Always Changing Now
When we awaken to/as the Witness, we see clearly that there is only an always changing Now. All experiences - all sensations, emotions, thoughts - always arise in this fluid Now.
And any experience can be a reminder of this, a reminder to come to the Witness, the space & awareness experiencing everything arising right here/now.
If we attach to a thought, we have a sense of being lost in the "past" or the "future", because that is the function of many thoughts. They help us remember and process past Nows and prepare for future Nows. And this is an essential function. Without it, we would not survive long as human beings.
But the suffering comes when we believe the thought, when we identify with it, when the thought becomes our whole reality. When we believe a thought, reality is bound to manifest in ways that do not correspond with the thought, and there is resistance and suffering. Any thought it limited and onesided, and reality is unlimited and embraces all views.
Only a small shift is needed for loosening these contractions, and that is the shift to the Witness. To recognize ourselves as the Witness, as this space & awareness within which all experiences arise. This gives space to not automatically engage in whatever comes up, and perspective to decide when and how to engage with it. And as we do this, in our daily life, we are able to do it in more and more situations.
Soon, any sense of contraction becomes a reminder to allow our blind identification with a thought to loosen, and include the space & awareness which is the context of all experiences.