The Practice of Presence
Having tentatively dipped my toes in the Blogosphere (Chris, Nancy, and Jill---thanks for your welcoming comments), I realized that I have yet to take the plunge. I have been a woman without words (I'm sure that this last observation is just inviting trouble, but so be it :). In any case, to return to the somewhat contrived metaphor, I'm diving in, despite some reticence...
Yesterday marked the first Winter session of The Practice of Presence, a three-month workshop series designed to provide a conceptual overview of presence, explore various practices for being present, and support each participant in the development of his or her own personal practice of presence. Perhaps not surprisingly, my mind is often present with thoughts of presence, and the experience of presence...
What is this experience? Where and when does presence occur? How do we express mental, emotional, and physical presence? How are we present---bodies, hearts, and minds? What are we conscious of in any given moment? How are we conscious in any given moment?
It seems to me that every moment is both a gift--a present--and an invitation to be present--fully conscious, open, and alive. When we are present, we receive the gift; we accept the invitation. We embody invitation and offer ourselves--inviting and attending to what is, simultaneously present with presence and present as presence. Our sensations, feelings, thoughts, and actions are an authentic expression and a seamless extension of our deepest intentions, transcending time and space to contribute as we are to what is here and now. Already all ready...to borrow a phrase from Michael Herman.
What are your thoughts on presence? What practices do you have for being more present in your life--with yourself and others---family, friends, lovers, strangers, organizations, community, world?
Yesterday marked the first Winter session of The Practice of Presence, a three-month workshop series designed to provide a conceptual overview of presence, explore various practices for being present, and support each participant in the development of his or her own personal practice of presence. Perhaps not surprisingly, my mind is often present with thoughts of presence, and the experience of presence...
What is this experience? Where and when does presence occur? How do we express mental, emotional, and physical presence? How are we present---bodies, hearts, and minds? What are we conscious of in any given moment? How are we conscious in any given moment?
It seems to me that every moment is both a gift--a present--and an invitation to be present--fully conscious, open, and alive. When we are present, we receive the gift; we accept the invitation. We embody invitation and offer ourselves--inviting and attending to what is, simultaneously present with presence and present as presence. Our sensations, feelings, thoughts, and actions are an authentic expression and a seamless extension of our deepest intentions, transcending time and space to contribute as we are to what is here and now. Already all ready...to borrow a phrase from Michael Herman.
What are your thoughts on presence? What practices do you have for being more present in your life--with yourself and others---family, friends, lovers, strangers, organizations, community, world?
1 Comments:
<< What are your thoughts on presence? What practices do you have for being more present in your life? >>
I have been practicing Ramana Maharshi's technique of self-inquiry, which is a way of becoming aware of the "I"-thought at the root of all other thoughts.
So whenever it occurs to me, I inquire within "Who am I?" and this brings my thinking to a halt... often my breathing too.
For a few moments, my awareness seems to shift to some witnessing perspective on the "I" knot that is normally the center of awareness.
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