I Am Here And Now

An effective mindfulness practice recorded live during a ‘Calm with Christoph’ online meditation event. Learn how to hold space for yourself, stop ruminating and experience the calm that can be found in the now moment.

Transcript

All right, Hello. I'm going to invite us all to start with our eyes open. We'll close them in a moment, But we're going to start with eyes open. And just take a moment to kind of really take in this moment of being together with a group of like-minded people who have all decided to spend half an hour on their self-care. And so give yourself full permission to be here. Maybe you had to rush to make it in time, Maybe you've been waiting all afternoon for this moment and so there's a little bit of anticipation there. No matter which end of the spectrum you find yourself at, Just take a deep breath and keep those eyes wide open. And take in your environment and use all of your senses to bring yourself to this moment. And I'm going to ring the bells and then we're going to ease ourselves into this meditation. So eyes still open. Just heighten your senses for a moment. What can you smell? What can you see? What can you hear? What does the touch of your body on the chair or the bed or against the back of your couch feel like? Bring yourself here fully. And the analogy that I often use when I'm meditating is that of a snow globe, You know, That you shake, You put it back down and you let all that snow settle. That's kind of the picture I want to use for this moment because you bring a lot of energy from the last couple of days to this now moment. But what's been is in the past and whatever you're thinking about with regards to next week or planning for next week is in the future. And so we are not really in the past or in the future, We are here, We are in the now. And that's what mindfulness meditation is all about, To reconnect with the now moment. It is said that we spend nearly 50% of the time in the past or in the future, But not in the now. In other words, Half of our lives we are not in the now moment. And that is why we meditate, To re-appreciate now, This moment. And a meditation is but a sequence of moments. One moment after the next moment and then the next moment and then the next. Nothing that has to be achieved, We're not striving for anything. We just constantly bring our awareness, Our attention back to now, To the here and now. And you know why that is so important? Because psychologists claim that we are exposed to the same amount of stimuli in one week than our ancestors were in an entire lifetime. In other words, The influx of information that is coming at us all day, Every day, That total volume in one week is what our ancestors had to process in an entire lifetime. It's insane when you think about that. And so without further ado, We're going to train our minds to enjoy the present moment. And you are more than welcome to keep your eyes open, But you're more than welcome to close them, Whatever is most comfortable to you. But given the feedback that I receive from some people who have a tendency to fall asleep, Which is fine, It happens, And that means you need that sleep. Perhaps consider this time to keep your eyes open. Maybe you can just lower your gaze or stare at a point on the wall, And just relax into this moment. And the truth is, My friends, There is nothing further that I have to say. Meditation is not about being taken by the hand and to be told what to do. My job is to give you the space to train your attention to always come back to the now moment. It's not about escaping to some dream world, But about cultivating our mindfulness meditation practice one moment at a time. So you may want to place one hand on your heart and the other hand on your lower belly. And rest your awareness here for a moment. Focus on the sensation of your hands touching your body. Nothing more and nothing less. Do you feel the heat of your hands? Are your hands cold? Are you resting your hands or do you find yourself applying pressure? There is no right or wrong. I just want you to feel what resting your hands on your body feels like. And now gently bring your awareness to your breath. And the invitation is to see where you can locate your breath. Are you breathing through your nose or your mouth? Can you feel the air flowing through your nostrils or over your lips? Is it the rising and falling of your chest or the abdomen? Just see where you can feel your breath the most. And what we're going to do now is take five deep breaths in together and when we exhale we exhale just a little bit longer than the in-breath. So here we go. Second in-breath through the nose and if possible exhale through the mouth. In through the nose. Out through the mouth. In through the nose. Feeling that chest expand and out through the mouth. Breathing deep into your belly. And one final time deep in-breath and long out-breath through the mouth. And now you can let your breath return to its natural rhythm. Nothing further to be done right now. And some of you will be feeling really calm and still. But maybe you are thinking where are we going next? What is the next set of instructions? What do I need to do next? And so I'm not going to take you there. There is no next step. But I want you to check in and feel how not having instructions feels like. And to just hold that space for yourself. Knowing that your whole system, Your mind and your body rejoice in this stillness. And when your mind wanders, Gently bring it back to the now without judgment. And notice how you are speaking to yourself. What is the internal dialogue when you notice that your mind has wandered? Do you punish yourself or can you lovingly guide yourself back to the now moment? Notice the relationship with yourself. Do you find yourself in the doing mode, Wishing this moment to be different, Feeling the urge to change something, To fix something? Perhaps feelings of not being good enough at this? Or are you allowing yourself to be in this moment? Remaining present for what's happening without the need to change anything. Allowing things to be as they are. Knowing that you are good enough. So just feel and then hold this stillness. You deserve it and you welcome it. Nothing further to do right now. And as the mind undoubtedly drifts off, Bring it back to the now. What I find very helpful is to either focus on my breath or say internally or out loud, I am here and now. I am here and now. I am here and now. I am here and now. I am here and now. I am here and now. And just sense what holding space for yourself feels like. How easy is it for you to stay in the now moment? Not right or wrong, But the awareness around that is what mindfulness meditation is all about. The moment you realize you're no longer here and now is when the magic happens. That's where the learning opportunity is. That's where you train the muscle. That awareness in itself is golden. That awareness is what we are cultivating right now. So I'm going to give you a few more moments to be just here and now. I'm going to give you a few more moments to be just here and now. And as we gently move into the final moments of today's meditation, We're going to take another five deep breaths in and out together. So here we go. Out through the mouth. Deep in breath. And again, Deep breath in through the nose. And long breath out deep into your belly. Deep breath in. And out. And one last time. Deep breath in through the nose. And long breath out through the mouth. And then gently in your own time open your eyes and bring yourself back to the room. Thank you very much for practicing with me together today. I love you, Namaste, And I hope to see you again on another meditation. Have a beautiful week everyone. Bye for now.

Reviews

I'll take "I am here and now" with me into my day. Thank you. One note for those who prefer longer periods of silence to sit with a cue, there is relatively little of that.