Ease Anxiety. Return to the present. Live more mindfully with intention and joy.
Ease Anxiety. Return to the present. Live more mindfully with intention and joy.
At backtothepresent.org, we exist to ease the anxiety that pull people away from the only moment where they can use their Gifts and truly enjoy life — the present one.
When you return your awareness to the present moment, you limit unnecessary anxiety and regain the ability to utilize your time and energy — your Limited Resources — with intention and efficiency. Here, you learn to apply awareness, challenge, patience, and honor into a practice that can help you return to presence, minimize suffering, and experience more joy.
Find Your Way
What is the LIFE-MAP?
"The LIFE-MAP" is a core part of the backtothepresent process. It's a synopsis of the Critical Understandings needed to find a more mindful, joyful and fulfilling life.
It's not just a set of directions, but a new way of seeing your journey. It helps you navigate away from Anxiety and back to the joy of the present moment.
A New Way To Be
Our program provides exercises for improved consciousness and mitigation of Anxiety. We guide you through a personal journey to a more peaceful, mindful, and fulfilling life.
Critical Understandings
of the Life Map
See the principles that guide your actions, feelings, and thoughts to a more joyful, present life.
Mindfulness
When being mindful, we are aware of what we are doing, feeling, and thinking in the present moment, without judgment.
Sources of Anxiety
Find out what steals your joy—and how to take it back.
Toolbox for a Joyful Life
Practical tools to help you live with loving intention-bringing more joy into every moment.
The Three Gifts
Use your physical, emotional, and spiritual Gifts with intention.
The Three C’s of a Good Relationship
Commitment, Communication, and Compromise guide how we use our actions, feelings, and thoughts with loving intention—helping relationships grow stronger, more respectful, and more joyful.
F.A.S.T. Emotions
Don’t act F.A.S.T.—nothing good comes of it. Pause before reacting—fear, anger, sadness, and temptation can mislead.
Identity
Explore how your sense of self is shaped by thoughts, roles, and experiences, and how awareness creates freedom beyond them.
Decision Making
Balance the brain and the heart. Let your intellect and intuition work together as one, creating a joyful life.
Karmic Responsibility
Every emotion, behavior, and response you send out returns-karmic responsibility helps you understand why.
Attributes of Knowledge
Learn how your Impulse, Intention, and Implementation shape contentment, happiness, and joyfulness—and how using loving intention can guide every choice.
Our Creative Abilities
Discover the human tools that allow us to create our life’s direction.
Emotional States of Being
Decisions making for content, happiness, and joyfulness.
Levels of Consciousness
Discover why humans don’t just survive the moment—we use our consciousness to choose what comes next.
Creative Evolution
Creative evolution is humans consciously shaping future generations through intentional mate choice.
Obligations
Notice the responsibilities you carry and how they shape your thoughts, emotions, and actions. Awareness creates space for wiser choices.
Social Anxiety
Understand how fear of judgment pulls attention away from the present moment, and how awareness helps you return.
Latest Articles
Start here, choose a topic that speaks to you.
Meet the Founder
Dr. Wayne Johnson, MD
Dr. Wayne Johnson practices medicine on Hilton Head Island, SC. Through his years of practice, he has developed this program to encourage and support people of all ages in the pursuit of a Joyful Life.
Using techniques of mindfulness, this program guides each person through a personal journey to mitigate anxiety, focus on fulfillment, and find their way "Back To The Present."
Why Mindfulness Matters
In this TEDx talk, Dr. Wayne Johnson shares the deeper reason behind this entire approach, explaining how anxiety affects young people today and how mindful awareness can transform the way they navigate stress. This video offers the foundation of everything we teach, showing how presence builds confidence, clarity, and a more meaningful life.
The Science Behind Our Framework
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Testimonials
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Testimonials *
Back to the Present was introduced to me by Dr. Johnson during my first office visit nearly five years ago. It was an unexpected gift that has helped me in more ways than I could have imagined.
Using the tools it provides has allowed me to reflect on and redirect my time and energy in healthier, more constructive ways. Over time, this has led to greater happiness, reduced anxiety, and a deeper appreciation for the small moments in life.
