Pooh’s Presence Practice

Sitting, listening, grounding, being still, feeling content, and just stopping are some of the most profoundly healing things we can do. Each moment, with all it may contain (even the hard stuff) is enough. When we can slow down enough and not be busy trying to distract ourselves or manipulate our circumstances, we invite in presence. As my teacher said recently, he loves best when he is most present. Accepting ourselves in this very moment, and accepting the moment itself, teaches us to soften to what is happening right now. We start to leave the past, and disengage from the imaginary fantasies of the future. All we really have is Now. Life is full of Now’s. If we don’t learn to be there then we miss huge chunks of our lives. It’s very hard to be present with a hijacked nervous system. This is why grounding and breathing techniques are essential. Breathing openly makes us more open to our life experience. Even taking five to ten minutes a day to just be very aware of breath starts to retrain our nervous system to regulate. We are usually safer than we think we are. When a person I’m having a hard time with enters my mind, and I start to write that imaginary confrontational script, I’ll stop and tell myself, “she’s not here right now”. Presence is being aware of what is actually Here and Now. Not five minutes ago. Not last year, not next week. The monkey mind wants to be anywhere but here, but always remember your mind works for You. You have the power, ability, and choice to direct it and lasso your thoughts. It’s a constant practice. It’s not the straying where we practice, since that’s often unconscious. It’s in the deliberate and conscious return to Now. It’s the firm decision to be part of what is.