The Power Of Presence

Have you ever felt like you’re just going through the motions, missing out on the present moment? We will explore how mindfulness and meditation can help you be more present in everyday life. Learn how being present can bring new insights and help you handle challenges better.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to the Power of Presence.

It'll be a short talk and meditation that I do here live.

And presence is a pretty commonly discussed topic,

Yet it can be one that can be a little bit vague,

It can be a little bit unclear as to how to actually harness the power of presence,

How to use that in your day-to-day life,

And maybe even how to direct it in a way that can be most potent for you.

And so presence in day-to-day life,

It might be considered mindfulness,

That might be what people think of.

And mindfulness can be a powerful practice in and of itself,

But it's one that's easy to start to get complacent with.

You intend to be mindful,

You're maybe mindful in a few moments here and there,

But then it starts to kind of fade away,

You start to forget about it a little bit.

And so it's nice to have your own personal practice where you can cultivate presence in a real tangible way,

Where you can feel it growing,

Expanding,

And you can know how to apply it to your life.

And so one of the ways to do that is through meditation.

Meditation where you cultivate a certain level of presence,

And where you even practice bringing that presence into different areas of your life while you're sitting there in meditation.

And then when you encounter those moments in life,

It's easier to tap into it,

It's easier to use it,

It's more available to you.

You have that internal muscle memory of having practiced even if only for a short while at the start of the day.

And so another way that you can use presence in a powerful way is you can be intentional about it,

You can pick a specific area of life that's maybe lacking that presence,

Lacking awareness,

Or there's just some sort of struggle with it.

And you can practice in meditation,

Bringing that presence to that area of life.

And it's kind of like shining a light in a dark place,

It illuminates it doesn't mean that there's necessarily going to be an immediate intellectual solution or answer something that you're using.

But there's a light there,

There's a presence there,

There's some distance between you in that area of life as you practice that.

And so it's somewhat simple,

But simple doesn't necessarily mean that it's easy.

It is a practice,

You know,

You can practice anything,

You can practice joy,

You can practice peace,

You can practice presence.

And so that's what we'll be practicing in today's meditation,

Today's experience.

And so you can go ahead and start to find a nice meditative position to sit in.

You can start to close your eyes.

You might give yourself a deep breath in or two.

Knowing that we're about to do a meditation on the power of presence,

Seeing how you can bring it into your life in a way that maybe helps to shift your perspective,

Give you some distance,

Spaciousness,

Gives you a sense of what presence really is and how to bring more of it into your life.

And so we can start by first just being present in the body.

Just being present with your internal state right now,

How you're showing up today.

And just give yourself a couple deep breaths into that space.

You might even bring some presence into your arms,

Your hands,

Really noticing the sensation,

The lightness or heaviness of those arms.

Really be present with them,

Notice them in a way you don't normally do.

Maybe you bring that presence to the skin,

To the fingertips.

Maybe you bring that presence to your legs,

Not with any specific intention or purpose,

Just giving it a hello,

Being present with it.

You could bring that presence through to the stomach,

Maybe even breathing into the areas that you're being present in.

Giving yourself a more deep belly breath.

And then bring that presence to an area in your body that either you're normally not super present in,

Or maybe an area that has some sort of pain,

Some sort of discomfort.

Maybe it's something that you would want to change.

Instead of trying to change it or ignore it,

See if you can be really present in that area of your body.

And then you can bring that presence to your arms,

Your hands,

Your fingertips,

Your fingertips,

Your fingertips,

In that area of your body.

Sometimes I experience an intense neck or head pain,

And I'll just bring my presence to that area,

Just breathing into it,

Making space for it.

And sometimes some insight arises.

Insight is to something I'm holding on to,

A mental image that I'm holding in my mind,

A story that I'm telling myself,

A thought that I'm thinking.

All of those things can affect those sensations in the body,

Or they can affect an area of life,

Even.

And so we want to practice just bringing a neutral presence to that area.

Right now it's an area in your body,

And you might even imagine that a warm golden light could join you in that area.

