Imagine you have three balloons above your head, one for the past, one for the present, and one for the future, and the size of each balloon reflects the amount of time your mind spends there in relation to your migraine or other health issue. If your ‘present’ balloon is very small, as it is for most people, this article will help you make it bigger, with the many benefits that being in the present moment brings to your health!
When your mind spends a lot of time in your past balloon, it spends time going over and over your symptoms, how they affect your life, and trying to figure out how you came to have migraines in the first place. This thinking generates more of the same symptoms.
When your mind spends a lot of time in your future balloon, it may be worrying how you will cope with that meeting if you have a migraine, or other health issue. It uses up time and energy worrying about something that hasn’t happened yet, and may not happen.
Of course your mind does need to spend time in the past and the future for practical purposes, difficulties arise when your mind spends a disproportionate amount of time in one of these balloons.
When your mind inhabits your present balloon, it is in the one place where you have a realistic picture of your health situation. You may be surprised to find that your migraine or other health issue is not actually such a big problem in this moment.
The present moment is the only place you can take action.
Three ways to get into your present balloon
Inspired by the Sedona Method, here are three approaches to encourage your mind into your present balloon.
1. Focus on your mind
David Ellzey, Sedona Instructor, explains that it’s just your mind that goes wandering off into the past and future. The rest of you, ie your body and emotions, are always in the present. For me, this distinction made a massive difference; it’s much easier to think of most of myself being present all the time, with just my mind to rein in.
2. Rein in your past and future balloons
This led me to the image of my mind wandering into the three balloons above my head. Now, when I want to get into the present moment, I imagine I’m reining in the past and future balloons, which just leaves the present balloon for my mind to be in.
3. Ask yourself this question
I’ve modified the Sedona Method’s Fifth Way of releasing question, so you can invite yourself into the present moment. Simply ask yourself:
If I don’t go into the past, and I don’t go into the future, where am I?
Asking this question immediately brings me into the present, I hope it works for you too!
The Delicious Nugget: It’s much easier to get into the present when you appreciate that your body is present all the time, it’s only your mind that goes wandering off. You can pull in your past and future balloons, or ask yourself a question to help your mind be in the present.
