Present Moment Awareness

Rating:
Summary: Living Today
Review: "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." ~Theodore Roosevelt

The entire concept of "Present Moment Awareness" is based on a desire for peace or perhaps is as ancient as the "taking no thought for tomorrow" concept.

While distorting experiences are sure to evade your peaceful space, it might not be as difficult to pull back and observe what is occurring as you might think. There is a moment when you are so consumed in the moment it can devour you. This book is not about being consumed by the moment, but rather watching the moment pass by.

It is amazing that people often feel as if they always need to be doing something, as if to escape their thoughts or the reality of their situation. They find it difficult to genuinely relax and enjoy moments in their life because they feel an certain "level of dissatisfaction" with their lives. Many times they are limited by their past failures or threatened by the thought of failure in the future, otherwise known as "worry." This worry then limits our potential to experience good.

Shannon Duncan encourages us to live our life with a "relaxed confidence." He explains how humans want to be valued, noticed, understood, respected and loved. When our perception is distorted, we can have a different version of reality.

"When your perspective on life shifts, changes in your feelings and behavior will naturally follow suit. Your life can become less of a struggle and more of a pleasure when you learn what it means to be present in the moment." ~Shannon Duncan

You are still allowed to have emotions, but they are "observed" and not taken as seriously. You "pass through the dissatisfaction."

This book will encourage you to:

Let go of the mental static
Decrease your inner turbulence
Just "Be" in the moment
Let go of daydreams and worries
Release overwhelming emotions
Shift your Perception
Stop being tense and emotionally reactive
Stop creating your own emotional suffering
Cease pointless wrestling with circumstances beyond your control
Realize your dreams
Focus on the good in your life
Improve communication with those around you

This book is part of a program and you might want to order the "Focus Tool." At first I couldn't figure out what this was until I saw a picture on the back flap of the cover. It is a waking alarm clock that has vibrating or audible alerts, perhaps like a beeper. There are various exercises you do when the beeper goes off. These change throughout the book, but all are to bring you back to the present moment.

Perhaps the best way to enjoy the moment is not to be worried about your eternal destiny. This was not discussed and I think it is crucial to being able to live a worry-free existence. This is not a religious book however as James Baldwin once said: "If you're afraid to die, you will not be able to live.

May you find the peace only God can give while you live in the present moment.

Rating:
Summary: So compelling, I shared it with my students
Review: I required students in my high school class to read Present Moment Awareness because of its simplicity and relevance to everyday life. The book provided me with tools to cope with fear, stress, uncertainty, and emotional turbulance and I immediately saw the value for young people. The response was tremendous. One student even asked his mother, who he described as "stressed out", to read the book. He was certain it would help her find the balance he had achieved. I encourage you to not only read the book and practice the exercises for present moment awareness, but also to share this valuable resource to the young people in your life.

Rating:
Summary: basic help & ideas on how to stop stressful reactive life
Review: This book is classified in the category of "Personal Growth". So, the content is relevant to that topic. It combines some ideas of attending life's activities attentively, being observant of reactions happening in body, mind (emotions) and intellect (thoughts), which the author calls 'Present Moment Awareness'. The author says that by this ability to observe, quality of life will improve. He supports this proposal by saying that we react to the events in our life and world based on how we perceive them, and not necessarily what they truly are. He says that this reactivity based on flawed perception of ours is caused by our 'Negative Core Beliefs' of what we think we are, based on our childhood experiences. He says that by being able to relate our reactivity to the origins of our reactive patterns and the original causes, we will be able to let them go and live a better life.

If what is said above is all that is desired of life by someone, this book may help by convincing through some logic, some examples and some theory to work with.

But, if one's search is for 'TRUTH' of Life, this book is inadequate. 'Present Moment' is different from 'the Present' which is time bound. How can you define 'Present Moment' ? . Is it a day or an hour or a minute or a second or a split-second ? In 'Spiritual' sense, Present Moment Awareness is 'TIMELESSNESS'. This book does not communicate at that level, and instead confuses between 'Present' and 'Present Moment'.

