[CHAT] Being in the moment.
Has this ever happened to you?
Through mindfulness, we are learning to be with our experience. Studies actually show that when we are engaged with our experience, the parts of the brain that are associated with essentially thinking about you and feeling self-conscious become less active.
In other words, you can stop worrying about the problem and start getting on with solving it!
In this weeks Getting Real session, we'll learn a heap more about Mindfulness, how it works and what you can use it for to make a huge difference in your own life.
So Join us on Monday 12th 8pm AEST and learn how Mindfullness can help you!
Thank you @Troy ! I was worried the chat was getting away on me! It's certainly a meaty topic,and very enjoyable!
I would like to walk away from tonight's sesh having brainstormed about mindfulness and perhaps some additionalstrategies I can use to live more mindfully in my day to day life.
@Troy Music festivals are awesome! I can find them a bit overwhelming sometimes because there's soooo much going on. I wonder if it's hard to be in the moment sometimes when things are intense?
2.Being in the moment is often described as – A immersion to your current experience, as opposed to projecting yourself to an imagined future, or going back to a past that has already happened.
What are some experiences in which breaking out of your comfort zone and living in the moment led to successful outcomes?
Meeting new people! I am a bit of an introvert, it took me a long time to make new friends, especially in high school! When i got to uni i started learning about myself a bit more and realised just because i liked some alone time didn't mean i also didn't like meeting new people too!
So i had to learn to take the plunge and start making friends. That meant forgetting the past and not worrying too much about something insanely awkward happening just because i said "hi, how's it going, I'm Ben!".
Turns out that most people were feeling just the same as me and were heaps happy to have someone to say hi to in their first few days of class. I met some of my best friends that way 🙂
That's a good one, @Ben-RO , about stepping out of the comfort zone to make new friends!
2. What are some experiences in which breaking out of your comfort zone and living in the moment led to successful outcomes?
Hmm, this is a hard one... I guess I could share the experience of when I was with a group of friends working at a community festival, and suddenly somone asking me to help out quickly with a presentation... I just took a lot of deep breaths and burst out of my 'comfort bubble' , and got talking to some knowledgeable folks there for this presentation - and pretty soon it was over!
Not sure if it as 'successful' but what I can say, is that it was a wonderfully spontaneous bonding experience with my friends, and we all had a bit of a laugh about it!!
That, to me, qualifies as a succesful outcome! 😄
For me this in when I'm applying for jobs, in the past I have been too scared to even thinking about changing jobs because of the interview process. But last year i found something I thought I might really like and jumped into applying, and I got the job and I'm doing something I love.
Also definitely stepping up and taking the opportunities for leadership in my footy club. Also in my music because I used to be scared about playing in front of crowds or groups of people now I get a thrill off it.
Good evening folks!
1.What does "being in the moment" mean to you?
Mmm...Being in the moment, captures that feeling when time is inconsequential... you're not even aware of it passing... you're totally focussed on what's at hand,what you're doing at that time, you're really engaged in it!
That place of awareness of just what is in front of you - where all your senses are attuned to... with no stress about the 'past' or the 'future'.
Hey @evanescence 🙂
really well said... I love the idea of awareness to whats in front of you... so true because most of the time theres just so much more going on inside you which stops you from engaging with the beauty of what's in front of you..
For example with @Troy music festival examples haha.. if you're super conscious about dancing it'll be so hard for you to focus on the music playing and just enjoying the beats (best-est feeling)
Welcome @evanescence
Love what 'being in the moment' means to you.
I can definately relate to the sense of not being aware when time passes! Especially when Im with friends.
What are some experiences in which breaking out of your comfort zone and living in the moment led to successful outcomes?
I think a time I left my comfort zone and something awesome came out of it was the time my best friend and I decided to dress up as fairies and go to school.
Sure we looked like derps ... but hsc stress was high and us doing that made everyone laugh a little and just enlighten the mood.. #positivevibes
1.What does "being in the moment" mean to you?
