Living in Presence

The basic principle of presence is to be in the now. Right now in this moment. The current moment is the only one that actually exists. The past has already happened and future has not happened yet. Allowing your mind to just be here now is an amazing tool that brings calm and perspective. It gives you the chance to just be. And, if something challenging is going on, you can use presence to observe what you are feeling and then make a conscious choice about how to respond.

When you notice that the voice in your head is too loud, you can calm the chatter by taking a deep breath and focusing on how the breath feels. Or focus on something else in the present moment like the tree outside that you were vaguely looking at a second ago. Now look at it in detail. The size, the height, the branches and leaves. Is there a nest in there? Is it swaying in the wind?

Try practicing presence when you’re not stressed. Look around, listen to sounds, smell the air. Refrain from labeling things or applying judgement. Just look, listen, touch or feel. Let your mind be blank for a moment or more.

When you do this, you give yourself space to relax. It becomes easier to let go of something unpleasant that just happened or ease your anxiety about something in the future.

Being present in conversation makes you a much better listener and makes for much richer conversations and better problem solving. As with anything, the more practice the better you get at it. And the better you get at dropping into presence, the more calm and grounded you will be naturally.