steal our attention away.

However…

We can do both

I also believe that we can work at this from both sides, simultaneously.

How so? We do the work of letting go and do any practices that help us enter the moment, however briefly.

Which brings us to today’s practice. It came to me as I traversed the Back Bay in Newport Beach on my bike. With nothing to do but pedal, my mind tends to wander on my rides.

Which is good news and bad news. The bad news is that I wander off. The good news is that this allows me to practice noticing that I’ve drifted off and then bring myself back to the moment.

Two questions we constantly ask ourselves

Often, the subject of my musing can be boiled down to two questions. What do I want? And what do I not want? In other words, my wants and my fears.

And it’s not just on my rides. In one form or another, I, and most everybody on the planet, ask those two questions all day, every day, no matter what we’re doing.

Buddhism proclaims that the constant asking of these two questions is the source of all suffering. People sometimes confuse the popularly used word ‘desire’ as the cause of suffering and assume that’s limited to craving sex, food and the finer things in life.

Preference vs. desire

But that type of desire is only a small part of our suffering. The more accurate word that captures the totality of the concept is, as Singer teaches, preference. We prefer things be this way and not that way, rather than simply flowing with what is.

So when I noticed myself asking what I wanted on my ride, it occurred to me: What if I just replaced that question with another question? And that question would be…

“What is?”

Now, before you click off to check out the Instagram photos of your frenemy’s latest jaunt to Cabo San Lucas, let me explain.

What is ‘What is?’

First, what do I mean by ‘What is?’ All that means is, what is happening right now? What is the reality of the moment I’m in?

I could’ve made it, “What’s happening in the moment I’m in?” But that’s too long and cumbersome. I like the simplicity and brevity of the two words and six letters that is, “What is?”

The answer to most of our “What is?” questions will be simple and mundane, as most moments of life are. On my ride the answer was, ‘I’m riding along and seeing the beautiful scenery of the Back Bay on a pristine, cloudless day.’

We’re simply describing the moment in front of us. And just to remind you, that moment is the only thing that exists in your life. Always. Everything else is in your head.

Wanting more from our moments

The problem we so often have is that the moment in front of us isn’t enough. There are so many options available to us to make our moments more ‘interesting’.

Not much going on? Time to check the NFL scores on ESPN.

Not much going on? Time to surf TikTok videos for the next half hour (my two teenagers!).

Not much going on? Time to check CNN and see what Trump is up to.

I’ve noticed the past few days since my ride that the “What should I do, I’m bored?” question has come up several times. This is a great one to substitute with “What is?”

Why? Well, this gets to the heart of spirituality. Because when we ask ourselves, “What should I do now, I’m bored?”, what we’re really asking is, “What can I do that will make me feel better inside because I’m not doing too great?”

Our natural state, free of all the egoic baggage we’ve held onto throughout our lives, is one of peaceful contentedness. It’s a state that doesn’t require Instagram, CNN or TikTok to keep us entertained.

The takeaway

What’s the upshot of all this? I’m suggesting that we use a simple prompt.

When you notice yourself asking, “What do I want?”, just use that as a prompt to then ask yourself, “What is?” As in, what’s happening in the moment I’m in right now?

Have that be what I call a ‘go-to.’ Have those two short words at the ready any time you’re in “What do I want?” mode.

I’ve already found it to be an effective tool for getting me to stop, look around and survey the moment I’m in…

The only place where life occurs.