173. Present Moment Awareness: Why Being Here Changes Everything

From The Modern Creative Woman · 34:59

Show by Dr. Amy Backos

Ask me a question or let me know what you think!How often are you actually present for your own life?Research suggests that nearly half of our waking hours are spent thinking about something other than what we are doing. Our minds wander into the past, the future, imagined conversations, worries, plans, comparisons, and everything else competing for our attention.In this episode of The Modern Creative Woman, Dr. Amy Backos explores the surprising connection between mind wandering, happiness, creativity, and our ability to connect with ourselves and the people we love.Amy looks at the landmark research by Matthew Killingsworth and Daniel Gilbert, who used an iPhone app to track people's happiness and mind wandering throughout their everyday lives. Their findings offer a powerful reminder: our happiness is influenced less by what we are doing than by how present we are while doing it.The good news is that present moment awareness is something we can practice.Amy shares simple, creative ways to return to the here and now, including scribble drawing, doodling, textile arts, knitting, crochet, walking, dancing, and a simple hugging meditation. These aren't about becoming a perfect meditator or a perfect artist. They are practices that help us learn how to notice where our attention has gone and gently bring it back.You'll also hear why practicing presence can be especially important when we're experiencing difficult emotions or reminders of past experiences, and how learning to stay with the present moment can build our capacity to navigate discomfort rather than automatically getting pulled away from it.Most importantly, this episode invites you to stop thinking about presence as another thing you have to do perfectly. Instead, think of it as a creative practice: noticing when you've wandered, celebrating the moment you return, and discovering what becomes possible when you are fully here for your own life.In this episode, you'll discover:Why our minds naturally wander away from the present momentWhat the Killingsworth and Gilbert happiness research revealed about mind wanderingWhy being present may matter more for happiness than the activity you're doingHow present moment awareness can support creativity and connectionWhy practice matters more than perfectionHow scribble drawing can become a 30-second mindfulness practiceHow knitting, crochet, weaving, and other textile arts can help anchor attentionWhy movement, walking, dancing, and physical connection can bring us back into the momentHow to notice difficult thoughts without automatically getting pulled into themSimple ways to practice being present throughout your everyday lifeA creative practice to tryThe next time you notice that your mind has wandered, don't criticize yourself for losing focus.Simply notice.Then return.You might take a pen and make a quick scribble on a piece of paper. Notice the movement of your hand, the pressure of the pen, the sound of the line moving across the page. Give yourself 30 seconds to experience what is happening right now.The goal isn't to clear your mind. It's to practice coming back.And once you're here, the question becomes: What will you create?Support the showExplore the Modern Creative Woman Communityhttps://moderncreativewoman.comFree Goodies and Subscribe to the Monthly Newsletterhttps://moderncreativewoman.com/subscribe-to-the-creative-woman/Connect with Dr. Amy on Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/dramybackos/

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