KANISA GEORGE
For many of us, life is a game of constant movement. We're either busy at work, busy with our friends, or busy watching Netflix.
Often one task isn't fully complete before we're on to the next one. And I guess in some regards, it's our way of trying to fit as much as life in as we can.
Over the last decade or so, social media platforms and wellness sites have been focusing on concepts such as burnout and work-life balance as a means to improve our quality of life.
It has all been part of the 'more meaningful living movement' that highlights conscious eating and exercise and has at its core the 'living in the moment' paradigm.
It might sound like a simple concept, but living in the moment has been significantly challenged by technological domination, impossible work demands, and the anxiety we face in maneuvering life. No longer do we live in the age of information, but rather the age of distraction which prevents us from living full lives.
How would you like your life to look?
When we were kids, many of us thought of the jobs we wanted to do or the car we would love to own.
Yet even amid immense personal achievement, research shows that most people feel a deep void that they are constantly trying to fill.
In a nutshell, it appears most of us cannot practise mindfulness.
One writer spoke about a conversation with a friend about being present.
"How can I live more in the moment?" his friend questioned God as he traversed an unknown plain.
He felt that too often, the beautiful moments of his life were drowned out by a cacophony of self-consciousness and anxiety, and he needed a resolution.
In response, a soothing male voice replied, "breathe.'
The voice continued, repeating what sounded like a familiar new age mantra,' whenever you feel anxious about your future or your past, just breathe.'
It's a simple concept: breathing. After all, it's what we do to survive. But breathing in and out and focusing on the present can be challenging to execute.
Naturally, we're always busy with something, allowing little time for rest and calm. Instead, we allow time to rush past unobserved and underutilised, and we inevitably squander precious seconds of our lives worrying about the future and ruminating about the past.
It's amazing how adept humans are at being on the opposite ends of reality. We fixate on our vacation when at work, and on vacation we stress about work piling up at the office. Because our "monkey minds," as Buddhists call them, vault from thought to thought like monkeys swinging from tree to tree, we cannot live in the now.
When does it end? When do we learn to live more in the moment?
Living in the moment-also called mindfulness-is a state of active, open, intentional attention on the present. Experts believe that truly experiencing this involves realising that you are not your thoughts.
Instead, you become an observer of your thoughts from moment to moment without judging them.
You simply sit with them, neither grasping at them nor pushi