But, for some who does not know any thing other than living an ordinary life, and who is missing joy of living, this book may provide some guidance to center himself/herself to the central theme of living i.e. 'living with ease'. This should be a worthy gift to youngsters and beginning spiritual seekers.

Here are excerpts from the book:

Introduction

Page xiii:

"In learning to live in the present, you discover how to set aside emotional baggage from the past, and worries about the future, in order to appreciate the opportunities you have available to you, right here and right now."

The power of this moment

Page 3:

"Present moment awareness is being aware of what is happening in ourselves and our world instead of being lost in random fears from the past and uncertainties, hopes and expectations for the future. In the absence of those fantasies we have the opportunity to enjoy our day-to-day living."

Page 4:

"When we are present in the moment, we are not thinking about our environment. We are simply experiencing it. The goal is to observe without judgment, analysis, or thought."

The illusion of limitations

Page 31:

"What is vital to recognize is that aside from the laws of Physics, we are only limited by our beliefs. These beliefs, however, can seem as real and insurmountable as the walls of a jail cell."

Page 55:

"Until I paused to question my beliefs about the very nature of who I am and why life should be different for me than anyone else, I was isolated and alone."

Emotional Presence

Page 60:

"What is important to remember is that emotional responses are triggered by our PERCEPTION of a given situation."

Page 71/72:

"All emotions are an inevitable part of our existence that can not and will not be denied. If we are feeling an emotion, then there is a reason for it. We can investigate whether or not that reason is based on reality, but what we can not do is deny that emotion its natural existence. In being present in the moment and allowing emotions to pass through us, we not only reduce their demands on our bodies, but we also gain the opportunity to understand their origin."

Page 86:

"We must always be aware of the fact that our thoughts and perceptions are not necessarily based on reality, even though the resulting physical sensations of emotion are very much real. When we stay in the present moment with what we are feeling in our bodies as the emotions take place, their power is allowed to run its natural course. The river is allowed to pass, instead of the dam being forced to burst."

Reactivity roller coaster

Page 91:

"Inappropriate modeling, as well as painful childhood experiences, have created in most people deeply rooted Negative Core Beliefs - beliefs that they are, to some degree, not good enough. They feel a sense of shame about who they are."
. . . .
"These Negative Core Beliefs are our conscious and unconscious insecurities."

Page 110:

"Negative Core Beliefs are experienced as "feelings" until they are named. They are normally summed up in a single word, such as "worthless", "helpless", "weak", "ugly", "small". Sometimes a Negative Core Belief is preverbal, in that it was made before we could understand our world through words."

Page 115:

"Think of these emotions as raindrops on a car's windshield. If we become absorbed in them, then we can't see where we are going or what we are going to crash into. But, if we take a deep breath and look through them, we still know they are there and that there is also the road ahead."

Rating:
Summary: basic help & ideas on how to stop stressful reactive life
Review: This book is classified in the category of "Personal Growth". So, the content is relevant to that topic. It combines some ideas of attending life's activities attentively, being observant of reactions happening in body, mind (emotions) and intellect (thoughts), which the author calls 'Present Moment Awareness'. The author says that by this ability to observe, quality of life will improve. He supports this proposal by saying that we react to the events in our life and world based on how we perceive them, and not necessarily what they truly are. He says that this reactivity based on flawed perception of ours is caused by our 'Negative Core Beliefs' of what we think we are, based on our childhood experiences. He says that by being able to relate our reactivity to the origins of our reactive patterns and the original causes, we will be able to let them go and live a better life.

If what is said above is all that is desired of life by someone, this book may help by convincing through some logic, some examples and some theory to work with.

