Only Here Now | A Practice For Returning To The Present

This 20-minute guided meditation is designed to help you return to the present moment.
You'll practise recognising when your mind has wandered into the past, future, images or stories and gently bringing your attention back to the present.
A subtle 110 Hz tone is woven into the background music as grounding sonic anchor.
Practised regularly, this can become a simple daily practice for calming mental distraction and reconnecting with yourself.
In this meditation you will: Notice when your mind has wandered without judgement. Practice noticing, naming and returning to the present. Reconnect with yourself and what is here now.
For best results, repeat this practice whenever you feel caught in overthinking, rumination or mental distraction.
Music by Piotr Witowski from Pixabay

Transcript

Find a comfortable position. Allow your body to settle. You don't need to achieve anything. You don't need to change anything. For the next few minutes There's nowhere else you need to be. There's nothing you need to solve. Nothing you need to figure out. Nothing you need to do. Or undo. Simply be here. Noticing your body. Any sensations in the body? You might feel tingling. Pulsating. Tension. Fame. But not much at all. Anything you experience is okay. Simply noticing. Without trying to change anything. Bringing your attention to the breath now. Noticing the natural rhythm of your breath. Again, There's no need to change anything here. Simply noticing. You might notice the rise and fall of your belly as you breathe. Or the expansion and contraction of your chest. Or you might notice the breath moving in and out of the nostrils. And now noticing the mind. The mind is constantly producing something. There may be thoughts. Images. Memories. Plan. Stories. Prediction. God bless. Interpretation. Tend to move between what has happened and what hasn't. And what might happen. And what it imagines is happening. There is nothing wrong with this. This is simply what the mind does. And today we're going to practice something very simple. We're going to practice recognizing. When the mind has left the present moment. And returning back. To the present moment. We won't be fighting the mimes. We won't be suppressing thoughts. We're not going to try to make the mind blank. Will simply be noticing. And returning. For this practice, You don't need to follow every thought. Instead, Simply notice where your attention has gone. When you recognize that your mind has moved into the past. Silently name it. Past. And then say to yourself. Only here now. So you can come back to the present. Using the words only here now. As your anchor back to the present moment. If your mind moves into the future. With planning. Anticipating worrying. Rehearsing imagining what might happen. Silently name it. Future. And then saying, Only here now. To come back to the present moment. If an image appears in your mind, A person's face, Place, A scene. A memory. Something you imagine happening. Simply say to yourself. Image. And then only here now. Bringing you back to the present. If your mind begins creating a story. A narrative about what happened. What something means what someone thinks. What you should have done. What you need to do say to your soul. Story. And then only here now. We are not trying to stop thoughts. Thoughts can come, And they will. Images can come. Memories can come. Plans, Stories, Sensations. Let them come. Let them be there. And let them go. Simply recognize when we've been taken away from what is happening now. You're thinking of the past. They've passed. Only here now. If you're thinking of the future. To your future. Only here now. An image arises. Saying image. I'm the hand now. Of a story. Is imagined. It's a story. Only here now. You may name them all. Or just one. It's up to you. The main thing is coming back to the present. Only here now. Noticing what is actually here now. The breath. The body. The sounds around you. Sensations. Without any story. Nothing more needs to be added. Nothing needs to be removed. Only here now. Simply being. You may notice the mind trying to pull you back into something. Conversation. A problem. A memory possibility. Something you need to remember. Or understand. We don't have to resolve it right now. And you don't have to push it away either. You can simply say to yourself, Later. And then only here now. Everything the mind is producing can wait. Tends to make you think. What it is producing is urgent. But if something genuinely needs your attention. You can come back to it later. Now. You are practicing being here. Now letting go of the labels. You don't need to actively search for thoughts. We'll stay vigilant. Simply rest here. And if the mind starts to wander. Without the need to label past, Future, Images, Stories. Simply say, Only here now. Returning to what is actually happening. Without any stories. Without any interpretation. Simply noticing. Without judgment. Without trying to change anything. Simply. Brilliant. Right here. Right now. There is no better place to be. Nothing more important to do right now. You don't have to find the present moment. It is already here. All of the time. You only have to notice it. And when the mind wanders again, Which it will, This is not failure. This is the practice. Simply returning. Only here now. Feeling into your body now. Coming back into your body. Feeling your breath. Moving in and out. Noticing the sounds around you. Opening your awareness to the space that you are in and to the room you are in. Slowly wriggling your fingers and toes. When you're ready. Opening your eyes.