5.4 Live in the present, not the past or future

You can practise mindfulness in hundreds of different ways including meditation, dance, yoga, New Magna Carta Smallwalking, eating, tantra and singing. The common thread is practising awareness of your body, mind, thoughts, sensations, emotions and surroundings while cultivating an attitude of equanimity- not reacting. When we cultivate mindfulness, we are happier, healthier, more attractive, more successful, more adaptive, better leaders, better lovers, better parents, better workers, have lower blood pressure and better physical and mental health. The evidence is so good that American health insurance companies are willing to pay for training in mindfulness for inpatients because they leave hospital sooner, use less medication, suffer fewer complications, relapse less and have higher customer satisfaction. It is a win-win-win. We should teach it in schools, prisons, hospitals, workplaces – everywhere there are people.