I’ve been listening to some CDs of Eckhart Tolle, one of the foremost teachers on the subject of coming into the present moment.  In this particular CD, called “Living a Life of Inner Peace”, available through www.soundstrue.com, Tolle talks about how one of the things that has always been in our experience, without exception, is the present moment.  From the time we are born until we die, we exist within the present moment.  I was intrigued by the thought that this is one of the things that we can never lose – the present moment is all there is, all the time.

Tolle also talks about “psychological time” – those times when we either think about the past or worry about, plan, or ponder the future – those times when we’ve left the present moment.  The important thing about “psychological time” is that it isn’t what’s currently happening – it’s something that has already occurred or is yet to come and when we move into “psychological time”, we move out of a direct experience of what’s happening right now.

Revisiting these ideas on the CD got me to thinking about how settling and recentering it is to recognize that we’ve drifted off into psychological time – which  can be distressing or uncomfortable in one way or another – and how comforting it can be to drop back into the present moment and out of psychological time.  Most of us are conditioned to focus our attention on either something we did or something we’re going to do, and to unwittingly lose the richness of being right here, right now, able to experience what actually is happening in the present moment.

For this week’s experiment, I invite you to play with noticing when you’re in the present moment and when you’ve dropped into psychological time.  Keep in mind that “psychological time” refers to anything that has to do with the past and anything that has to do with the future.  This doesn’t mean you can’t make plans or think about what you need to do next, or review something you did to find out how you might do it better next time.  It does mean that you can strengthen opportunities to catch yourself when you don’t realize you’ve slipped into past or present, when you’ve unconsciously and unintentionally left the present moment. 

You might wonder why you’d want to drop more fully into an unpleasant or uncomfortable present moment.  There’s a paradox here:  the more present we are to discomfort, the more possible it is to lessen it.  When we make room for awareness, release struggle, and soften into what’s unfolding, discomfort tends to decrease. 

Remember, it’s not an issues of right or wrong when it comes to being in the present moment or in psychological time..  The reason to play with this is to notice your experience when you’re actually here, living your life as it unfolds in the present, and how it feels when you’re lost in the past or future.  Also, it’s useful to further develop the capacity to notice when you’ve left the present moment and to have the option to return to it if you want to.