What is presence anyway?

Presence is allowing your mind and senses to be in the now.  It is not following spiraling thoughts about the past or the future.  Nor is it to be thinking about what you are going to say while someone else is speaking.  Being in the present moment is knowing what you are doing and pouring yourself into it.  According to Thich Nhat Hanh, when you are washing the dishes, every movement is “as sacred and respectful as bathing a newborn Buddha.”

How does one find presence?

One of the many life changing books I have read is the The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle.  I have such a vivid memory of reading the chapter where he has you put all of your attention on your body and its aliveness.  Directing my attention to my hand and feeling the prana within was so incredibly powerful. I invite you to give it a try:

Close your eyes, take a long slow deep breath in, and relax as you exhale. Feel your hand.  Not on the outside, but take some time and feel your hand from within, the blood pumping to each and every cell.  Allow all of your attention to fall on your hand and ponder on its aliveness.  Feel the prana, the life energy, moving in your hand.  It is such a beautiful feeling: a zing, a hum, a tingle, like every cell has its attention in the same place.  It is magical bliss. 

This exercise is how I first truly felt what it meant to be present. When I teach yoga and in just about all of my meditations my body tingles with the aliveness of my presence.

Are there other ways to find presence?

Presence can be found in many ways.  Tuning to your senses is definitely in the present moment.  Go for a walk and gaze upon the beauty around you, feel the breeze and sun on your skin, smell the crispness in the air, and listen to the sounds of leaves jostling in the wind and the birds or crickets chirping.  Awaken to the texture of the items around you, the sounds you hear, the temperature of the air on your skin.  Presence is now.  It is everything you feel in this very moment, not the moment before and not the moment after.  It is sacred, precious, and meant to be savored.

Is it possible to stay in the now?

Ultimately, we flow in and out of the present moment.  But, with practice, you become so much more aware and return more frequently and for longer periods of time.  Presence is also being conscious that you are thinking.  You become the watcher.  You watch yourself as the doer.  It is our habit to think to the past of both the good and the bad, as well as to the future.  All of those scenarios create emotions within us, yet none are related to the present moment.  The present moment is a place of calmness and tranquility.  When the past was here, it was the present moment.  When the future arrives, it will be the present moment.  The clarity of this moment will determine the future, so why not allow ourselves the peace of taking the next breath, of pausing to consider what it is that we want or need in this moment, or to give our loved ones the immeasurable gift of truly listening.

How often has the present moment slipped by you?

We so often get caught up in getting to the end of something; to finish this so I can get to that.  In this process, our mind has already moved onto the next thing leaving us no place to savor and enjoy what is currently happening. 

Presence is a work in progress.  It doesn’t all happen at once.  It starts by taking the time to pause and breathe, to feel the prana in your hands or feet, to allow yourself the space to observe an animal or go out in nature.  We are human beings.  It is totally okay to honor that time to just BE.  Gradually, you will gravitate to those calm moments and you will find yourself more and more the watcher, noticing your habits of thought and action.  You will realize that presence with loved ones makes you appreciate them more.  I invite you to start using some of these mindfulness techniques and see how your life begins to change.

Let it take you so much deeper.

Some say that a key to staying present is dying to the past.  I always thought of that as forgetting the past, but the past doesn’t just disappear.  The past doesn’t ever die, we just need to not hold on to the past.  Like our emotions, we breathe it in, we feel it and acknowledge it, and then we release it back into the ethers.  Memories dance into our minds from a simple stimulation from a sound or a smell.  They are woven into us, but are not who we are.  You are not your past.  Nor are you your memories, your thoughts, or even your actions.  You aren’t even your name or body; you are so much more than that. You are the Universe.  Your potential is limitless.  When I find presence, I find myself aligning with the hum of the Universe within me.  Can you feel the Universe within you?

Namaste. (Which means: I bow to the Divine in You, which is also in Me.  When You are in that place and I am in that place, we are One.)  

Be One with Me.

Dawn 💓💓💓

Are you in need of being heard? Compassionate listening is one of my innate gifts. As a Love and Authenticity Coach, I dedicate my loving heart and kind Soul to holding space to listen in the present moment. Compassionate listening is not only a gift of having one’s full attention, but an opportunity to heal through the exchange of words and energy. Interested in giving it a try? Check out IYLC’s Life Coaching Services.