I was recently asked why authors such as Ekhart Tolle, Deepak Chopra and Tony deMello (and myself for that matter) place so much emphasis on the present moment. My reader also asked me to explain why living in the past or future can be so detrimental – and that’s where this article starts!

Very often, we look back on our past – fondly, with regret, sometimes with longing. There’s no harm in that – after all, it is our life experience to date that makes us who we think we are. Without our memories, we’d wake up each morning, turn around in the bed and scream “Who the hell are you?” – of course, there could be benefits to that!

The real problem with the past is that our subconscious mind lives there by default. This is a major problem because psychology tells us that our subconscious mind (using the twin psychological “abilities” of automaticity and categorization – more like disabilities actually!) dictates our automatic reactions and enables us complete repetitive tasks without paying attention. Unfortunately, as we go through life and become accustomed to the people and places around us, everything becomes repetitive so we end up paying attention to nothing (research indicates that we only pay 1% attention to the here and now).

Here’s the problem. By paying so little attention to the present, our subconscious mind roams freely in a past long gone – thinking that it’s the present. It uses past experiences – our “programs” from our formative years, when we learned our beliefs in everything including ourselves – to dictate our current behaviour. How we behave now determines how people (who are buried in their own past) behave towards us and, as a result, our automatic behaviour creates our present everyday life.

Of course, we’re completely unaware that any of this is going on, because we’re not paying attention!

Now, to add to that mess, your conscious mind constantly wanders into the future. The average adult (most of us are average) has about 50,000 random thoughts each day, many of which are “what ifs”! The problem with a distracted mind is we lose focus on what we’re supposed to be doing now. As a result, it becomes more of a burden, we become more frustrated.

So, between our subconscious’s old programming (which is generally skewed towards the negative) and worry about the future, we end up not being present to what is actually happening here and now. We pay little or no attention to now – and recent neuro-psychological work has proven that your ability to be successful (and experience peace of mind) is directly linked to how much attention you’re paying. Put no energy into the present moment and you get nothing in return!

It’s a bit like the old IT saying “garbage in – garbage out”! Quantum physics tells us that this universe of ours (including everything and everyone you encounter) is made up of energy and that energy responds to your energy. Put almost no energy into being focused in the present and universal energy simply won’t bother to respond to you – why should it, you haven’t even bothered to turn up!

On the other hand, when you do pay more than 1% attention to the present moment, your experience changes. Athletes call it “the zone”, the University of Chicago calls it “flow”, sports people call it “focus”, business people call it “single-mindedness”. Same difference! We’re at our best when our energy is engrossed in what we’re doing – here and now. When we are in flow, things flow for us – we seem to be the right person in the right place at the right time. The famous psychologist Carl Yung called that “synchronocity” – quantum physics has proved how synchronicity works in proving that universal energy is responsive to intention and emotion.

Put simply, if you channel more of your energy into “now”, universal energy will respond now – these are scientific facts, if you want more details just let me know! Conversely, if my energy is “all over the place” (in the past and future) universal energy will give me a normal “not too bad” return on my pathetic 1% investment!

Whether you look at it from a psychological of physics perspective, the key benefit of the Now is this. If you are more present, you have presence – which makes you more impressive and attractive. You will impress those around you simply because there’s more of you present in the moment than everybody else. You will be more attractive to those around you for the same reason. But, importantly, you will be more attractive to events as well (some people call it the Law of Attraction).

So, letting your subconscious live in the past – and letting your conscious mind wander – takes you away from the only time and place we have – Now. You need to learn how to pay more attention to now, to engross yourself in what you’re doing. It’s easy – meditation gives you the mental discipline required – but you could start by simply doing a little more seeing, feeling, hearing, smelling and tasting of where you are, right here, right now, as you finish reading this article.
Copyright (c) 2009 Willie Horton

Willie’s work in the area of personal development and meditation has been described as “life-changing” and “phenomenal” by clients from every walk of life. His acclaimed two-day personal development workshop is now online at Gurdy.Net
Article Source: Weight Loss Articles, Health Articles, Self-Improvement Articles

People come to yoga looking for various things: peace of mind, stress reduction, improved concentration, and weight loss. Yoga can help you to accomplish all of this, but “yoga works, if you work!” You have to do the practices on a regular basis in order to get the results.

If you have bought some books on yoga and meditation, don’t let them gather dust while you sit around thinking that maybe one day you are going to practice. If you have purchased my electronic book, don’t let it gather “electronic dust.”

Yoga postures and basic meditation exercises are simple enough to learn. In fact, I teach them to children and they pick them up quite easily. So, I am sure that you can learn what to do fairly easily and quickly. The big problem for most people is to establish the habit of doing the practices on a regular basis. Here are a few tips which may help you to do your yoga and meditation on a daily basis.

1. Start with Firm Determination: Yoga begins and ends in the mind. Take a determination that you are going to give yoga a fair try and you are going to practice, because it is important to you. Close your eyes, and think “For the next three months I am going to do it every day.”

During the course of time, whenever you start thinking, “Oh today I don’t want to do my yoga exercises”, remember your initial determination and stick to it.

2. Do it Together With some Friends: Learning how to give and share is an important part of yoga, so don’t keep “yoga” to your self. If possible find one or two friends who would benefit from practicing yoga, and do it together with them. The good thing about practicing with others is that if a day comes when you are not motivated to do the practice, the enthusiasm of your friends will carry you along and you will do the practice with them.

3. Make a Regular Schedule and Stick to It: Yoga is not like tennis or some recreational sport which you will do if the sun is shining and you feel like doing it. To get the true benefits from yoga you have to do it every day. So, free some space in your busy schedule and “reserve” this time for your practice of yoga and meditation.

If you get up a bit earlier in the morning, then you will have a nice quiet time to do your yoga before the rest of your neighbors wake up. In the evening, do your best to keep some time free for yoga before your evening meal.

Once you have set your schedule, stick to it as best you can.

4. Do Your Practices With A Free Mind: It is not enough to reserve time for yoga, with your body doing the exercises but you mind continuing to worry about other things. When you stop to do your yoga and meditation, you should remember that the next 30 or 40 minutes has been reserved for yoga and for your development. Don’t jump up to answer the phone, or respond to every minor disturbance. This period of time is for you.

If you begin to think about all your other responsibilities and problems, gently drop these thoughts and imagine that your problems are tucked away along with your shoes at the corner of the room, or better yet in another room. (You shouldn’t be practicing yoga with your shoes on!)

5. Be Patient: Sometimes you will feel the effects of the yoga and sometimes you will not feel anything. Don’t worry about the immediate effects, continue to practice. It takes a while before the most profound results of yoga are realized.

It took you many years to build up your present personality and physical structure. You can’t change it overnight. But the good news is that you don’t have to wait many years to change yourself because the regular and systematic practice of yoga postures and basic meditation can help you to make great changes in a period of six months to one year.

So, hang in there, start practicing, continue practicing and slowly but surely yoga will help you to realize your most important goals.

Dada Vedaprajinananda has been practicing and teaching yoga for the past 35 years. He has taught around the world, is the author of “The Wisdom of Yoga”, “Yoga Weight Loss Secrets” and numerous magazine articles. You can read more of his articles at his website: http://www.yogaweightlosssecrets.com
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