Happy 2018! I hope the new year finds you happy and healthy. One of my yoga teachers shared that a friend of hers had wished her a "Happy NOW Year". This was her friends way of reminding her of the importance of being in the now, or in the present moment.

Keeping ourselves in the present is of course challenging for many reasons including the pressure to multitask and constantly being barraged by new information via technology. The new year is a perfect time to set an intention to be more mindful.

I personally feel I fall in and out of mindfulness several times throughout my day. I may start with the best of intentions, yet as soon as emails and texts start flooding in while I am preparing for my next class or meeting, I can easily find myself outside of the present moment.

Like many things in life (eating healthy, exercise, self-compassion), staying in the present moment is a practice. One exercise you might try when you find yourself feeling scattered or overwhelmed, is to choose one task you do on a daily basis and just try to be in the moment during that one activity for one whole week. This may be something quick like brushing your teeth, or you may choose a more time consuming challenge like being present while taking a shower, cooking dinner or doing yard work.

Simply practicing being in the moment during one task, on a regular basis, will actually heighten how conscious you are of being mindful at other times during your day. Welcoming the now into your life brings benefits of increased focus and clarity as well as stress relief and greater self-awareness.

A few quotes for inspiration:

• The power for creating a better future is contained in the present moment: You create a good future by creating a good present. – Eckhart Tolle
• You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. – Henry David Thoreau
• Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment. - Buddha