Learning To Live Within Your Present Moment

This meditation is an invitation to return to the present moment, the only place where life truly exists. It encourages you to release anxiety about the future and sorrow from the past, recognising that both are survival responses of the mind and not truths. Through compassionate awareness and intentional breathing, you are guided to rewire thought patterns, embrace stillness, and reconnect with yourself as you are. The practice emphasises that healing begins with presence, and that you do not need to perform, fix, or control, just to be in the quiet rhythm of now, where you are safe, seen, and free.

Transcript

Breathe in a way you welcome for you.

Let the world soften around the edges.

Let your breath begin to land,

Not as effort,

But as arrival.

In this meditation you are welcomed within,

With everything you carry right now.

You will be held and cared for in this space.

In this moment there is no expectation,

No performance required,

Only presence and only you.

So let us begin with a truth so often forgotten,

That right at this very moment,

Right now,

Is the only place life can truly be lived.

And yet,

You might find that the mind rarely stays here,

Rarely stays present.

The future anxiety pulls us forward,

Into futures not yet written,

Spinning stories,

Painting outcomes and rehearsing pain.

But the future is just a whisper.

It is not yet born.

You owe it no sacrifice.

Our depression tugs us backward,

Into what was or what might have been.

Grieving,

Regretting,

Replaying scenes that can no longer be changed.

The past reshaped you into ways perhaps you wish it hadn't.

It walks with you,

As it always will,

As mine walks with me.

But it does not own you.

It's just a part of the past,

Be that good or not.

Each way in the past or the future,

Is the mind trying to protect you,

Is trying to do a job that no longer needs to be done.

The word now means the present moment.

It means this second,

Right at this time.

And each day there are thousands of nows.

86,

400 in fact.

How many of those did you miss yesterday?

Because now is where your body lives.

You are here,

Listening right now,

Right this second.

Now is where your mind belongs.

Now is where your soul can rest.

Now is the doorway to calm,

To clarity,

To truth and to facts.

Breathe again,

In a way you welcome for you.

Allow the world to soften around the edges.

Let your breath begin to land.

Not as effort,

But as arrival to this time.

It's time to come back now.

Gently,

Come home to you.

Because I understand that sometimes we no longer know how to return,

How to come back to now.

So much time has been spent in the past,

And in the future,

That now is no longer a lived place.

Just a distant memory,

A forgotten life.

But most of all,

A life that's being forgotten to be lived.

And perhaps you wonder,

As the days and moments travel by,

Why the mind wanders backwards and forwards.

And it is important for you to understand because if you didn't,

How could you change it?

The mind wanders into the past and the future.

Not because you're broken,

But because your mind is wired for survival.

The mind evolved to anticipate threat,

To protect,

To prepare.

But when it doesn't know how to rest,

It begins to imagine harm,

Even when there is none.

And the stories it tells,

About failure,

About danger,

About not being enough,

Begin to sound like truth.

These thoughts can then become patterns.

Neural grooves worn deep.

And the more you think them,

The more automatic they become.

The thoughts almost become habits.

In fact,

They do become habits.

Because a habit is a sequence of thoughts or actions that become subconsciously carried out.

And that is what happens when you are worrying about the past or the future.

Automatically,

Your mind goes into an attempted protection mode.

Avoid,

Avoid,

Avoid.

And before you know it,

You are down that rabbit hole and you cannot get back out.

But here is the miracle.

You can change that.

With rewiring and with compassion.

You see,

The brain has an ability to rewire,

To build,

To learn safety again and to see what is the truth for you.

Again,

Breathe in a way you welcome for you.

Let the world soften around the edges.

Let your breath begin to land,

Not as effort,

But as arrival.

Every time you bring your awareness back to this breath.

Every time you interrupt a spiral with a gentle pause.

Every time you say,

I'm going to respond to facts.

You are laying a new path.

Because you must recognize what is true for now and what is to come.

Is not the truth.

And I wonder if you stepped into the courtroom of your mind,

Standing before a judge with your fears and anxieties laid out like evidence.

Would your case hold up?

Would the judge agree that your thoughts are facts?

Would they confirm that you can indeed predict the future?

That the worst will happen simply because you imagined it?

Would there be enough solid proof to support your claims?