It could be there with you in that sensation.

Let that golden light be like a familiar friend,

A very wise friend.

And you don't do this for the purpose of creating change or for gaining some sort of insight.

You do it more as an act of surrender.

Or an act of permission for whatever happens to be there.

Oftentimes,

Wherever presence goes,

So does awareness.

So as you become more and more present in this area of your body,

You're going to be more and more aware of what's going on in your body.

In this area of your body,

You may find your awareness growing.

And whatever you're aware of in this moment,

It's not random.

It's information based off of what's going on with you here.

And so just be open to receive.

You're not trying to make anything happen.

You're not looking for a specific outcome or result.

You're just here.

And then from wherever you're at,

Bring that presence to the center of your head.

That place behind your eyes and in between your ears.

Be right there in that captain's chair.

Be right there in that seat of your consciousness.

That goes beyond the physical center of your head and into the center of you as a being.

It's hard to really practice presence if you're lost in thoughts,

If you're lost in sensations,

Feelings,

If you're scattered all over the place.

Wherever you've been distracted or had your attention drawn to.

And so we just bring it back,

Bring it back to the center of the head,

The center of you as a being.

And just experience what that presence feels like there.

You may experience yourself in a bubble of light in the center of your head.

There may be a color or sort of a state of being that's experienced as you're present there.

Again,

Bringing that presence inward from the center of your head to the center of your head.

The actions of your life,

The thoughts of the mind,

The sensations of the body,

Bringing it a little deeper,

Bringing that presence into your beingness.

And take a few breaths in to that place.

And if you feel yourself wanting to wander,

Feeling yourself get drawn to a daydream,

A thought pattern,

Any sort of distraction,

Just notice it.

Notice that that might be where some of your energy is hung up.

Sometimes we're so busy going about our day that we don't even notice all the places that our energy is extended to,

Lost in.

But as you practice this presence in the center of your head,

In the center of your being,

You might start to notice what are you pulling that energy back from?

And you don't have to fight against it if your mind wanders.

Or if you get caught up in some sensation,

Just be present with that too.

Take note of it as a neutral observer.

And then when you're ready,

Go ahead and think of an area in life where you're a little bit more unconscious,

Or maybe a little bit more complacent.

An area of life where it's harder to naturally be mindful.

And just ask your inner guide,

Your spirit,

To be present here with what sort of energies are activated in that moment,

In that area of life.

As if you're in it right now.

Is it a time of transition?

Is it around certain people in a certain environment?

Maybe it's an area of life where you feel less confident,

Less sure of yourself.

Less sure of yourself.

Or an area of life that you just don't enjoy as much.

Practice being present with whatever thoughts,

Feelings,

Sensations arrive in that moment.

For you might not have the space you need to really be present with it that deeply when you're there,

When you're caught up in it.

When you're talking to that person and all of a sudden you just feel shut down or enraged,

Confused,

That might be a harder time to practice that presence for the first time.

So practice it right now as if you're in that moment,

That area of life.

And you might just notice what arises.

You might have some memories that come up.

Memories that are sort of activated for you when you're in that area of life.

And just notice what energies attach to it.

Just notice what energies attach to it.

You might notice if a certain thought pattern arises.

If you have a certain feeling in your gut or you stop breathing as deeply.

Just show your body that you can be present with it right now.

And be present to where you can face it fully.

And as you practice this now in meditation,

When you are in that moment in your life,

Around that person,

Whatever it is,

It'll be easier to find this presence again.

There'll be more of a memory.

You'll start to associate this more regulated state,

This anchor to presence when you're in that moment or that area of life.

You can create a more neutral neural pathway for you.

And you might start to notice if there is certain thoughts or memories or feelings that show up when you think about this area of life.

That's more of a struggle area for you.

And you might just be present with why that is.

There may be an answer that arises there.

And sometimes the answer's not even intellectual.

It's just a shift that happens.

