What does it mean to you to be fully present?
What is the expression of your totality?
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To be present, one needs to be whole…. wholly embodied, wholly in realization and self-awareness, wholly connected to their being, and operating in a moment to moment relationship with the universe.
What then prevents a person from being present?
Here are 4 ways individuals avoid the present
- Regret
- Nostalgia
- Fantasy
- Anxiety
These four states are projections of consciousness into the past or future. To be in the past or future is to be out of contact with present reality and in your mind. The projected future is imaginal, it is fantasy, it is a personal projection…it is important, and there is value in having the capacity to project a personal envisionment for the future, but if too much time is spent in this realm, one will lose contact with the present. Regret and nostolgia keep us in the past. Many individuals are continually coming back to earlier moments in time, replaying the emotions of the past in the present, perhaps being attached to certain stories of the past, holding onto certain beliefs of past actions…all of these will present one from being fully present.
The past will continually call you back until it is complete.
A complete past involves clearing the emotional memory from the body to receive its wisdom. When the wisdom of the past experience is learned one can let go of that story and move forward in their learnings.
How to cultivate greater presence?
Be here, now.
It sounds simple.
A good gauge is the breath. How long can you sit still and count or watch the breath without the mind jumping in and redirecting attention from the present and into thoughts?
The breath is both the anchor to the present moment, and a guide to deepening present awareness.
Why is mind always pulling one away from the present?
It is the minds nature to expand and explore… An untrained mind will act in its nature. The practice of simply watching the breath in mindfulness is a way to train the mind.
It is said that the mind is a terrible master, but a horrible servant.
But, it’s not only the mind that pulls us away from the present….it is also feeling
If we are fully present in each moment we will experience a constant stream of feeling….this means you will experience highs and lows, upset, boredom, sadness, joy, and all the things! If there is an unconscious desire to feel pleasurable states and avoid discomforting states, when discomfort arises in the body the unconscious urge will be to avoid feeling and avoid the present….the unconscious urge will lead one to numb themselves with drug, or food, or television, etc..everyone has their unique go to control patterns for regulating feeling without actually feeling.
The shift that takes place is when an individual makes the choice to be conscious and feel pain and pleasure.
This is what one practices is mindful meditation and breath awareness meditation…. The practice is to simply sit and feel…to feel the boredom, to feel the stored hurt, to feel everything as it happens, without ‘doing’ anything, without avoiding, without numbing, just being with it.
The switch to move into pain instead of avoid it will cause a great resilience in character and empowerment…a certain level of energy will be reclaimed that can be utilized to bring more of your being online in the present moment.
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The nature of your being is to grow and expand.
On all levels of your being, your essence seeks to know and grow…. Thus, to commit to continual presence, one is asked to be in a continually awake state of expansion. Now, there are forces of life, that create expansions and contractions, such as the breath, but the path and process is to continually expand after every contraction.
To get up after each time you fall.
To try and try, even when you fail.
When an individual spirit has given up, there is no try, there is no energy to maintain presence.
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What are some observations you have made about individuals who live at a high level of presence?
I know they are living in their highest intention, for themselves and their cosmos, this intention is an embodied field of awareness. They maintain a high level of energy through their interrelationships and connection with the shared growth process of all beings. Their entire being, and all its vibratory centers are alive and activated, clear and open to give and receive energy. They live at a level of surrender, or non-resistance to life and its challenges. They live in a high vibrational state of love and gratitude and choose it over lower vibrational emotional energies of fear, guilt, and regret. They are willing to be seen and authentic, offering their own creative expression and love to the creation. Their eye is open, and willing to see truth.
There’s much more… what other qualities do you find in awakened people of high presence?
What are your methods for staying present?
I’d love to learn.
Blessings
Aya – zk
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