No past.

No future.

Just right now.

HOW IT WORKS

The Present Moment Game is a social meditation that brings small groups together—online and in-person—to practice presence. You don’t need any special background to play. Just a willingness to show up, warmly meet others in the moment, and do your very best to stay there.

Get present,
on purpose

Notice your experience as it unfolds, leaving behind stories about the past and speculation about the future. When a group speaks only from what’s happening in the moment, it’s a surprisingly simple conversational shift that opens up a whole new way of being together.

Speak only in
present tense

Entering the moment isn’t the real challenge. Staying in it is. Inevitably, you’ll drift into speaking about the past or pointing towards the future. This isn't failure! Because noticing you’ve left the moment, and then returning to it—over and over again—is the practice.

Return when
you drift

The game closes with each person sharing a brief reflection. The hope is that you leave the experience with a quieter mind, a softer heart, and a new way of inhabiting the moment that only deepens each time you come back to play.

Leave
differently

What people discover

  • "I expected awkwardness. But after about 20 minutes into the game, it felt so intimate. Like we skipped all the small talk and landed somewhere way more real."

  • "Even though I meditate every morning, this experience made me realize that I'm rarely, if ever, truly present with other people. Talk about an awakening."

  • “I was seriously shocked when the timer went off. The hour somehow felt both incredibly long and spacious, and also like no time at all.”

  • “Honestly? Some parts of the experience felt oddly sacred to me. Almost like a kind of human communion that people of all (or no) faiths can share.”

  • "I didn’t think an hour of staying present could feel this funny, emotional, uncomfortable, joyful, and human all at once."

  • “I realized that I was waiting for something more interesting to happen. Then I realized that any ordinary moment—when truly observed—is more than enough.”

  • “My mind kept reaching for the past or future, just out of habit. I was surprised by just how effective the rules were to bring me back to the moment.”

  • "It's one thing to be fully present by myself, and something very different to share it with others. I want more of this in my life."

  • "I didn't know anyone when we started, but by the end of the game, I felt genuinely connected to every one there."

  • "As someone who thinks about language for a living, I'm wide-eyed at what speaking solely in the present tense unlocks."

  • "Returning to the moment again and again felt like I was building a muscle for presence. I'm excited to keep playing and developing this skill."

Who comes to play

People who tend to replay the past or rehearse the future, and want practice staying in the moment they're actually in.

Mental Time Travelers

People who tend to replay the past or rehearse the future, and want practice staying in the moment they're in.

Those with an existing solo practice, curious about what a more social‍ ‍meditation experience might make possible.

Mindfulness Practitioners

Those with an existing solo practice, curious about what a more social‍ ‍meditation experience might make possible.

Busy people who spend most of their time doing, but want to make more space in their lives
to just be.

Full-Plate
People

Those caught in an endless stream of pings, updates, alerts, and noise, who crave an analog experience of just…less.

Full-Plate People

Busy people who spend most of their
time doing, but want to make more
space in their lives to just be.

Anyone moving through loss, change, grief, or uncertainty, seeking refuge in the sturdiness of the present moment.

The Digitally
Overstimulated

People who’ve glimpsed what it feels like to be completely present, and want practice finding their way back to it.

Those caught in an endless stream of
pings, updates, alerts, and noise, who
crave an analog experience of just…less.

People craving social contact beyond the usual small talk, stories, and conversational scripts.

Tender-Hearted
Humans

Anyone moving through loss, change,
grief, or uncertainty, seeking refuge in
the sturdiness of the present moment.

Those in the strange space between what was and what's next, curious about who they are right now.

Illumination
Seekers

People who’ve glimpsed what it feels like
to be completely present, and want
practice finding their way back to it.

Depth
Seekers

Anyone who has no idea
what this is, but has made it
this far and wants to sign up
and find out.

Depth Seekers

Those in the strange space between
what was and what's next, curious
about who they are right now.

Between-Chapter People

People craving social contact
beyond the usual small talk, stories,
and conversational scripts.

The Simply Curious

Anyone who has no idea
what this is, but has made it
this far and wants to sign up
and find out.

Just Humans Being.