Sometimes when I have a triggering moment in life,

Sometimes I'll just sit and be present with it and tend to view it as if I'm viewing it as a third-party viewer.

And sometimes I don't even have any powerful insight as to what my hang-up is.

Yet in being present with it,

Something shifts.

And I'll just sit and be present with it.

Yet in being present with it,

Something shifts.

I start to feel okay.

The trigger starts to dissipate.

And so just be present with this for a moment longer.

And then to take it just one step further,

Think of a slightly more specific problem in life.

It could be something with health,

Relationship,

Career,

Spiritual growth,

Just some sort of blockage area.

And imagine that you have sort of like a mirror out in front of you,

Just a few feet out from your head.

You're still sitting in meditation,

Breathing in the center of your head.

But imagine you can see this problem area in that mirror.

Just viewing it,

You might even see an image of yourself and anything else that's around you in that environment,

Anything that's important to that problem area.

And just let yourself be present with it.

And just let yourself have that third-person perspective,

That viewpoint as if you're watching it from outside of yourself,

But you're not actually outside of yourself.

You're in the center of your head.

You're just watching it in that mirror out in front of you.

And again,

Just be present with this specific problem.

Knowing that where presence goes,

Sometimes there can be the cultivation of other qualities that are helpful,

Such as awareness,

Peace,

Or if nothing else,

You're signaling to your psyche,

You're signaling to your body that you can be present and view this particular problem or blockage without it being a problem,

Without it being something you resist,

Without it being something that you avoid,

Without it being something that you try to withhold awareness from.

We're so often conditioned that we're not aware of our own presence.

With our problems,

We're supposed to use our body and our intellect to solve them,

That we should be quick to jump into action or make a decision.

We sometimes pull information from the world around us,

The people around us,

To try to do something about it.

When in truth,

Sometimes just being present with it,

Being able to see it is all that it needs.

Or at the very least,

It's a powerful first step.

You're able to be present with it while still in meditation,

Still calm.

And that starts to change what that problem means to you,

Changes what effect it has on you.

And so just be present with it,

Take a look at it.

You don't have to think about the dynamics of your situation or possible answers you should be getting.

Be more in your intellect,

In your awareness,

And be more in your intuitive mind.

Maybe you let some colors visually manifest in that mirror.

Colors representing energies.

They don't have to have any specific meaning or purpose.

It's just to get out of your head a little bit,

Get into your intuitive,

Imaginative space.

And you might just notice if anything sort of trickles from your subconscious to your conscious mind,

As you be present with whatever you're looking at.

And just do nothing.

Don't try to change it.

Don't try to fix it.

Don't try to get an answer.

Just allow,

Receive.

If some sort of insight does pop in,

That's fine.

But it's not even the purpose.

The purpose here is just to notice what it's like to bring presence to the body,

Presence to that inner self,

That inner beingness,

And then presence to an area of life.

And just seeing what those various levels of presence do,

If anything.

Can you be present with what arises as you're focusing on this specific area in life?

Or is there a force that compels you to try to do something,

To try to leave meditation,

To move on with your day?

You find out a lot about yourself when you can sit with it a little bit longer,

Can maintain that presence.

And really,

If I could give you one thing to walk away with from this meditation,

It's just a sense of being able to be present with whatever shows up in life,

And how that can be a tool for healing,

A tool for awareness.

If there's body pain,

Be aware,

Be present.

If there's a conflict in your life,

Bring more presence to it,

Not less.

And it can be just a neutral presence.

So just give yourself one more deep breath in.

And you can let that mirror disappear.

Let it go.

You don't have to focus on it for the rest of your day.

And just bring that presence back to the center of your head,

Center of your being,

One more time.

We can wrap up our meditation there.

And if you feel like you want to do something,

You want to do something else,

We can wrap up our meditation there.

And as you come out of meditation slowly,

See if you can bring that presence with you into your day,

Into your life,

Maybe allowing it to manifest as a sense of mindfulness as you go about your day.

Thank you all so much for being here.

I hope you enjoyed it,

And I'll see you next time.