How Living in the Now Can Help You Come Out of Stress?
What remains when you let go of the need to control? An absolute sense of peace and aliveness. If have never tried this before, try it now – just for moment, surrender your need to control your experiences. Just let go – let the thoughts wander, let the emotions swirl through your body, let the breathing happen effortlessly, let the noise exist and let your eyes rest on anything they want to. You will notice that everything is going on without your actual involvement, you just remain as the perceiver of all. This is your true nature, one of effortless peace and stillness. You can only be conscious of it when you allow the now to be as it is without controlling it.
There is no stress when there is presence
If you observe consciously, you will notice that for stress to exist there needs to be an entity which is getting stressed. It’s your body that’s getting stressed. You are not your body – in other words, you are not the flesh, blood, nerves and cells that make up the body. To say that I am my body is saying I am my hand.
If you are not the body what are you? – See for yourself. Your body is operating automatically without your interference. The heart is beating and blood is circulating on its own. Imagine the effort involved if you had to ensure that you keep breathing! Aren’t you just the still watcher of everything that’s going on?
Everything about life is effortless – So who makes the effort, why is there so much stress around? It’s because our mind has created this fictitious image of who we are, and it creates a story around this image we perceive as ourselves. Stress happens to this self-image. Without this image, everything would just be happening effortlessly. You just stay as the awareness of the present moment.
The illusion of self-image is what creates stress – When you see through the illusion the mind creates of a self-identity, you will know that you are not the image but the awareness in which everything is taking place. Awareness or consciousness is your only nature. As Eckhart Tolle puts it beautifully – “You are the formless consciousness which is aware of all the forms”.
Allow everything to be as it is – Stop controlling or putting in the effort. You will naturally fall back to your natural state of pure awareness. You will notice that everything is happening harmoniously without the illusion of control. You just stay as the perceiver of everything – the thoughts, emotions and the activities. The first time you become conscious of this truth, it’s bound to come as a shock. But this what living in the now truly is.
Shift from doing to being – Once you get a taste of this shift in consciousness, you will never want to go back to deadening world of the unconscious identification with the mind created self-image. This state of natural awareness is called “presence”. There is no effort involved in this. As Adyashanti puts it – “You just rest as awareness, everything happens around you”.
Don’t try to control your presence
The mind is always trying to do, and it won’t be long before it volunteers to stay as the presence. If you hear your mind saying “Yes, I can stay present for longer than others”, then you have already lost it. Most people find staying in the now difficult because they are trying to control their natural state of awareness.
Just remember that awareness is always present. There is not a moment when awareness is not there. Even when your mind is lost in thoughts, there is an awareness of it. You are this ever present awareness, so don’t try to become aware. When you are trying hard to be aware, you are trying to do something and that’s not your natural state. Let go of control and you will fall back to your natural state of presence.
In conclusion
When you rest in your actual awareness, you will perform activities with effortless ease. Letting go of control does not mean that activities will stop. It just means that you will stay as the watcher while life unfolds. It will be clear to you that you are not the controller but the awareness of all that is going on. Nothing stops when you relinquish a control you never had to start with. Only stress and suffering fall away.