At about 4 p.m. the other day, I was thinking about the calls I needed to make after work and a video conference I needed to be on after the calls, and I didn’t want to do any of it! I wished that I could just be done at 5pm. The feeling was one of definite suffering. Thankfully, with mindfulness I was able to redirect my attention to the present moment. I could make a conscious somatic connection to my body and stem the tide of suffering. The physical experience of sitting at my desk at work in the present was far better than the thoughts about the what I still had to do and the aversion that came with those thoughts.
The experience of the mind reaching into the future to obsess, generate agitation, and fall into a suffering state is common. As Mark Twain said, “Some of the worst things in my life never happened.”
Anyone reading this probably knows first-hand both the pervasiveness of the mind spinning into the future, and the refuge that the present moment can be from such suffering. What I would like to offer here is that in addition to turning one’s attention to the present moment in such situations, we can make a conscious connection with the body. We cannot worry about the future and be aware of the physicality of the body at the same time. It’s not possible.
So -- out of the head and into the body as refuge. Much more can be said about body as refuge. For now, you might work with this suggestion as a practice to anchor in the present when you become aware of the mind worrying or being annoyed about the future.
One of the easiest ways to connect with the body is to bring your attention to where it is touching something. So, if you are sitting down, feel the connection (pressure, warmth, hardness, softness, etc.) between your sit bones and what you’re sitting on. If you are standing, using the sensations in the bottom of the feet to bring your attention to the connection (solid, firm, hardness, pressure, etc.) with the floor and earth.
This isn’t rocket science and is quite simple to do. The question is, do we remember to do it?