One of the principles of Gestalt therapy and meditation practice is the idea of living in the present moment. For some people, this pattern of life serves as a way to experience life in an authentic sense while not falling into unfounded concerns.

However, theory is one thing and practice is another. ¿ How do you do that of living in the present? And what does it mean? In the following lines we will try to answer these questions.

What does it mean to live in the now?

In short, living in the present moment means interpreting all our experiences as part of a set of unique sensations that only exist as such in the here and now.

That means, for example, not holding the belief that what we experience is more or less perfect copies of previous moments , or that it is a foretaste of what we will experience in the future .

That way, we will not fall into the trap of believing that we owe our whole life to our memories and to what we expect from the times to come (regardless of whether the expectations are good or bad), and we will appreciate what is happening to us as it is in the present moment .

7 keys to living in the present

From here we will see some basic guidelines to start incorporating this philosophy of life into our daily lives. Are you ready to start this journey?

1. Ending rumination

Psychological rumination is what happens when that which concerns us or produces stress in us draws all our attention and thoughts to itself.

Basically, these are unpleasant memories (regardless of whether they are based on real experiences or ideas) that become something to which everything we do or perceive ends up referring .

To end the rumination, it is advisable, among other things, to find moments to rest and, especially, to dedicate them in to walk by natural surroundings . For more information you can consult this article:

  • Rumination: the annoying vicious circle of thought

2. The world of mindfulness

Meditation does not make us blank our minds (that is impossible), but helps us to turn our attention away from interpretations of reality based on the past and the future .

Mindfulness is a well-studied and easy-to-practice form of meditation that has also proven effective in preventing relapses into depression. You can learn more about its principles and practice in this article.

3. Learn relaxation exercises

Meditation is not the only way to disconnect; there are also many relaxation exercises that focus on relaxing the muscles and accompanying a type of slow breathing that makes maximum use of the lungs’ capacity.

These techniques help us to cut through the intrusive thoughts linked to the past .

4. Judge rationally your expectations and goals

A good way to lighten burdens and begin to appreciate more the experiences directly linked to the present is to make an assessment of one’s own objectives and responsibilities. It is difficult to live in the present when you have to work 11 hours a day .

That is why the time invested in taking stock of one’s priorities in search of greater well-being will be time well spent.

5. Learn to manage self-esteem

We must make self-image and self-esteem a tool to know ourselves faithfully, not something that enslaves us and makes us feel bad for not fulfilling the expectations we have set for ourselves .

If everything we do is done with an eye to whether it brings us closer or further away from the “ideal self”, we will be wasting many opportunities to soak up the genuineness of each experience simply because our attention will have been caught up in an ideal that only exists because we have created it.

6. Do sport

Few activities make us focus more on the present as physical sport . As this type of exercise demands effort and concentration on what is happening, it works very well to “unhook” our attention from worries.

But, in addition, doing sport makes our body secrete a greater amount of endorphins, thanks to which we are invaded by a feeling of well-being and relief.

7. Soak up existentialist philosophy

Existentialists defend the idea that life only has the goals and the meaning that we want to give it, and this idea is fundamental to manage all the expectations that we feel do us more harm than good .