Or would your case be gently yet firmly dismissed?

Because despite how convincing your thoughts may feel,

They are not rooted in truth.

They are rooted in fear.

And fear,

No matter how loud,

Is not evidence.

So yes,

Your case would be thrown out with kindness,

But with clarity.

Because your thoughts are not the verdict.

They're just the story.

And stories can be rewritten.

A new story that can lead not to fear,

But to peace.

Not to control,

But to presence.

Yet it won't happen in a day.

It never does.

But it does happen.

And it begins here.

Right now.

So it's time to come back.

To come home again.

Come back to you.

To now and to what is real and present.

Sometimes the beginning of a healing journey comes with an acceptance of where you are.

Of where you've been.

It doesn't have to be painful.

It shouldn't be.

Instead,

Meet yourself with softness and compassion.

For this is not a punishment.

It's a reconnection to you.

It's once again,

After so long,

Seeing you.

With every piece of baggage you carry.

And we all carry some.

But carrying it with care and understanding that the things that have happened have mattered.

And have hurt you.

And the things you fear are there because you have an innate need to protect yourself.

Because maybe no one else has.

But sometimes it becomes the incorrect kind of protection.

And those protective walls you build around yourself become imprisoning.

You no longer know how to climb over them.

And you feel stuck within what has been created over the years.

And though it may feel impossibly hard to escape,

It isn't.

Because now you're being handed the keys.

Not to scale the walls or break them down.

But to gently unlock the door.

And simply step through.

Into something freer,

Softer and more true.

There is no punishment waiting for you here.

You don't need to meet yourself with frustration or anger anymore.

Where you are is simply where you are and that's okay.

The past cannot be undone.

But the moments ahead can be softened.

You can guide yourself gently and kindly there.

Toward the space where you long to meet yourself.

Not with judgment.

But with care.

You are not your thoughts of the past.

You are the awareness beneath them.

If the thoughts you have feel uncomfortable,

Ask yourself these questions in each moment.

Can I change the past?

Can I change what happened?

What am I gaining from these punishing thoughts?

And as you think of that,

I'd like you to come up with three facts as to what your gain is.

What do you gain from going through those thoughts,

Ruminating them?

If you cannot come up with three facts,

They are not worth your moments and thoughts and your nows.

They are arriving simply as punishments.

And although you will always have those memories,

And the past will always be a part of you,

Because it shaped you and it happened.

But it doesn't have to control you when it cannot be changed.

That will lead to a lifetime of those imprisoning walls too high to climb.

Now,

We move on with what you fear in the future.

But first,

I'd like you to recognize your strength.

You are the one who has lived and breathed through fear.

Yet you still choose hope.

You still look for a way.

You are the one who is listening,

Still wanting to find the calm.

Anxiety lives in the future.

It is what is pre-feared.

It is the outlook of a lighthouse,

A spotlight on what might be on the way.

But sometimes,

More often than not,

There is nothing on the way.

Just the pre-fear,

A fabrication of false expectations.

It's the constant need to protect,

To avoid repeating situations,

And to worry.

Because if you worry,

Then maybe,

Just maybe it won't happen.

And if you think of the worst,

Then whatever happens that's not as bad as the worst is better.

But tell me something,

Has there been a time where the worst case did not happen?

Has there been a time where the ruminating anxiety has ruined an occasion?

Where the run-up to something has made you almost crash and corrode into a million pieces?

Yet nothing of what you feared became the truth.

Your prediction was flawed.

The fears were not valid.

There's a part of you that wonders,

If I let go of these fears,

Will I lose control?

It is a common thought.

Many people say,

But I like to be in control.

But the truth is,

None of us are ever truly in control.

Not the way in we believe.

Control,

In this sense,

Is often just a strategy to manage fear.

It's a shield,

Not a solution.

You may feel like you're in charge,

But really,

Your mind is steering the ship,

Driven by worry,

Always trying to keep you safe.

But ask yourself honestly,

When your thoughts are racing at a thousand miles an hour,

Do you feel safe then?

Is that really peace?

Or is it your nervous system clinging to imagined control?

Because it doesn't know another way,

Yet.

You don't have to be in control to be safe.

In fact,

Letting go of the control can be freeing.

