Struggling to stay present

Last month I took my massage practice full time and despite it being the biggest blessing of my life, my brain has been switched on like never before.

After months of hard work I couldn't tell you how excited I was to immerse myself in the most magical massage course.

I came off the prerequisite course on a 3 month high last year after being surrounded by some great massage practitioners.

But despite the content being engaging and feeling rested future problems dragged my brain out of the room and into the future.

So, what do you do when the outside world never ends but you want to stay true to your intentions in the present moment?

I took control of my RAS (Reticular Activating System). Located in your brainstem, it is your brain's sensory filter and attention gatekeeper.

When I fed my RAS thoughts like "I need to record content at this angle, for this specific shot' during my course, this 'top down' signal specifically tells my RAS what is important and what thoughts to prioritise.

Honestly, it was a nightmare trying to stayed focused on what the teacher is saying.

But by closing my eyes, taking a few deep grounded breathes and repeating 'this is the only place I need to be' helped instruct my RAS what to focus on and temporarily eliminates environmental sensory stimuli bringing my mind back into the room to be present with my intentions to learn in class.

If you like neuroscience, attention and mindfulness this intersects all of them. I encourage you to try it when you're mind is drifting into the future.