For me being in the moment is as much about what i am not doing as it is about what i am doing. So if i am in the moment, I'm not thinking about something I'm worried about in the future. I'm not thinking about something silly i did in the past. In other words I'm not distracted so I can really appreiciate what's happening right under my nose 🙂
@Ben-RO that's so true... we are so focused on things in the past and future that we forget NOW....
2.Being in the moment is often described as – A immersion to your current experience, as opposed to projecting yourself to an imagined future, or going back to a past that has already happened.
What are some experiences in which breaking out of your comfort zone and living in the moment led to successful outcomes?
Promise I haven't dropped out on you guys, I just got distracted by my 1000 dot-to-dot book. Opps!
What are some experiences in which breaking out of your comfort zone and living in the moment led to successful outcomes?
Hmm ... tough one. I guess speaking in public is a good example. You are extremely nervous and such but once you find your groove, you can just go for it without a care in the world. And when you find your groove, you speach is amazeballs! Basically anything that gives you really bad anxiety, but makes you feel amazing and glad you did it afterwards.
3. What are some things that help you keep stress to a manageable level? Is there such a thing as an "okay" amount of stress, if so, how much stress is okay?
The main thing that helps me keep stress manageable is to ' re-centre myself' to the present moment. If I am stressed its usually because I am overwhelmed by the huge amount of things I need to do. So I guide myself back from thinking about what I have to do, to what I am doing now. And I remind myself, that all those tasks, can only be done one small step at a time. So which step will be the most beneficial to start on now?
When I am stressing at the gym for example because I have assignments, I remind myself that I cant actually do an assignment at the gym, So the most productive thing is to work out stress free, and save my mental energy later for studying rather then stressing.
I think my way of calming down the stress is a little stressful itself ... I just find it calming to cry it all out... take a few deep breaths and organise my time telling myself that I can get everything done!! ahah but the crying helps getting out all the nerves!
What are some experiences in which breaking out of your comfort zone and living in the moment led to successful outcomes?
Defniitely speaking to the group on the Reach camp. Sinxce then I have definitely felt more confident getting up and speaking in front of the group.
Sorry I'm late guys! 
@FootyFan26 Lucky you for getting to speak to the group at the Reachout camp! Sounds like an amazing experience being there!
Something that is related to stress is ‘worry’. Worry usually refers to imagined possibilities that we project into the future. It is the ‘what if’s’ that if get carried away can blow up into ‘catastrophic thinking’ that is out of proportion…. and of course can cause a lot of stress.
5. Are there particular events or things that cause you to worry? How might concentrating on the present moment through our five senses (Touch ,Taste, Sight, Smell, Sound) support us in handle some of these events that cause us to worry?
5. Are there particular events or things that cause you to worry? How might concentrating on the present moment through our five senses (Touch ,Taste, Sight, Smell, Sound) support us in handle some of these events that cause us to worry?
Basically when I have too many of my triggers in a short space of time, when people don't co-operate / don't follow through with what they said they would do. Or when someone ignores me. My anxiety just goes into overdrive.
From my previous response, you probably can guess that I don't use sound to calm me down. But by indulging your senses with your favourite things, you brain become distracted because OMG I love this smell! Just for example. Hahaha. I don't tend to use taste either as a way of relaxing.
5. Are there particular events or things that cause you to worry? How might concentrating on the present moment through our five senses (Touch ,Taste, Sight, Smell, Sound) support us in handle some of these events that cause us to worry?
I wonder if we all tend to worry about things we have little or no control over?? Or areas where we feel insecure in? I know I do.. I've gotten so much better at managing this 'thinking skill' . I used to worry a lot in high school about what my friends thought of me, or whether the 'cool' kids would accept me (I belonged to the alternative crowd).
Sometimes I worry about what sort of a future my kids will have, what sort of a world are we leaving them?
Finding the right job, or the best place to live, can also make you worried. In a good way, meaning you go out and do your best, do all the research, be uber prepared, and be optimistic and confident , that you'll get theright thing coming to you at the right time if youput yourself out there.
