The Present Moment

Do not worry about the future, but plan for the future,

Do not whine about the past, but learn from the past,

The future is just an imaginary,

The past is just a memory,

Only the present is a reality,

Only the present moment can create the result,

Stay at present moment wisely and earnestly.

CEBU, Philippines - How does the Bible counsel worrywarts?

Such mild, kind yet earnest reproof is found in Matthew 6: 34: "Don't be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself; let the day's own trouble be sufficient for the day."

Our rush to the next situation of life or our connection to past hurts leads to a buildup of negative emotions. Unwittingly, these huge emotions of anxiety, anger, fear, sadness, etcetera, arrest our emotional wellbeing that's tied up to our physical and mental health.

One World of Music and Light, along Don Mariano Cui Street in Capitol Site, is a center where theater artist/facilitator Marq Dollentes and oncologist Dr. Bill Ramos offer facility to train the mind how to stop worrying about the future, how to stop whining about the past, and how to live the present moment.

True to its catchphrase - Your catalyst for wholeness, creative and conscious living - One World of Music and Light is a center where individuals are nurtured and supported in living the best of their life through yoga classes, various kinds of meditation and relaxation techniques, creative workshops, music and sound therapies, events, self awareness workshops, meditative dance, inspirational and spiritual cinema; mind-body-spirit medicine, among others, that bring fresh perspectives and interactive opportunities to be healthy in mind, body and spirit to be able to grow and prosper.

"Through therapeutic maneuvers - as in writing your own songs, listening to good music, moving to the music you like best, or creating a journal to express emotions - you can bring yourself to the present moment," Dr. Bill said, "wherein we are being provided. The ones bothering us are our concerns as to what would happen in the future or our connection with the past's pains."

"We can direct the mind to live the present moment to achieve relaxation," he emphasized.

On the other hand, Marq mentioned of Jesus being the Great Healer. "Jesus is source of healing because there is no such thing as disease in the mind of Christ --- only perfect radiant health."

"As it is said in the Bible: Be ye whole as your heavenly Father is whole. Therefore, in the presence of one such as Christ, a sense of wellbeing is felt. Holistic medicine, therefore, has already been the teaching of Christ. Holistic medicine focuses on wholeness and health rather than disease - an integration of the complete human being, mind, body, and spirit."

Marq also cited "A Course in Miracles", wherein it is stated that only the mind is sick. "Only the mind is capable of creating judgments such as good and evil and sin. To truly heal, therefore, is to change the old patterns of the mind to the point that it does not hold such an idea of sickness and of harboring ill thinking. As Shakespeare puts it, "There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.""

Another is the "Tao Te Ching" written by Lau Tzu in China in either the 4th or the 3rd century BC, which also emphasizes the idea of health: "If one is sick of sickness, then one is not sick.

The sage is not sick because he is sick of sickness.

Therefore he is not sick."

"We are so used to that idea that makes us prone to ailments. So in order to eliminate the concept of disease, we then observe the emotions involved. These are huge emotions that direct our mind to tell stories, until we believe in the idea of disease. However, our body system is very intelligent. It has its way of sending us messages there is wrong about something, so little signals could mean asking particular attention to our system. All we need to raise is emotional awareness," he added.

Further, Marq said that the center is offering creative workshops this summer in voice, piano, guitar, dance, and hiphop.

"There are many of us who do not even listen to that voice within that is constantly urging us to express and create something. The Universe is ever expanding and as a microcosm of the Universe, our own Being desires to make manifest or unleash our creative glory," he stressed.

"We are offering these music workshops to help those who would like to learn new things and develop new skills. Our workshops are open to all ages, coz it's never too early or too late." 

They are also offering one-on-one counseling (stress evaluation and strees reduction program) and that clients can call 5168916 (look for Ethel Ramos) to make a reservation.

As for particular techniques on how to focus on the "present moment", the duo shared that, like skills, these could be learned:

• Focus on what's right in front of you, or around you, or on you. Listen to the sounds around you, feel the warmth and smell of scented candles, for example, or the feel of your clothes and focus on how they feel to reconnect with the moment.

•Focus on your breathing. Take a couple of dozen belly breaths and just focus your mind on your inhaling and exhaling.

•Focus on your inner body. Focus on what's inside you rather than the outside. It could be the energy inside of your body or how you feel from the inside. Marc showed a practical way to do this by just focusing on your hands. To know how the hands feel when drawn close to each other and how the energy flows through it.

• Pick up the vibe from "present" people. Pick up positivity or enthusiasm from people. If you cannot find someone like that, positivityblog.com suggests "you listen to or watch CDs/DVDs by Eckhart Tolle. His books work too, but CDs/DVDs are better than books for picking up someone's vibe since the biggest part of communication is voice tonality and body language."

• Surrender to the emotion that is already there. It's easy to get stuck in a loop of old memories. You may want to move away from them but there is a feeling there that brings them back over and over. So you need to decrease the power that feeling has over you. And you don't do it by fighting it. You do it by surrendering to it. The feeling is a loop within your mind that you are feeding with more energy by resisting it. When you accept the feeling, then you stop feeding it and it vanishes. Here's an exercise on how to do it: Say yes to the feeling. Surrender and let it in. Observe the feeling in your mind and body without labeling or judging it. If you let it in - some people find the feeling then often seems to physically locate itself to the middle of the chest - just observe it for maybe a minute or two until the feeling just vanishes. This technique is similar to the ones listed above. They are all about observing.

•Other points of use: Learn from Nigerian master drummer Babatunde Olatunji who said that "Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. And today? Today is a gift. That's why we call it the present."

•Let this Sanskrit verse be your guide: "Each today, well-lived, makes yesterday a dream of happiness and each tomorrow a vision of hope. Look, therefore, to this one day, for it and it alone is life."

•Author Helen Mellincost writes: "I was regretting the past and fearing the future. Suddenly God was speaking: "My name is I Am." I waited and God continued: "When you live in the past, with its mistakes and regrets, it is hard. I am not there. My name is not 'I was'. When you live in the future, with its problems and fears, it is hard. I am not there. My name is not 'I will be'. When you live in this moment, it is not hard. I am here. My name is I Am."