Being in the Moment

Living in the moment, being 'here' now means living in the present, free from the past and free too from the future. Some people worry about what is going to happen, others live by their past. The present is actually all we have - but should I say, "...what we have", it is precious, it is free. There is just now, the past is gone, the present is to come and everything is rolled into that, unfolding like Mr Curly's top knot, the road and the runner, but one.

It's the 'now' that is significant, something all psychodramatists know about. From the rudimentary beginnings of role theory and living in the moment exemplified in, "An invitation to an Encounter", 1910 - psychodrama is 107 years old this year, and if that is not the proof being in the pudding, I don't know what is. Psychodrama , sociometry and all its applications and methods have not only stood the test of time, they have informed almost every other field of endeavour, conceptually, methodologically and theoretically. To be here, now, is relatively simple, just turn your attention to the sounds outside or be conscious of where your feet are touching the ground, note the shoes, slippers, thongs or barefooted experience of the now. Your now. The smells, the feeling of skin in the air. Drinking a glass of water. It takes being mindful, focusing, thinking and reflecting, all essential for healthy living. Psychodrama, the mind/body method - the whole person method - par excellence. We don't actually know what we are capable of until we do it.

Baby steps. The important thing in psychodrama is to 'act'. Yes thinking and feeling are involved but essentially, it is the act that is important. Taking that walk, making that phone call, writing that blog. Let's create and as we do new pathways will open up in our brains and new psychological genes will be formed. As J.L. Moreno said, "More important than evolution of creation is the evolution of the creator."

"Let's act."

Sue Daniel, founded the Moreno Psychodrama Society in 2003 and conducts training workshops worldwide. She is the current Director of the Psychodrama Institute of Melbourne, a psychodrama training institute, which she began in May 2001.

Training commences, with an Open Night on Friday, 24 February from 7.30-10.30 p.m. Those interested in psychodrama and those already in training and their friends and colleagues are all welcome.

www.psychodrama-institute-melbourne.com