We hear this mantra or suggestion a lot these days and I guess it can have many meanings. Perhaps in today's busy life with so much media streaming at us, it makes even more sense to try to bring ourselves to understand and appreciate this key to really living life. But what does this really mean and how can we live in the moment?

Living to the 5 Senses:

In a Practical Philosophy class I took about 4 years ago, we did a little exercise every class, more often, 2 or 3 times per class. It was an exercise which provided one easy key to 'living in the moment'. In the exercise, the class followed the instructor through a series of steps in which we would sit still and comfortable in our chairs and then, step, guided by the instructor, though each of the 5 senses, feeling each one and but not judging any of the input, just being aware of it. For example, feeling the weight of your body and bottom on the chair, but not focusing on any discomfort, just observing it as if you were an outsider using some sort of gauge to measure the stress, no opinion, no reaction, just awareness. Then we would move on to taste; tasting you own saliva, then smelling the smells in the room or in the air outside if the window was open. Sight is also interesting; even though our eyes were closed, there are always those things you see in the dark of your eyes; again, not trying to interpret them, only noticing that they're there. In this exercise, sound was always the most interesting to me; when we would have the window open, we would be able to hear maybe 10 - 20 things that are happening outside (we were in downtown Toronto) and again, it was a challenge not to analyze and wonder or imagine what was going on in all those sounds but that is not intended in the exercise - only awareness is the focus. In my appreciation since those classes, that exercise has taught me a lot about living in the moment; really sensing but not thinking too much. 

Nature is the easiest place to 'live in the moment':

I took an Instagram recently and mentioned that it is great having a friend like Giddeon, pictured again below on today's walk, because it makes me see the nature in my own neighborhood. This morning's walk reminded me of this again; I was able to distinguish the key element of living the moment, look, listen, smell and see, BUT DON'T think. Thinking takes us away from our experience of "the now", we start to bother ourselves with what if?, and I wonder what? and People should... There is a time and place for thinking but I've come to understand that thinking and experiencing life are two totally different things. 

I have also had the pleasure of being in many beautiful natural places but one of the simplest and most beautiful was being in Northern Ontario during the Spring thaw; when the forest is rich with the sounds of the snow running off and the birds are chirping, it is truly a spiritual experience. While I didn't know it then, this was living in the moment at its finest. Nature makes it easy for us to accomplish this and to see and feel the beauty in the world around us.

Last year I had the chance to visit British Columbia and ride the Sea to Sky Highway up to Whistler (see the shot taken along our ride). This is a fabulous and  breathtaking experience that rips you from your thoughts and immerses you firmly in the moment whether you like it or not. If you have never been there, please try to find a way to include a trip to BC in your bucket list.

Being there and loving the one(s) you're with:

Another key for me, which is still a discipline and not yet something that I can say that I have mastered, is really being present with the one you're with and not thinking about work, or dinner or anything but what your partner, friend, guest or sibling is talking about. Here, the key is to listen but not to analyze or judge, only to appreciate that the other feels this way at this time, and thought this particular thing was worth sharing with you.

I just past my 54h birthday and from one perspective, I'm getting older. From another perspective, I'm just starting to understand how little I know and how much I've missed or more importantly, how much I will try to see and take note of in the future.

Here's hoping you are living in the moment and loving the ones you're with.