In the moment ...

The internal monologue.

All of us have that feature; one feature that takes up a major percentage of our minds. It is the pseudo conversation like thought stream that goes on inside you. It runs in a constant thread in your brain most of the time, sometimes sharp and strong and at other times a little feeble, maybe.

The internal monologue remembers and analyses your past, imagines and plans stuff that you want to do - today, tomorrow, next week and far in the future, it ponders whether what you are doing is really the best thing to do etc. etc.

But, as you can realise if you observe it, rarely does it nestle about in the present; the immediate present, right now, in the moment.

'In the moment' is an altogether different sensation plane.

Its something you will experience when your internal monologue is mostly suspended, but all your senses are awake, and actively attended upon. How can one slide oneself into that state?

Well, you can do it the next time when you take a walk.

Consciously stop immersing yourself in thoughts, and keep walking.

Look at the colour of the ground; the colour of the ground is different from that of the stone lying nearby; look at the grey dark texture on the stone; don't think, just look.

Look at the leaves, see how one bends in the passing breeze but the next one shakes and vibrates instead.

See the ants and insects crawling on the leaves, watch how their legs move in perfect sync.

Listen to the tones in the next bird's call or dog's barking or an engine revving. Hear the twigs crackle under your feat.

Watch how the sky and trees are reflected in the next muddy puddle.

See how the world moves past when you walk forward, changes in perspective and angles and watch how things move into your field of view.

Keep yourself immersed in the sensory world; do not think; just see everything you can watch, listen to everything you can hear, smell every waft of air and observe everything that moves and everything that stands still.

Feel the breeze on your skin, and in every hair strand.

Now when your internal monologue kicks back in, pause a bit;

You were 'in the moment' for a brief while and are now back.