Presence and Mindfulness

Being present isn’t something that we “do”.

Presence is a state of consciousness that is always accessible. All there is and ever will be is the present moment, and yet we can easily miss it when our attention is constantly pulled into thoughts about past or future.

We greatly diminish our lives if we reduce the present moment this way.

Thinking about being present is not the same as being present. Thought obscures presence with judgements and narration.

To be present is to be fully aware of ourselves and what is happening around us in this very moment-without thought and without judgement. There is no buying into any thought or concept about what is happening, only the pure experience of what is. When you are able to go beyond perception and verbalizations about the moment, you can see the moment in its full intensity- full of life- always complete and never missing a thing. Neither good nor bad.

To be present is to see the moment in it’s full intensity as it really is and accept it totally.

It is the return to seeing the world with childlike curiosity and wonder.

What does it mean to be present?

What does it mean to be mindful?

Mindful awareness and presence are very similar, however, mindfulness is a method to become conscious of presence.

Through the practice of mindfulness, we can focus on the present moment throughout our actions.

Presence is always there and we use mindful awareness to bring ourselves into the dimension of presence. We can think of mindfulness as an acute form of while presence is the all-encompassing field of awareness.

Modern culture has us going at a unsustainable rate. With technology speeding up things faster and faster, we allow ourselves little space to slow down. It is even anti-cultural to slow down and claim any space as simply space. We are pulled in every direction, with never ending to-do lists, ambitions, and responsibilities. Many of us are running in a chronically activated sympathetic state, wildly out of balance and increasing the chances of developing chronic illness.

We cram our agenda with endless activities and our minds with onslaughts of information, advertisements and thoughts about the past or future. It is no wonder that we are exhausted and unable to connect with ourselves. We end up succumbing to habits that ultimately hurt us in order to give us quick dopamine hits. We fill our lives with material items to fill internal feelings of lack and inadequacy.

Our mind's talk so much that we cannot see what’s all around us and we end up rushing through life to get to some perceived better time in the future. We are anxious, depressed, or suffering from attention deficits, forgetfulness and brain fog.

Like the body, the mind requires rest to function at it's best. We rest by allowing space that we can breathe in. Not acquiring more clutter in the mind, but more space.

When we continuously find faults with the present moment and always look forward to the next, we find ourselves on a constant search, starved of enjoyment and "eating the menu instead of the dinner."

We must realize that what we seek is right here, in this very moment. That all the conditions for happiness are available in this very moment. And if can stop, slow down, and be present, we can feel and be one with our true selves. Then we realize that we are completely whole already and need nothing to experience the radiant and endless joy of simply being. We do ourselves a great disservice to not realize this aspect of life. Then, we can act with clear understanding and intention, and not out of fear or feelings of lack.

Why is this important?