What is presence?
My friend,
Marieke Beach made a beautiful song about presence.
And she inspired this guided practice for you,
For her,
For me,
For all of us.
Your peaceful presence benefits all beings.
What is presence?
Entering into simply being as Thich Nhat Tan has taught,
Letting the river flow and all things to be as they are.
Eckhart Tolle has called it being anchored in now our natural state and experience of effortless bliss.
Being without thinking or falling asleep,
Touching the sacred.
My actor friends use the word presence to describe a powerful flow of energy from a performance that reaches into our very souls and stills us,
Opens us,
Even heals us.
What I'll share with you now is meant to assist your own unique and personal experience,
Cultivation of presence.
I hope you'll share with me in the comments what you feel,
What you sense,
What you experience.
This is a time for yourself,
Time to be kind to yourself.
Claim this time now for your meditation practice.
This is how we begin.
Yes,
There are things to do always,
Problems to solve.
Thought forms may arise as you practice,
Just as you may hear the birds in my garden right now singing.
Just let them sing without resistance.
Let these thoughts arise without resistance,
But you don't have to focus on them.
Let them be in the background flittering about it's okay.
Perhaps if you have very strong nagging thoughts,
You can tell them gently later.
Not right now.
This is your time for meditation.
This meditation time is an investment in yourself.
It will empower,
Embolden your abilities to navigate life.
Let's focus on this investment of meditation for your body and mind.
Can you allow yourself to feel safe right now?
Notice the stability of the floor,
Of the ground,
The predictability of gravity.
Notice how the air around you gently caresses your skin before it merges with your body nourishing you.
Allow yourself to enjoy how safe you are right now,
Not five minutes ago,
Not five minutes in the future.
Right now,
Can you allow yourself to feel safe?
If you'd like,
You can bring your palms together in front of your heart in a prayer position or a gaso.
Notice the sensation of your middle fingers touching sense this rhythm,
Your own pulse,
Your own rhythm.
Allow your heart energy to be present in your hands as you lower them gently to your lap,
Palms facing up,
One hand on top of the other,
Perhaps your thumbs touching.
And so here you have opened your heart and brought this energy forth.
And you may choose to view this moment through the vision of your heart.
This energy fully present with you as we practice together.
If you'd like,
Press the back of your tongue gently to the roof of your mouth.
This is a helpful energetic connection.
Notice your body.
I wonder if you can lengthen your spine.
Perhaps use your imagination.
Imagine your head as a helium balloon and it floats effortlessly upward.
It doesn't drift away into the sky because your body like a kimono draped over a hanger dangles from this balloon,
Keeping it perfectly balanced and in place,
But also floating effortlessly.
If your body were any lighter or softer,
You might float away.
Can you lighten and soften your body?
I wonder if you can surrender to softness,
To this effortless floating.
Can you relax any lingering extra tension?
Just for now,
See if you can release a little more tension with your next exhale to sustain this posture,
This long spine without effort.
If you'd like,
Invite your higher power into your back.
Perhaps you identify with the universe,
That all pervasive intelligent energy that binds us,
That connects us to one another and to all of life.
Perhaps you identify with life,
That energy that enlivens us,
That instructs the flower and how to bloom.
Perhaps you identify with another sacred story or identity.
Invite that into your practice.
Invite Jesus Christ into your back or invite Buddha or Kuan Yin.
Allow the divine to be your strength whenever you need it.
Some say we're like fish swimming in the ocean,
Searching for water.
Love is all around us.
We only have to open to it to receive that energy,
That support.
Notice your breath.
Can you let it flow like the ocean waves,
Deep and full,
Flowing like the river flows,
Effortless,
Natural,
Nourishing you with every inhale,
Requiring you of negativity and tension with every exhale.
If you find breathing fully a challenge,
Perhaps due to past trauma,
Ongoing stressors,
Or even health challenge,
Again,
Invite your higher power.
Whether you call this higher power,
Jesus Christ,
Buddha,
The universe,
Or your version of divine energy,
Invite this divine intervention to breathe for you,
To breathe with you.
Now we're ready.
We can meditate with our breath,
Flow with our breath,
Cultivating presence as we do this together.
Flow with your own nourishing breath,
Deep and full.
I'll give you words or sounds to link you to this presence practice.
We'll take three breaths together,
And then I'll drop you into silence,
Trusting your practice,
Your process.
One day you'll practice this on your own.
For now,
I'll be our guide.
Again,
Thoughts flow in the background,
Sounds,
Sensations.
The birds in my garden continue to Twitter.
They tweet,
That's okay.
You don't have to give away your energy or your focus.
This is your time to be kind to yourself by focusing here and now on this simple practice.
We'll begin by counting our exhales.
Count each exhale up to 10.
And if you lose count because of distraction,
Begin again at one gently,
Calmly.
This is just a practice.
Take a deep inhale,
Fill your lungs totally all five lobes.
When you think you're full,
Take a little more stretching.
Exhale one.
Empty all of this old air out of your lungs.
And when you think you're empty,
Empty a little more.
Inhale,
Filling your lungs totally.
Exhale two.
Inhale,
Filling your lungs,
Stretching.
Exhale three.
And now I'll drop you into the quiet.
Continue this on your own.
Good.
.
With your next inhale use the word I exhale.
Inhale.
I exhale and allowing this simple calm moment to be enough,
Allowing yourself as you are to be enough.
Inhale I exhale.
Inhale.
To close,
Bring your hands back to your heart in prayer position or gas hoe.
Connect to the sensation of your middle fingers touching sense your own pulse your own rhythm.
Maybe give your heart gratitude for supporting you in this moment of kindness of calmness for yourself.
.
Thank your life force for its support in this beautiful time.
And I thank you for sharing this practice,
This intention,
This cultivation of presence with me,
Allowing me to be part of your practice.
.
