Grab the present moment
Formal mindfulness practice is nice and all, but sometimes you have to grab the present moment like it is a life-saving drug.
When your mind is out in the future, you lose perspective on what’s currently happening. It’s a biological process. When you are searching for a problem to solve, your brain pumps you with extra adrenaline to fight, flee, or figure out and fix. The extra adrenaline will make whatever you think seem more likely and like a bigger threat. Since your anxious thinking now feelings likely and threatening, it will get harder and harder to stop thinking about it, even if you want to. You are being tricked by anticipatory anxiety. Suddenly the uncertainty of the future gives you anticipatory anxiety and it feels like a prediction and a threat.
In fact, uncertainty is just that… uncertain. Uncertainty means that we don’t know either way. The future could be worse, but it also could be better. Either way, adrenaline pumping through your body now doesn’t make you more prepared for that future. Just like any other times in your life, it’s reasonable to take problem-solving steps to prepare for an uncertain future. As a teenager, you didn’t know who you would become, so in the presence of uncertainty, you earned an education. That’s problem-solving. You can problem solve now too. But don’t get tricked by anticipatory anxiety. You don’t need to engage every thought about what could happen in the future in order to be prepared.
What do you do if your mind is preoccupied with the future? Grab the present moment.
In the present moment, your body is breathing and working to keep you alive just fine. Try to watch your sensations as sensations. Try to observe your thoughts like words on a screen, not predictions or threats that you need to engage. Try to notice the urgency in your body and consciously slow yourself down.
It might be uncomfortable to try this. That’s fine. You’re doing it correctly.
If it’s hard to stay with your internal experience, you can also bring your attention to your external environment as it is in the present moment. You could describe ten things you see around you. You could feel the textures of your clothes or the seat where you are sitting. You could find something to eat or drink and eat or drink very slowly so that you notice how it feels. Washing your hands is a good time to notice the sensations that come with it.
Some people think that the present moment is silly and doing things to practice reminding yourself of the present moment is even sillier. Even if you’re been skeptical of it in the past, it might be worth it to try it right now. After all, the present moment is here now and that’s certain.