I often find myself wishing I had been exposed to this approach earlier, especially as a young father and husband. It has truly reshaped how I see myself and the world around me.
— Scott K.
Moving your mental focus back to the present, with intention around the core pillars of happiness, family, and meaningful relationships, is essential in today’s world.
Between constant self-assessment, social media noise, and carrying the weight of past issues or future worries, it is easy to lose clarity. Back to the Present emphasizes mindfulness, movement, and breath as simple yet powerful practices that can genuinely change your life.
This is not about perfection. It is an enabling journey where daily practice leads to steady growth, greater awareness, and a more grounded version of yourself.
— David B.
Back to the Present has helped me live in the moment, stop overthinking, and release focus on what I can’t control. As a high-functioning individual, these teachings have truly helped me pick my battles and live with greater peace.
— LaDonna K.
Today marks 11 years, 2 months, and 25 days of choosing a different life.
Dr. Johnson’s approach gave me a new perspective on who I am, what I need, and why being present matters. Back to the Present taught me that it is okay to put myself and my happiness first. It gave me tools I did not even realize I had.
I learned that I have the power to choose what and who I allow into my life, and to understand my worth as a single mother. My actions matter, not just for myself, but for the people around me.
This journey made me laugh, cry, and most importantly, reminded me that it is okay to love myself. I am not who I once was, and that is something I am proud of.
— Jessica G.
Dr. Wayne Johnson has cared for me for over 25 years, supporting not just my physical health, but my emotional and mental well-being. Through recovery, family challenges, and a high-stress career, his guidance helped me reduce anxiety, manage stress, and live a happy, healthy, productive life. He has always gone the extra mile to help me become a better man.
—Joe T.
Wayne Johnson MD has been my doctor for over 30 years. He has always been focused on good health being comprised of both physical and mental health. I have been blessed to receive the benefits of this dual approach to health care.
Over the years, we have discussed the evolution of his “back-to-the-present” program. The “Toolbox for a Joyful Life” diagram is a very useful and practical way to keep focused on the important traits of life in order to achieve a more joyful existence.
We live in a sometimes chaotic atmosphere created by technology and cellphones. I have found Wayne’s “Back-to-the-Present” program serves as an anecdote to falling prey to “the tyranny of the urgent.” This philosophy states that “the urgent things in life are rarely urgent and the important things in life are rarely important.”
It is my privilege to provide this testimonial.
— Mark K.
Dr Johnson's "Back to the Present" information and encouraging reads have inspired me in a lot of ways. My inspiration and desire to "do better" has now encouraged my husband to have the same inspiration and both of us have been sober from alcohol for awhile. Your guidance helped me realize some of
the self-worth that I thought I had lost.
— Tamara L.
There is no other physician like Dr. Johnson. The amount of time, compassion, and care he provides has not gone unnoticed. He is always there for you—whether through an office visit, a telephone chat with his nurse, or a text. He takes the time to truly listen and then offers alternatives, usually more than one. He is honest, upbeat, and positive, even when the sky seems like it is “falling.”
His diagnoses are spot on, and if he can’t provide the treatment, he knows exactly who to refer you to. The best part is that he does not overmedicate and thinks outside the box when prescribing medications. Lately, I have been experiencing anxiety attacks, and with Dr. Johnson’s guidance, the attacks are becoming less frequent and shorter. His advice—breathe in, breathe out, and think of something you truly love—works.
In addition to being my physician, Dr. Johnson makes you feel like he is your friend. Dr. Johnson reminds my wife and me of the song “To Sir, With Love”—it feels like it was written for him.
— Ted S.
The framework you’ve developed has been genuinely influential for both me and my wife. What stood out most is how clear and easy it is to understand—yet how powerful it is in practice.
It provides a practical way to think about balance across health, nutrition,
emotional, spiritual, and life priorities, rather than treating them as
isolated pieces.
Your model gives us a simple but effective lens for identifying what truly
matters, recognizing when something is out of balance, and working through
challenges in a thoughtful, constructive way. It’s not just helpful during
difficult seasons—it’s a strong, sustainable framework for living a
healthier, more intentional, and more balanced life overall.
Best regards,
Jon