Learning to Fully Live in the Present Moment

Living in the present is a vital part of a mindful lifestyle. It directly impacts our inner sense of harmony and happiness, as well as our overall mental health. True happiness and harmony depend on ourselves — not on the past or the future.

Natalia Vovk, a psychologist and director of the Center for Tomalogy – Self-Knowledge and Development, shared with VITAGURU how to let go of the past and start living fully.

“This question arises when past events come back to mind, making us relive a range of emotions over and over again. These can be joyful events — meeting a loved one, the birth of a child, a new job or business — or sad ones — failures, losses, separations, grief, etc.

The past is what leaves a mark on us. And if this mark feels more like an open wound, that’s when the need to ‘let go’ of the past becomes relevant. Let go — because the past doesn’t actually hold us. It’s we who won’t or can’t part with it,” explains the psychologist.

The mind cannot stay in the present moment. It naturally moves either toward the future — where our hopes, desires, dreams, and fears lie — or toward the past.

“How does this happen? Any unusual or emotionally impactful situation from the past may leave an imprint in our memory. We return to it again and again, re-experiencing desirable or unpleasant emotions.

It’s because the event shook us — we weren’t prepared, or we couldn’t handle the emotions at the time — and so the situation doesn’t feel complete. We ‘go back’ to it mentally, comparing it to new experiences and re-feeling those emotions. This forms a kind of capsule: an unacknowledged fact, unprocessed emotions, and an unresolved situation,” says Natalia Vovk.

“In a positive light, when an event fills us with joy, awe, or love, we can also store it in our memory as an ideal. We strive to recreate such experiences, wanting more of the good and less of the bad. When neutral events occur in our lives, we may look back at these happy memories and compare them to the present.

The important thing is that such a return to the past should serve as a resource — not as proof that all the good things are already behind us,” she continues.

What Can You Do to Let Go of the Past?

To let go of the past, we need to learn to live in the moment — to return to the here and now, and to interact consciously with reality.

According to the psychologist, it’s essential to recognize when your mind drifts into the past or future, and to remember that the past no longer exists — it’s only a memory. The future doesn’t exist yet — it’s just a mental projection.

“Don’t ‘revive’ the past by rewriting it in your mind. Doing so makes it harder to let go. Each time we revisit a past event with new interpretations, we reshape it again. Live with the facts of what happened,” says Natalia.

We must learn to fully experience our emotions — and that, in turn, leads to self-mastery.

“Give yourself the right to live according to your understanding. At any given moment, we can only do what we’re capable of. Resisting the reality of a situation suppresses the emotions, which we’ll still have to face eventually.

Express yourself and your truth. Don’t overprotect your actions or scare yourself with imagined consequences. Real action brings real results, showing whether the path you’re on is right or not. But if you spend your whole life preparing for the ‘perfect action,’ you may miss the moment for timely action — and that will become just another memory of a missed opportunity,” she explains.

“Learn to live each moment of your life without viewing it through the lens of the past or the future. Every moment is unique and deserves our full attention. Be open, receptive, and authentic — and you will learn to truly enjoy life,” advises Natalia Vovk.