Are you Curious about the Transformative Power of Being Present?
Can shifting your perspective to a more present one completely change and improve your life? Being present might actually be just that powerful and empowering.
We realize it might sound like an exaggeration, one of those things that are too good to be true. But, the whole truth is, training yourself to be more present everyday will radically transform your life in an incredible way. For some reason, most of us haven’t been wired or trained to be present and therefore, practicing presence is something that requires an abundance of effort, willpower and yes, our attention.
In this article we’re going to explore what it means to be present, how to achieve more presence and what being more present can do for your life.
Are you ready to start living in the moment right…..now?
Let’s do this thing together!
What does it mean to be Present?
Being present is akin to awareness and attention.
Being present is about giving your full attention to what you’re doing, whether it’s preparing a meal, riding a bicycle, reading a story to your child or working on a project for work. Presence is not about what we are doing, but how we are doing those miniscule to grandiose actions. From tweezing your eyebrows to making love. All these actions, when we are present, actually add to our life and our timelines rather than take away from our schedules and life cycles. Presence blesses us with time, because we are aware of what we are doing from one moment to the next.
Presence isn't necessarily a skill you can master and then move on to the next thing. Presence is a life journey that will add to your life and bring gratitude, a sense of ease and appreciation into your life. But more on that in the next section.
What can being more present do for your life?
Being present has the power to bring us joy. It allows us to be grateful for each and every moment we are alive and breathing. It allows us to focus on the activities we fill our days with because we choose to fill our days with those activities. Whether it’s cleaning a school building, taking care of a group of children, or driving a delivery truck across the country. Being present can transform the mundane, or those activities which feel burdensome, or like a chore, into moments and activities where you can be with yourself. And if you don’t enjoy being with yourself, well then, we have a lot to talk about!
As we work on being more present, the easier it is for us to calm ourselves down when we feel tense, stressed or afraid. It trains our minds to breathe and to calm the nervous system down rather than amp it up into overdrive. It also helps foster our valuable relationships with those who are close to us, and opens us up to letting new people into our lives.
Being present also helps us release our perfectionism and need to control things. When we are in the moment we can release that need to create a perfect outcome, and accept where we’re at, and what we’re focused on, at the state it is in within that very moment. This will also help tame anxious thoughts directly related to perfectionism, that many of us are all too familiar with.
By being present with ourselves, we are less afraid of the unknown and learn how to slowly work towards the life we want. What’s the rush? Let’s enjoy the process and enjoy every minute of it. Every moment has its message, where we can learn something new. The more present we are, the more we can build on a deeper wisdom, about ourselves, about the people around us and about the process of achieving the life each and every one of us deserves.
Suggestions on how to be more present
The act of being present isn’t necessarily the challenging part. The challenging part is to keep it up, to tune in to yourself and what’s around you, and to practice presence. Because presence isn’t a light switch we can switch on and off. It’s more like a flashlight where you have to hold down the button to keep the torch aflame.
Practice being present right now, because practice is how we build habits. Practice listening to your body, your breath, focusing on the activity of reading, on any feelings that creep up, follow any thoughts that steer you away from your focus, follow it and then steer yourself back to where you’d like to aim your attention. Try this now and try it again throughout the day. Try it while you drive, while you cook, while you eat, while you work and before bed.
Over time you’ll begin to take pleasure in the sensations of being in your body, of focusing on your tasks at hand, at the feeling of being calm and less tense. Practice and be gentle with yourself. Take small steps and acknowledge each step as a victory. Presence is free, it’s fulfilling and it’s real. How do you practice presence? Have you found some tricks along the way? We’d love to hear about your experiences!
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Relatable Podcast Episodes you’ll Enjoy from: It Didn’t Break Me Podcast
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Using Song Writing to Mend Trauma with Emma G
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