Hilaria Baldwin On Living Clearly & Getting Zen In The City

That's the whole point of The Living Clearly Method. This is what bothered me when I started doing yoga, people just said, "Clear your mind, be present, go to your happy place." But there wasn't a lot of teaching how to do that, even though that all sounds really good. But how can I make that process happen? The Living Clearly Method is about getting into that "being present" [practice]. My theory is that to be totally present, the mind and the body have to talk to one another, but they speak two different languages. The mind is chatty, but it's always scattered and thinking about the past or the future instead of being fully present. The body has a physical reaction to every single thing the mind is thinking. The point of being present, and having the mind and the body come together, is that the mind has to start focusing on what the body is doing. That is the breathing, grounding, balancing, and letting go. 

The things you can do to bring the mind in connection with the body is to focus on focus on where your body is at right now: focus on where your legs are touching the seat if you're sitting, or how your feet feel on the ground if you're standing. That's grounding - it's surface touching surface, and it's going to immediately bring you into being present. If you feel your breath coming in and out, that's going to sync up the mind and the body. If you're having a conversation with someone, put your phone down when you're talking to them. My husband and I are trying to get much better at that. There was even a skit about it on SNL this weekend. We're both guilty of it - everybody is - but we're both trying to be more present in the mind and the body so they can sync up. Anytime that the mind is aware of the body, and vice versa, that it when you are present. That's the whole purpose of my book, that's where you find clarity. If you're not in this headspace, your mind is in a fog wandering through life and when you're present, you're choosing where these steps take you.