As a counselor and coach I use this term a lot: Presence. What is it? Presence is the degree to which you are grounded in awareness itself. Presence is a key tenet of Mindfulness. And, if you know me AT ALL, Mindfulness is what I am most passionate about!
Mindfulness is being in the moment, not mentally in the past or in the future, right in the present moment. When things in life challenge us, we can zone out. We can resist what is…..”I don’t want to feel this way;” “I hate this”…. We can try to numb our feelings about what is happening, with alcohol, drugs, food. We can try to ignore what is happening. When we participate in any of these actions, we are not present. We are running away from people, bad memories, potential pain, and the experience at hand. This is reactionary, fear-based behavior.
Presence is the invitation to respect anything that comes up for you emotionally, physically, spiritually. Look at what’s happening as if you were a 3rd party observer… taking the Bird’s Eye view of things. Then, once you allow yourself to stay in this present moment, the challenge is to not judge what is happening. This is KEY… not judging! So often we question how we feel or what is happening. Even if the things that show up are uncomfortable (such as anger, frustration, annoyance), the challenge or task is to allow it to just sit with you.
When we practice greater presence with emotions, people, situations in our lives… we begin to live in real-time. We are no longer “in our heads,” forecasting into the future or reliving past events. This real-time experience is actually where real happiness lies. Even in times of difficulty, we can touch what is real, what is alive… and we feel the gift of pure presence, an essential quality of peace and joy.
