Being Present is NOT Just “Putting Down Your Phone”

I’ve had discussions with many people that think that, “being present”, simply means putting down your phone. I can be incredibly present while using my phone, feeling all the tactile sensations and marveling at the colors and shapes. And at the same time I can be completely lost in thought while walking in the woods.

Being present means, moving your awareness away from those conversations in your head and into the physical world. Looking at all the tiny nuances of what you’re doing. If you can maintain that focus, and keep redirecting your awareness each time a thought pops into your head, you’ll notice that the conversations will slowly subside.

Putting down your phone is definitely a good step in the right direction for most of us. But it’s important to note that we can still be completely lost in thought even while doing activities that we think should be inherently mindful. Things such as rock climbing or mountain biking. But even then, before my awakening, I would often find myself doing something fairly extreme and at the same time, I would have a conversation in my head explaining what I was doing to an imaginary observer.

While ever you’re doing that, you are not being present.

But if you are doing that, narrating your life and explaining what you’re doing, you need to recognize why your mind does that. Our mind is very defensive, its main function is to keep us alive by anticipating and avoiding threats. It’s always looking for its advantage or always looking for your advantage. So when you’re explaining how to take a corner really fast, or how to angle your body to make the next climbing move, your mind is figuring out what makes you better than other climber/mountain bikers and rehearsing a conversation to demonstrate how good you are.

It’s a very primitive mechanism. It sounds pretty innocuous. Especially if you’re describing how you brew the perfect cup of tea, but you’ll see that it’s rooted in fear. My advantage is that I make a better latte than you. My advantage is that I eat healthier than you. My advantage is that I mow my lawn better than you. Whatever, “innocent sounding”, little conversations you have running through your head, are just your mind anticipating a threat, a judgment, and preparing a legal defense in case anyone ever challenges how good you are at those things.

There is literally no need for any such conversations. You’re never going to speak them out loud. And once you recognize what’s going on, you can completely ignore those thoughts in your head and bring yourself back to reality and enjoy every tiny detail about what you’re doing in the physical world.

Now that’s “being present.”

And that’s what being present is all about. Not getting swept up by how insecure and afraid your mind feels. The more you can do that, the quieter your mind becomes. The more you can ignore the thoughts, your mind eventually gets the point that you’re not afraid. There is no need for it to come up with any conversations and you will experience the world without a little parrot sitting on your shoulder.

Being present takes time and patience. But understanding why your mind talks to you is fundamental to being able to let it go.

If you want to know the easiest way to learn mindfulness and presence, here’s great place to start – Easiest Way to Learn Mindfulness

Mat Robinson
~The Gregarious Hermit

#BeingPresent #Mindfulness #Enlightenment