There’s a lot of talk about living in the moment. Indeed, it seems a powerful way to be happy in the here and now. Unfortunately, we don’t know how to live in the moment. That’s why I’m sharing 4 powerful exercises to get you there.

Why live in the moment?

Getting to know the ego

We don’t live in the moment. In fact, in our heads, things go far too fast. We think too much about yesterday, reviewing everything we did wrong or should have done but didn’t… We also think about tomorrow, everything that’s going to go wrong or everything we need to finally be happy.

We live in our heads. Unfortunately, our head is home to a tenant whose company prevents us from being happy: the ego.

The ego is our survival instinct. Yes, its role is to take over our brain when our life is in danger. It quickly decides the question: fight or flight?

But in our modern society, the ego has taken over our minds.

What is our ego’s new goal? To be the strongest, the most beautiful, the richest… It wants to show off to other egos.

The ego prevents us from being happy, because it puts all kinds of conditions on our happiness. It makes us believe that we’ll be happy when we have more money, when we have that nice house… It never stops finding conditions, so much so that we never really feel happy.

Instead, we feel like we’re always chasing something, and that if we take too long to get it, we’re failures. Because, yes, our ego judges us very harshly.

And it’s illogical, because on the one hand, our ego wants to be the most beautiful and the strongest, but it spends all its time telling us that we’re ugly and that we suck…

Don’t you think it’s high time we freed ourselves from it?

Why come back to the present moment?

Our ego would have us believe that we’ll be happy later, but it spends all its time making updates, and one thing leads to another, and our happiness gets pushed back again and again.

Yet every day, we are given 24 hours to live. It’s a gift. A gift that can be taken away at any time without notice.

So why wait? Why not be happy right here, right now?

“Life is too short to wait.”

Our ego pushes us to see tomorrow. Tomorrow we’ll be happy if we have that. But it never talks to us about today. But why not?

Because as soon as we’re in the present moment, our ego disappears. It disappears because we stop putting conditions on our happiness and, above all, we forget our struggle against other egos. We surrender our weapons, we don’t care anymore, because we’re focused on what’s happening right here, right now. Yes, we’re no longer interested in being the strongest, the most beautiful or the richest.

But how can we live in the present moment when we’re so used to the supremacy of our ego?

Here are 4 exercises. Exercises that will help you a little more each day to see the value of the present moment, to be happy here and now and, little by little, to forget your ego and give it back its rightful place: to be your survival instinct, nothing more, nothing less.

1 – Living in the moment: observing the thinker

We tend to believe our ego, so much so, that we believe we are our ego. Indeed, we believe we are our social position, our bank account, our family situation, our youth. We think we are our thoughts. We are one with our ego, and that’s what keeps us from being happy.

In fact, we are so much more than our ego would have us believe, and the world is much more beautiful than we are told.

How can we detach ourselves from it? By dissociating ourselves from it. In other words, by listening to what our ego has to say, and not putting our faith in it.

It’s very simple: all we have to do is take a step to the side of each of our thoughts.

When we’re busy judging and we hear ourselves judging, let’s understand that it’s our ego that’s thinking all this, not us. Then let’s stop listening to it. Let’s not think any further.

Of course, at first it won’t be easy to hear our ego judging, classifying, predicting and desiring, but once a day is enough to feel an immediate sense of well-being.

Yes, observing our ego think helps us realize how much more we are than our thoughts filled with doubt, fear and hatred.

At first, you’ll be completely caught off guard. You’ll observe your ego thinking when you’re in the shower, doing the dishes, walking down the street… This dissociation can happen at any time of day.

2 – Taking breaks

Disassociating yourself from your ego won’t be easy at first, so this new exercise may be useful.

Rather than waiting to catch the ego in the act of judgment, you can take time out to silence it.

To do this, I invite you to sit down for 5 minutes on a regular basis, depending on the rhythm of your life (daily is highly recommended).

In concrete terms:

Isolate yourself. Sit with your back straight. Lengthen your neck and lower your shoulders. Relax your jaws and forehead. Breathe slowly, deeply. Empty yourself.

If you hear yourself thinking, let it go. Don’t listen, let your thoughts flow through you.

Breathe calmly. Concentrate on your belly expanding and contracting, on the air coming in and out of your nostrils. Concentrate on the sound of your heart beating.

You can take this a step further by asking yourself: “What will my next thought be? In this way, you can concentrate on the silence of your mind.

Just 5 minutes will bring you immediate well-being. You’ll feel lighter.

“You can’t control your thoughts, but you can stop being controlled by them.

3 – Live in the present moment: direct your attention to the 5 senses

I invite you to do this exercise as often as possible.

All you have to do is ask yourself one question, and one question only:

“Is my attention absorbed by the spectacle that life offers me, or is it consumed by the thoughts of my ego?”

This allows you to check that your ego isn’t polluting you with its judgments, rankings, conditions…

Concentrate instead on everything around you. Look around you at what life has to offer.

Look, but also listen, smell, taste and touch. After all, we’re born with 5 senses – they’re a gift. Make the most of them.

To do this, get into the habit of asking yourself the question: are you present to life, or are you a prisoner of your thoughts?

Free yourself to enjoy life.

4 – Practicing gratitude

When your ego makes you believe that you’re not good enough and that your life isn’t good enough, respond to it.

Tell it how lucky you are to be alive, what a beautiful person you are and how beautiful your life is just the way it is.

To do this, I invite you to list 3 things (or more) that make you want to thank life. These things are very personal to you. They can be big or small. They can be trivial moments or magical ones.

Let your heart speak. Its beautiful voice is too often covered by that of the ego. Make room for your heart. Make it beat faster to the rhythm of the word “thank you”.

“There are so many beautiful things around us. All we have to do is open our eyes.”

Find out more:

I invite you to read these 2 complementary articles:

Discover How to stop letting yourself go? 10 tips for taking control of your life
Discover How to savor the present moment and be happy: 8 great tips

I recommend this inspiring book:

Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn

The author explores the concept of mindfulness and living in the present moment. He offers practical ideas and mindfulness techniques to help individuals cultivate awareness, reduce stress and fully enjoy the present moment. This book is a guide for those seeking to navigate life with a greater sense of mindfulness and appreciation of each moment.

Light and easy to read. I feel like I can pick it up at any time, read it for 10 minutes and feel like I got something out of it. It’s perfect for recharging your batteries when you’re feeling overwhelmed. There’s no religious specification as far as I’ve noticed, which is great for a gift. I feel like I’ve learned a lot from it.

Thank you very much for reading this article.

If you liked it, let me know in the comments.

Take care of yourself