Transporting back to the present moment is about refocusing and achieving a mindful presence. It calls for eliminating the multi-tasking, quieting the negative self-chatter, embracing what you have to level set your perspective that ultimately builds your confidence. When you are mindfully present, you are activating the most fundamental, central circuits of the nervous system. In neuropsychology, mindfulness presence is addressed by the sympathetic nervous system and core consciousness. Core consciousness is supported by the brain stem and limbic system, and the sympathetic nervous system is responsible for our fight-or-flight response. We are calming the mind to calm the body – slow the heart rate, aid digestion, and improve rest/sleep.
But again, what is mindful presence and how do we achieve it in today’s modern world?
For starters, meditation is not mindfulness. That is a quality or result of your practice. Mindfulness can be achieved through many disciplines that invigorate the mind and body (e.g. yoga, hiking, qigong, etc.). Mindfulness is a non-judgmental awareness of your inner world (self-chatter) and outer world (perceptions). When you are mindful of something, you are simply observing it exist. You are not caught up in the drama, emotion, or identity. It is your simple psychological capacity and you need to take advantage of it; rather than it taking advantage of you.
Secondly, presence is the degree of stability, which surrounds your level of mindfulness. Are you partially zoned out or actively listening? With more practice, there is a level of background awareness that includes clarity. It is the calmness and clarity that we crave in our hectic life that enables us to move forward the next day.
With discernment, mindful presence will increase and you will experience a sense of being. Things will shift from “doing” vs. “having” vs. “being”. For example, you have a “to do list” at the office or home that transforms into “having” a daily routine (Monday team call or household meal planning), to transforming again to “being” – existing in the present and in the right capacity to help, to learn, to observe, and not judge others. You start to exist more peacefully with what is happening around you, and less identified with pleasant or unpleasant reactions that arise, less caught up in the past, future, or needing to make something happen. We can feel it immediately when someone else is mindfully present with us; similarly, others can feel it when you are that way yourself.
There is a natural intelligence in your mind, and you will find your own way to deep concentration. Simply put, you are a human being; not a human doing.
Don’t have PayPal? You can simply choose to use any one of your other credit or debit cards at the point of the PayPal checkout.