If there is one thing seniors will learn in any meditation class is that they have to live in the now, not in the past and not for the future—that is, if you want to avoid stress. However, trying to focus on what’s happening now is not that easy especially nowadays that people are brainwashed to rushing things as if there is a fast forward button in life. Of course, there’s none and since humans are designed to live one day at a time, it only creates stress which is really harmful to your body.

While people are trying to simplify life by creating new technologies designed to make your life easier to live in, but what happens is, since tasks have become easier to do, we jump from a finished task to another without having the chance to smell the flowers in between. Everything seems so easy, your tendency is to take on as many challenges as you can in a day. Of course, that is not healthy, especially for seniors like you whose bodies need to slow down every once in a while.

But is it still possible? Yes, it can be done. If we, seniors, make it a priority. As mentioned earlier, our minds were conditioned in such a way that we only feel productive if we’re able to tackle today and tomorrow’s jobs yesterday. And, that is not usually done to free up 2 days but to be able to finish more jobs in the following days. Same goes for multitasking. I remember multitasking was once a highly regarded trait, not anymore as it is now considered as stressful and counterproductive. I, myself, experienced it, and had a hard time reprogramming myself to take it slow and enjoy every moment. Ask someone who was able to experience near-death and they will tell you that your past is not important anymore, so as the very unpredictable future, what’s more important is the here and now. That you live right here and right now.

Practice doing tasks one at a time then give yourself some rest time in between. This will allow your body and mind to focus on the task at hand and get ready for the next task. No need to get frantic and all if a task took more of your time than expected. Do things according to priority which means, you should do the ones that need your immediate attention and deal with the non-urgent ones later the day, tomorrow if you feel you’re not up to doing tasks anymore. Remember that in order to prevent stress, always put your body and mind’s needs first than anything else. It is also important that you learn how to listen to your body. This is the only way to prevent stress from happening.