MIDL 15min 17 / 20: Observing Past, Present & Future

New to MIDL? 15 Minutes of Mindfulness is an introductory series to the MIDL 52 Mindfulness Meditation Trainings. 17/20 is the MIDL Mindfulness Training in the ability to observe the movement of attention towards and the creation of past, present and future to train the First MIDL Pillar of Flexible Attention. Practice daily for one week before moving to the next exercise

Have a question? Insight Timer Group: MIDL Mindfulness in Daily Life with Stephen Procter. Private question? Send me a message.

Transcript

Hello,

My name is Stephen Proctor.

During this mindfulness exercise we will be using the MIDL training of observing the experience of past,

Present and future during seated meditation.

If you just start out by taking a meditation posture,

Now close your eyes over lightly.

Be aware of the feeling of heaviness within your body.

And also start to notice a place where your body touches the chair or the floor.

Gently hold this experience of heaviness and touch your mind continuously to allow some mindfulness and concentration to start to grow.

Now bring your hands together and hold them lightly,

Feeling the touch of one hand within the other.

Hold those sensations of touching mind such as pressure,

Coolness or warmth.

Just by holding the touch of your hands in mind continuously,

Your attention is held present.

Right here,

Right now.

No past,

No future,

Just here.

Notice how simple being here is.

Just sensations within your body,

Just sounds,

Just thoughts.

They all flow,

They all come and go.

Being very present,

Notice how simple it is to just be.

In this presence,

Simplicity,

You have no problems,

Everything is okay.

Now we are going to observe what past and future feel like.

Start off by being very present.

Notice the simplicity,

The beauty of right now.

Now bring to mind a pleasant memory from the past.

Hold that memory in mind.

Notice that as you do this,

The feeling in your body starts to change.

A pleasant feeling unpacks from that memory.

Also notice that when you hold this memory of the past in mind,

Right now becomes more complex.

Now bring your awareness back to the touch of your hands.

Notice the simplicity of just being present.

Keeping in mind that pressure,

Warmth,

Coolness.

In this presence,

Simplicity,

You have no problems.

There are just the sensations within your body.

Thoughts,

Sounds coming and going.

Everything is okay.

Now gently turn your attention towards a thought of the future.

Notice that as you do this,

The feeling of right now starts to change.

Notice that when you turn your attention towards the future,

The simplicity of right now goes away and heaviness takes its place.

Notice how complicated right now has become.

Now come back to the touch of your hands.

The pressure,

The coolness,

The warmth.

Notice how the experience of touch of your hands hold you present right now.

Notice the simplicity of just being present.

No past,

No future,

Just here.

Nothing to do,

Nowhere to go,

No one to be.

Now bring your awareness back into your body.

When you're ready,

You can gently open your eyes.

Thank you for spending this time meditating with me.

Have a wonderful day.

Take care of yourself.

Goodbye.

Reviews

Thank you for this guided meditation. It took me a while, but I was definitely able to feel the different sensations that came with past memories and future planning.

I did have an unrelated question though, recently I realised I've had more distracting thoughts during my unguided meditations but despite this, they were all very subtle, and most of my focused attention is still on the breath. Is this a normal progression or should I be trying harder to follow the GOSS Formula?

Thanks again.

I have so many beautiful past memories. ❤️ The present is also always wonderful. The future did not feel scary but inspiring although it did feel a little heavy. I guess as we don't know what the future holds it is not so easy to deal with. I will continue for 7 days and see how this developes. Thank you Stephen. 🙏
Day 1. Day 2. Day 3. Day 4. Day 5. Day 6. Day 7.

Again, another insightful lesson. I enjoyed the thought exercises of focusing on past, present, and future experiences. I hope this will eventually allow me to better stay present in the moment, even when not meditating. Thank you again for these well-organized lessons.

This is wonderful. Thank you!

This program is excellent as a whole and I particularly found this one very revelatory. Gratitude

Wonderful. Merci.

That was a wonderful way to start the day - I feel soooo grounded.

Very useful exercise in now and being here. Thank you!

I've done this for a few days now and, more than any other similar meditation, this really illustrates how past and future affect right now, both physically and psychologically. In times of stress I really struggle with bits of the unchangeable past that seem to stick like glue, plus the unknowable future that preys on the mind with its endless scenarios. This meditation helps with that.

Great insight on how you feel different thinking about the past, future or being in the present

“No one to be.” That one really resounded with me. Thank you.

Thank you🙏 This meditation really helps me in a time of life when the past tends to haunt me and thoughts Of the future frightens me. Which number/week is the longer version of Observing past and present?
Take care.

Really good practice. Actually making yourself think of past and future and then recentering on the present is a wonderful reminder to be mindful. My hands are very warm and that warmth kept bringing me back easily to the Now. Thank you for this lesson.

Stephen,
Thank you for the original past present and future meditation as well as the shortened 15 minute version. Having both of them offers the possibility to spend more time when you have time, and yet still immerse yourself when time may be limited.

I began this journey in January and so appreciate your presence in walking me through new understandings, insights, and explorations.

With gratitude,
Tobie

Love all of Stephan Proctor meditations.
Thank you.

It is true when I focused on the future the peace of the present went away. Thanks for this exercise.

Loved it! Such a testament to the power of staying present. Thank you 🙏🏼

I just like the way he guides meditations. There is just something different about them. Soothing voice tone as well.

Very Good. A little sadistic but point well taken. Going into the past and future causes confusion and suffering. I didnt want to stay there. So, I quickly exited back to the present. Thank you for demonstrating how important staying in the now is. Namaste

Wow, just what I needed. Thank you.