reminding yourself to be present?

[hamedsf]

sometimes when we want to remind ourselves of the things we want to get done, we use sticky notes on the wall or set up a timer to remind us of the things that could slip our mind throughout the day. 
however, some people who are trying to be present ask: could we set up an interval repetitive timer throughout the day that goes off, say, every 20 minutes in order to remind ourselves to descend down to the present moment?
when you're doing that, you subtly send your subconscious a message that the present moment is always forgettable and should be reminded constantly and to be forced, thus when you set yourself an interval timer, you could be present in 3 or 4 of those, and for the rest of the day, even though it will go off for hundreds of times, you'll never be present again (even though you'll be thinking that you practice). people who are doing this is just seeking for an "external trigger" to trigger the presence "internally" but they don't know that everyone should develop an "internal trigger" and steer away from any external reminders because those always lead them to conceptualize about the present moment which in turn will make them unconscious again.

Edited November 29, 2019 by hamedsf

[Forestluv]

I’ve done these types of reality checks and Ime they can be useful to bring me back into the moment. For example, I set my wrist watch timer to beep once every hour. Not an alarm, just a quicks double beep. It usually went off while I was engaged in thought stories and helped me “come back”. I found that it was more effective when I did daily morning meditation. As the day went on, I would lose presence and the beep helped me to regain presence. Yet after a while, my mind began to build resistance to the beep and filtered it out or dismissed it. A beep every 20 min would have been way too frequent for me. . . . Another thing I tried was wearing a rubber band around my wrist and periodically snapping it during the day. 

[hamedsf]

@Serotoninluv you introduced a few bring-back-to-present techniques, and as you said some of those were more and some other were less effective than others. but the whole point is even the more effective ones lose its effectiveness in the long run. because you want to use those as an anchor for the present moment, but the thing is even when "present moment" is used as the expression in your mind, you lose the touch with it completely. that's why I say that being present should be spontaneous! 

Edited November 29, 2019 by hamedsf

[Forestluv]

@hamedsf That’s a good way to explain it. I hadn’t thought of it like that.

What’s coming up for me now is that there is “present moment” imagination and actual presence. Sometimes I want to set up a meditative environment that allows “presence”. As if I am walking from a room of “non-prescence” into a room of “presence”. I even start a timer that that marks the beginning of presence. In a way it’s quite silly, yet in another way it’s helpful to relax the mind and allow space for awareness of presence. Yet other times, it seems like I am imagining presence and trying to express it and lose it.

For me this relates to what I am sensitive in Now. Sometimes my mind is off in thought stories and not sensitive to what is happening Now. I may mindlessly spill my coffee. Other times, it’s like I’m super sensitive to what’s happening Now. I may be walking in nature without any thoughts. Then something may appear that I sense, perhaps a type of energy or aura. Yet as soon asI think about it like “What was that? Was that real or my imagination” - I lose touch with it.