Â
My idea of life is that we are consciousness living in the present moment in a physical body.
We live in every second. We live in our own reality, and we experience it through our senses – through our touch, through our taste, through our smell, through sound – and by being present to the world around us. The wind blowing in the trees, the sound of laughter, the feelings inside your body, the emotions you feel, and all the experience of life you have. The food that we taste, the sound of somebody talking, the sound of somebody coughing, the sound of somebody crying – all of that keeps us in the present moment.
But when we’re in our mind, our mind distracts us from the present moment. Our mind keeps us in the ideas of the future. What I need to do, what I’m going to do and how I should do it.
Or it flicks back into the past, and the mind stays in the past with memories of the things that have happened to me before, memories of what somebody said to me or somebody did to me.
Or it juggles from the future to the past, like, I want to do something and you have a vision of the future in your mind, then your mind casts itself back to the last time you did that and remembers the outcome and then bring itself back into future and thinks, how could I do it differently and get a different result? The mind plays this game to lure you away from the present moment where the mind has nothing to do.
And then the mind starts thinking about the future again: about appointments you have with people and the time you need to be somewhere, you think of the people you want to talk to, what you’re going to say, the places where you need to go and how you are going to get there. The mind is constantly planning for everything in the future.
And so, when I live in my mind – whether in the past or the future – it keeps me away from the present moment.
I believe the quality of our life is determined by how long you can stay in the present moment and not in your mind.
If you live until 80 years old you only live for about 4,000 weeks, and most of that time is spent in your mind thinking about something, and not being present to yourself and what you’re experiencing. The present moment is where we actually live – we can’t be anywhere else.
And so the mind robs us of our life. It robs us of our experience of being alive in that very special moment; where we feel all the different experiences, where we feel our emotions, our body, the wind on our face, the sun on our skin. Where we feel joy, where we feel laughter, where we watch ourselves breathing.
Instead of that, we can be in our minds thinking about what we need to do, or what we should do, or what people want us to do or answering emails or answering messages or watching other peoples lives on social media which keeps us in our minds. We talk to people answering their questions from our mind to their mind. And all it does is distract us from living in the present moment.
The present moment is where we really live, in our consciousness, not inside our mind. Our mind robs us of our experience of life, because it takes us away from the present moment, where the experiential beauty of life lives.
Stop right now and take your mind into your body, and watch yourself breath in and breath out, and then relax and be aware of the stillness.
Be still, be relaxed, be free.
Much care,
Pete C
Curious to try a gentle Qi Gong Course to help you stay grounded in your body and develop more presence?
Join Us for Our Zhan Zhuang Qi Gong Course in Bali, March 2026.
Already a Qi Gong practitioner, and want a course that goes deeper into the system?
Try Shi Ba Shi Taiji Qi Gong Level 1 Online CourseÂ