But, if one's search is for 'TRUTH' of Life, this book is inadequate. 'Present Moment' is different from 'the Present' which is time bound. How can you define 'Present Moment' ? . Is it a day or an hour or a minute or a second or a split-second ? In 'Spiritual' sense, Present Moment Awareness is 'TIMELESSNESS'. This book does not communicate at that level, and instead confuses between 'Present' and 'Present Moment'.

But, for some who does not know any thing other than living an ordinary life, and who is missing joy of living, this book may provide some guidance to center himself/herself to the central theme of living i.e. 'living with ease'. This should be a worthy gift to youngsters and beginning spiritual seekers.

Here are excerpts from the book:

Introduction

Page xiii:

"In learning to live in the present, you discover how to set aside emotional baggage from the past, and worries about the future, in order to appreciate the opportunities you have available to you, right here and right now."

The power of this moment

Page 3:

"Present moment awareness is being aware of what is happening in ourselves and our world instead of being lost in random fears from the past and uncertainties, hopes and expectations for the future. In the absence of those fantasies we have the opportunity to enjoy our day-to-day living."

Page 4:

"When we are present in the moment, we are not thinking about our environment. We are simply experiencing it. The goal is to observe without judgment, analysis, or thought."

The illusion of limitations

Page 31:

"What is vital to recognize is that aside from the laws of Physics, we are only limited by our beliefs. These beliefs, however, can seem as real and insurmountable as the walls of a jail cell."

Page 55:

"Until I paused to question my beliefs about the very nature of who I am and why life should be different for me than anyone else, I was isolated and alone."

Emotional Presence

Page 60:

"What is important to remember is that emotional responses are triggered by our PERCEPTION of a given situation."

Page 71/72:

"All emotions are an inevitable part of our existence that can not and will not be denied. If we are feeling an emotion, then there is a reason for it. We can investigate whether or not that reason is based on reality, but what we can not do is deny that emotion its natural existence. In being present in the moment and allowing emotions to pass through us, we not only reduce their demands on our bodies, but we also gain the opportunity to understand their origin."

Page 86:

"We must always be aware of the fact that our thoughts and perceptions are not necessarily based on reality, even though the resulting physical sensations of emotion are very much real. When we stay in the present moment with what we are feeling in our bodies as the emotions take place, their power is allowed to run its natural course. The river is allowed to pass, instead of the dam being forced to burst."

Reactivity roller coaster

Page 91:

"Inappropriate modeling, as well as painful childhood experiences, have created in most people deeply rooted Negative Core Beliefs - beliefs that they are, to some degree, not good enough. They feel a sense of shame about who they are."
. . . .
"These Negative Core Beliefs are our conscious and unconscious insecurities."

Page 110:

"Negative Core Beliefs are experienced as "feelings" until they are named. They are normally summed up in a single word, such as "worthless", "helpless", "weak", "ugly", "small". Sometimes a Negative Core Belief is preverbal, in that it was made before we could understand our world through words."

Page 115:

"Think of these emotions as raindrops on a car's windshield. If we become absorbed in them, then we can't see where we are going or what we are going to crash into. But, if we take a deep breath and look through them, we still know they are there and that there is also the road ahead."

Rating:
Summary: Awareness of How
Review: This book really delivered on its promise of how to improve my life and existence by being present in the moment. The only fault I have with it is that the wrting style was a bit dry and impersonal. I've been very positively influenced by books I've found here recently which not only educate and lead the reader to enhanced modes of living, but are also very entertaining to read at the same time. For example, Clint Arthur's instructional memoire "9 Free Secrets of New Sensual Power," which I wholeheartedly advise everyone to investigate if they really want an enjoyable read that not only entertains but also Educates on a very personal and essential level! There's also a memoire by a woman called "Wisdom Daddy Taught Me" which serves up a very healthy plateful of knowledge and material to improve the reader's life in addition to being extremely fun to read. All of these books are very highly recommended, but if you want the best of them all, get the one by Clint because it will empower you and thrill you at the same time.