Embrace the Here and Now

Uncertainty seems to be the order of the day. It’s hard to stay positive, when we’re yearning for the past or fearing the unknowable future. Dr. Gail Saltz shares the benefits of focusing on the here and now as well as tips that can help relieve our anxiety and provide real psychological benefits. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to this episode of Here's Something Good, a production
of the Seneca Women Podcast Network and I Heart Radio.
Each day we aspire to bring you the good news,
the silver lining, the glass half full, because there is
good happening in the world everywhere, every day, we just
need to look for and share it. Here's something Good

(00:27):
for Today, Phase one, Phase two no phase at all.
Cities and counties across the country are emerging from the
shelter at home rules imposed by the coronavirus, but not
everyone is jumping for joy. CNN just released a poll
showing that Americans are split in their feelings about returning
to their old routines. About half feel comfortable about getting

(00:49):
back to their former activities, while the other half are not.
In the meantime, experts from the CDC are warning that
the pandemic is far from over. Uncertainty seems to be
the order of the day, so it's hard to stay
positive and focused on the task at hand when we're
either yearning for a happier, simpler past or fearing an
unknowable future. The secret, though, may be found right here

(01:11):
in the present. We spoke with psychiatrist Dr Gail Saltz,
who told us that there are basically two kinds of people.
There are those who are oriented towards the good times
of the past, and then there are those who are
always looking forward to the next new thing. In these
uncertain times, both types can benefit from focusing on the
here and now. Here's what Dr Saltz had to say.

(01:32):
People who are very future thinking in general on the upside,
really enjoy and look forward to planning things. But they
also tend to be people who therefore think about the
future a lot and perhaps worry about it. So what
if this happens? What if that happen in the future,
And now I'm anxious. So actually for those people to
task on on both accounts is to move into the

(01:54):
present as much as they can, because obviously there's simmied
in the upside and the down inside of the what
ifs is going to be making them more anxious at
the moment because there's so much uncertainty. So for them
practices of the here and now and staying very focused
on things that they can enjoy and partake of in

(02:15):
the here and now. If you're making a nice meal,
you know, the future oriented people tend to be like, well,
this was good, but I'm shoveling into my mouth and
I'm not really paying that because I'm thinking about what
will I have, you know, next week. So practicing excepially mindfulness.
If you're gonna sit down to your meal, You're gonna
think a lot about how it smells, how it tastes,

(02:36):
how it looks, how it feels in the moment, trying
to essentially have as much pleasure and participation in the
here and now of your current enjoyable situation as you
possibly can, and actually rehearsing that in various ways, whether
it's a meal or a sitting with somebody you really

(02:57):
care about and having had a lovely conversation that you appreciated,
and all the nuances of that, that practice of the
here and now will actually serve you really well. I mean,
some people are going to come out of this thing
with some skill, some coping tools that actually helped them
in the long term. I also asked Dr Salts about
people who are past oriented, those who have nostalgia or

(03:17):
even remorse and somehow think that things will never be
the way they were. Again, that's a very anxiety produced thought,
because of course, we have tremendous uncertainty and we don't know,
and there's every possibility that it will be in let's
say two years, exactly the way that it was before.
We just don't know. So again I would urge them

(03:41):
also to stay away from as opposed to what I
was talking about before, where we said those are people
who tend toward anxiety. The very future oriented people who
stay very rooted in the past tend to be ruminators, right,
and they tend to have mood issues more than anxiety issues.
So what happened and I can't change it, and I'm

(04:02):
thinking about it over and over and over again, that's
called rumination. So again, a good way to get out
of ruminating is to be focused very much on the
here and now. But it is again about bringing your
mind into the present and focusing using all your senses
on things that are happening in here now. It's wonderful

(04:24):
to learn that we can help relieve our current anxiety
by being more present in the here and now. For
more insights from Dr Saltz, visit her website at Dr
gal Saltz dot com and check out her podcast Personalogy
on iHeart Radio. Everyday activity is such as savoring a
meal or a conversation with a friend can provide real
psychological benefits and alleviate worries, whether they're concerns about the

(04:48):
future or sadness about the loss of the past. But
we should also savor our memories of the things we've enjoyed,
and then we will enjoy it once again. By focusing
on the things we like, we can guide our perspective
to a more positive place. The same is true of
new everyday activities we've gained during lockdown. New recipes, new
good habits, new skills. All of these new activities that

(05:09):
were brought about by adapting to these extraordinary circumstances can
continue to benefit us well into our new normal. So
here's something good for today. As we move towards this
new future, together, we can embrace the present moment and
take with us all the positive changes we've made and
the habits we've gained. In doing so, we can find
comfort and even joy in the everyday activities we have

(05:31):
right in front of us. So when you're thinking about tomorrow,
remember those words attributed to Gandhi. The future depends on
what you do today. Thank you for listening, and please

(05:53):
share today's something good with others in your life. This
is Kim Azzarelli, co author of Fast Forward and co
founder of Seneca Women. To learn more about Seneca Women,
go to Seneca Women dot com or download the Seneca
Women app free in the app Store. Here's Something Good
is a production of the Seneca Women podcast network and
I Heart Radio Have a Great Day. For more podcasts

(06:20):
from my heart Radio, check out the I Heart Radio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.