You don't have to fix everything,

Or be fixed yourself.

Being perfectly flawed is good enough.

And sometimes we have to pick ourselves up off the floor,

And take the floor with us.

And that's okay.

We will have you any way you arrive.

You don't need to know what comes next.

None of us do.

And right now,

The kindest,

Healthiest way forward is to simply live one day at a time.

And if even that feels too much,

Then just live for the next hour,

Or the next small moment.

Lunch,

A warm cup of tea,

The soft light in an evening.

Break the day into gentle pieces that feel manageable.

Let your presence meet you there,

Not in the pressure of the hole,

But in the grace of the next breath.

You only have to meet this very moment with honesty.

And as you pause,

Recognise how you feel within this moment.

What does this moment hold for you right now?

Where is it allowing you to rest?

Come back from the past.

Don't wander into the false future.

Just be here.

Just be present.

Just be you right here,

Right now.

Because this is where life lives.

This is where your life is right now.

Not in years ago or in years to come.

You only live in the now.

So move back.

Come back now.

And recognise what can you see?

What can you feel now?

Remind yourself that life is about now.

Not yesterday or tomorrow.

But now.

Because you,

Dear soul,

Are allowed to live here.

You are allowed and welcome in your world.

You are wanted and needed.

So remind yourself of the life you have right with you.

Not ahead,

Nor behind.

But stood now,

Holding your hand at the edge of the world.

And see yourself on a beach that stretches wide in both directions,

Fast,

Open.

Each grain of sand beneath your feet is cooling and grounding.

A soft foundation holding you gently and firmly.

The breeze moves through you like a whisper.

Not asking you to be anything.

Just to be here.

Salt-kissed air fills your lungs.

And the wind doesn't pull you forward or back.

It simply wraps around you.

A reminder that the present moment is enough.

Your feet sink slightly into the earth.

Each step a wordless prayer.

Each foot a declaration.

The waves meet the shore with rhythmic grace.

Not rushing,

Not hesitating.

Just arriving again and again.

They do not ask what comes next.

They only return to now.

And so do you.

Here,

In the hush between each wave.

In the silence that doesn't ask for answers.

You feel it.

Your power.

Not loud,

Not striving.

But steady.

Real.

Rooted.

There is no past tugging at your heels.

No future chasing your mind.

Only this breath.

Only this breeze.

Only this moment.

And it?

You are free.

Reviews

Wonderful, thank you, just what I needed in the sleepless hours in the middle of this night. I'll let you know more about what appeals to me about this beautiful, gentle and calming reflection on the present moment, but for now, simply, thanks, and much appreciated.

Here’s the updated feedback I promised to share after taking some time to process and find the right words to express the impact this meditation had on me:

This meditation is medicine.
It holds up the tightly woven fabric of past pain and future worry, helping you recognize yourself caught within it. With spot-on words, it reveals the pattern of this weaving, letting in some air and allowing light to shine through—gently loosening the threads so you can begin to extract yourself from the entanglement and step into the freedom of the present moment, where you can breathe and truly live.

Thank you, dear Charlotte, for the gift of this rich composition that meets us right where we are, gently guiding us toward healing with kind, truthful observations and profound reflections on the nature of the present moment.

There is so much here—it can’t be fully absorbed in just one session. I’ll continue to return to it, as I have regularly since publication day.

Wishing you well.
With deep gratitude,
Katharina

I love Charlottes meditations and talks. This brought up a lot of memories which were tough. Loosing my sister a few years ago and how grief has effected me. It made me reflect how it's ok to take an hour at a time. How to not live in fear and how to try to look forward. Thank you :)

This took me back to a day I went to a class on Buddhist meditation. Little did I know we would meditate all day. Walking meditation took me to and grounded in the now. My full focus became how it felt as my heel then foot felt as I connected with Mother Earth, right in that moment, in the now. What peace and happiness I found. This morning through this meditation, I was taken back to the now. I am thankful to have listened and been gently reminded to live in the place called now. Peace.

Wow wow wow!!!! THIS WAS THE BEST MEDITATION IVE EVER HEARD!!! I got lost within it and when that must at the end got a bit louder I can’t explain how I felt. It was incredible!! I’m going to listen to it again and again and again!! Thank you very much Charlotte.