Book #38
The Power of Now
By Eckhart Tolle
Are You Living in the Past, Present, or Future?
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle is the type of book that I could read once a year and still gain new insights from. It is about relinquishing your addiction to past or future thinking and instead being still in the present. Often Tolle described my frazzled mental landscape well.
At one point, he gave a list of emotions that occur when you are not fully in the present.
If you are thinking too much about the future you will feel emotions like: anxiety, stress, tension, or worry- ie. all forms of fear.
And if you are thinking too much about the past, you might feel: guilt, regret, resentment, grievances, sadness, or bitterness- ie. all forms of non-forgiveness.
As an emotional exercise, I colour coded the above emotions to emphasize which of these I often feel. Soon, they were practically all emphasized. Welp. So much for that mental exercise.
Recognizing My Mental Spiral
Worse, many of my emotions weren’t even grounded in reality. They were just my mind running amok. I’d catch myself wondering things like is that person mad at me? Or I’d play out imaginary conversations that wasted mental energy, but solved nothing.
When Tolle said that the only difference between a “normal” person and a “mad” person is that the normal person doesn’t say their crazy thoughts out loud, I think I grabbed a cup of tea and stared out of a window for a while. Because he’s right. That is quite a fine line. I am happy that my mouth stops many of my nonsensical thoughts from exiting it.
I’ve also noticed that my thoughts carry a certain momentum, which makes me suspect that I have been thinking them for some time. They accumulate naturally: fuelled by sensory issues, hyper-vigilance, and a frantic learning style. (It is good if the mind is crammed with information, right? Right!?)
So I won’t be too hard on myself.
Identifying with the mind is understandable when so much of our life demands thinking, never just being. However, my overthinking has metastasized into anxiety. I was constantly thinking, but not actually conscious. It felt exhausting and unproductive, which is the worst of both worlds.
So, it is long overdue for me to reset myself in the present moment. But how do I go about doing that? Well, it starts with the basics…
Who Am I?
Before Tolle became a spiritual teacher, he caught himself thinking “I cannot live with myself any longer”. It shocked him. Who was he referring to when he said “I” and “myself”? Why are these two separate entities?
This is similar to a thought that I often catch myself thinking: “I cannot find myself”. For me, it often feels like there is a maze in my mind and body blocking me from my “true” self.
I am not even sure who my true self is, all I know is I am not currently with her. I don’t feel connected or at peace with myself, others, or the Universe. I’m just here, stuck in this maze. But am I the searcher or am I the treasure that I am looking for?
Tolle refers to feeling “oneness with Being”- that is what I am looking for. I have identified with my mind instead of being.
Being Instead of Thinking
And so it became apparent that I need to take responsibility for my inner space; to withdraw my attention from the past and future and simply exist in the now. This can feel intimidating to an overthinker- like peering over the edge of a cliff into nothingness and thinking you will fall headfirst into enlightenment. So I wanted to start with baby steps instead of one giant leap.
4 Steps To Be More Present
1. Deep Breaths
Since reading The Power of Now, I have written myself a “prescription” for 5 deep breaths a day. I have really enjoyed taking these. I feel more calm and connected to myself. Even after that quick pause, my mental chatter eases up; its momentum falters. I often take more than 5 intentional deep breaths a day now because it feels so good.
2. Observe Pain Bodies
Observe any pain you feel in your mind and body. When you do, it tends to dissipate.
I started doing this with my mind first, because physical pain in my body seems to hold more self-judgment. When I observe a negative thought and it disintegrates, I laugh. But when I try to do the same with physical pain, I blame myself when it doesn’t immediately disappear.
I have likely identified with my physical pain. I have lived with it for so long that I will have to practice being at peace with it.
3. Accepting the Present Moment
I am never at peace with what is. I am always trying to get somewhere. I need to work on simply being in the present; accepting it as it is, without forcing it to be something different. This can be tricky. Acceptance can feel like passivity.
I think the difference between these two is that acceptance feels empowering, whereas passivity often feels disempowering. Or perhaps more specifically, passivity might feel easy in the moment but tends to derail your life in the long-term- which becomes disempowering. Learning to recognize the loving, comfortable feeling of acceptance makes it easier to grasp and stay in longer.
4. Cultivate Long-Term Habits
I wanted to make it easier to reach a place of stillness. So I made a little space where I feel comfortable and relaxed. This may include flowers, nature, a spiritual figure or symbol- whatever helps you to feel at ease.
I have also been thinking about my long-term stillness. This year, I have committed to reading 52 books and blogging about it. I have not had much space to allow my thoughts to be, I have been quite forceful with them.
Next year, I want to include more space for presence. Hopefully by then, my prescription of 5 deep breaths a day will evolve into 10 minutes of meditation per day.
Getting Lost in My Thoughts, Not Losing Myself to Them
When I stop struggling, my mind drifts upward- not spiralling out of control, but rising like a balloon. It feels controlled, and yet not micro-managed. It makes me want to feel this way more.
In a way, the human mind reminds me of how AI can spiral into nonsense when it accumulates too much junk noise. Without resets, feedback loops in both AI and the human mind can build momentum and detach from reality.
When I observe my thoughts, I no longer lose myself in them. It is like a reset that halts the accumulation.
What about you- are your thoughts carrying you away or are you able to find stillness in the present?
Messy Bun Book Lover
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle is available here.
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