Living in the Now: A Gentle Return to Yourself
Jeri Tourand 
Living outside the present costs us peace, connection and vitality. We lose trust in life because we are never actually WITH life!
Living in the Now: A Gentle Return to Yourself
There is a moment that arrives quietly.
A moment where the noise loosens its grip, your breath deepens, and life feels closer than it has in a long time.
Most of us spend our days everywhere except right here. We revisit the past. We anticipate the future. We manage. We plan. We brace. We try to stay ahead of life rather than in relationship with it.
No wonder peace feels hard to access.
Presence is not a skill that some have and some do not.
Presence is a return. A remembering.
A soft exhale into the truth that this moment is enough.
In my own journey, presence became real during my studies in Zen Trilotherapy with Zen Master Nissim Amon. He was teaching the group about the importance of presence through sharing with us the prices we pay for living too much in the past and the future. The lesson was called, “The Five Dimensions of Time.”
While were busy analyzing which dimension was stealing our peace and where we were spending most of our time the Zen Master paused, looked deeply into us, and said two simple sentences:
“In this moment, everything is alright.
It is always this moment.”
When he spoke those words, something in me settled.
Not because my life was perfect but because my attention finally came home.
I have carried those sentences with me ever since. They are a compass. A medicine. A prayer. And today I want to offer you a few perspectives and practices that may help you return to the now with more ease, more trust, and more inner peace.
Five Dimensions of Time (And Why We Get Pulled Away from the Present)
Most people live inside what the Zen Master calls the five dimensions of time:
Distant Past
Old identities and unfinished stories.
The cost: heaviness, regret, repeating patterns.
Near Past
The last conversation, the small frustration, the moment we wish we handled differently.
The cost: tightness, self-criticism, looping thoughts.
Present
The only place where power, clarity, intuition, and connection exist.
The only moment where you can choose how you show up.
Near Future
To-do lists, planning, bracing for outcomes.
The cost: tension and over-responsibility.
Distant Future
Imagining possibilities and projecting fear stories.
The cost: overwhelm, uncertainty, disconnection.
When we spend too much time anywhere but the present moment, we lose trust in life.
We lose trust in ourselves.
And we lose access to the calm, grounded inner guidance that is always available.
Presence is your portal back to alignment.
A Gentle Practice to Bring You Back to Now
This exercise helps soften the parts of you that work too hard and frees your nervous system from time-traveling all day.
Take a slow breath as you read.
Let this be experiential.
1. Invite your distant past self to sit beside you.
The version of you who had fewer tools and did the best they could.
The one who might still be clinging to an old belief or an old hairstyle.
Thank them, and let them know they can let go now.
2. Invite your near-past self to sit down too.
The version of you from this morning or yesterday.
The one who got annoyed at the traffic or that person who still has not mastered replying in group chats.
Instruct them to relax. Rest.
3. Sense your distant-future self behind you.
The one who wants to figure out the next ten years before dinner.
Let them soften.
Tell them they do not need to plan your entire life today.
4. Invite your near-future self to relax.
The one already thinking about what you will eat later or wondering if the laundry is still judging you.
Ask them can take a deep breath.
Now notice who is left.
The one breathing.
The one reading.
The one alive in this moment.
This is you.
This is presence.
This is where trust lives.
Now gently whisper to yourself:
“In this moment, everything is alright.
It is always this moment.”
Feel how your body responds.
Feel how your breath changes.
Feel the subtle exhale that comes when you return home to yourself.
Why Radical Trust Changes Everything
Trust is not something you think your way into.
It is something the body learns when you stop dragging it through time.
When you soften into presence, your nervous system settles.
Your choices become clearer.
Your relationships feel more connected.
And life begins to feel friendlier.
Radical trust is simply this:
A willingness to meet life as it arrives instead of trying to outthink it.
When you live from trust, the present moment feels less like a place you visit and more like the place you live.
Three Tools to Strengthen Presence and Peace
1. The One-Breath Reset
Place a hand on your heart and take one intentional breath.
Say silently: I am here now.
One breath is enough to interrupt anxiety and return you to center.
2. The Time-Travel Check-In
Ask: Which version of me is driving right now?
Near past
Distant past
Near future
Distant future
Or the present self
Awareness creates choice.
3. The Zen Master’s Two Sentences
Use them anytime you feel overwhelmed or uncertain.
Repeat softly until your body believes it:
In this moment, everything is alright.
It is always this moment.
These words are a doorway back into yourself.
A Closing Invitation
You do not have to master presence.
You simply return.
Again and again.
With gentleness.
One breath.
One moment.
One soft willingness to trust that this moment is enough.
The more you return to yourself, the more life meets you with clarity, connection, and calm.
And you begin to feel the truth:
The doorway to inner peace is always right here.
Categories: : consciousleadership, embodiedwisdom, lead the change, life journey, mindfulness, presencepractice, self-love, trustthemoment