At our Beach House, we start off every New Year with a different theme and focus. Last year, it was Awakening 2017: A Year With Intention, which provided us with the perfect opportunity to look within to find our inner calm. We explored our minds and searched our souls to uncover versions of ourselves that we never knew existed. For 2018, we are harnessing all the lessons we have learnt and applying them to our daily rituals by discovering the secrets to everyday happy living with Kinship 2018: A Year To Get Consciously Cozy.
We were inspired by the Danish concept of ‘hygge’ (pronounced “hoo-gah”), which is a quality of presence and an experience of belonging and togetherness. It is a feeling of being cozy, warm, comforted and safe. It’s a feeling of engagement and relatedness, of belonging to the moment and to each other. Hygge is a sense of abundance and contentment. Hygge is about being, not having.
Over the course of the year, we are diving into our Kinship Manifesto, which we believe is the perfect blueprint for finding happiness in simple but meaningful moments. For this blog post, we are sharing our top tips on staying present. Read on for more!
“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.” – Buddha
Staying present in our daily life does not come easily. The majority of our time is spent juggling numerous things at the same time, on both physical and mental levels. The act of being present is a skill and one that needs to be cultivated and practiced. Here we explore how to embrace the present moment.
Try to minimize multitasking.
Focus on one task at a time – this will ensure that you are fully engaged in what you are doing, therefore allowing work to be done more effectively and consciously.
Slow it down.
From the moment you wake up, try to do things slowly. Make sure you give yourself time to do tasks in a relaxed and calm pace. Be aware of what you are doing rather than always being in a mad rush – this awareness will offer a sense of mindfulness in everyday tasks.
Pay attention to what seems like mundane acts.
For example, take a few minutes to fully experience the act of breathing. Take the time to become aware of the sounds, sensations and smells of this simple and instinctual action. Pay attention when you are taking a walk or staring out the window. Take it all in and be fully present. This also helps paves the way to enter a meditative state. The goal of meditation isn’t to control your thoughts, it’s to stop them controlling you.
Feel Presence
Close your eyes and feel the sensation of your own physical presence, your body’s weight, and existence. Bring your attention to the feeling of your body being here, just being. Drop into the particular sensation that is “I am,” “I exist.”
No Next
Remove next – imagine that there is no next event, next task, next person or next anything to get to. Invite yourself to stop preparing or getting ready for something else to come. Deliberately remove all elses.
References:
www.psychologytoday.com
www.positivityblog.com
