Practicing Presence
“Sitting Quietly, Doing Nothing, Spring Comes & Grass Grows by itself.” - Basho
Meditation and meditative practices draw us more presently into our body and into the moment we are living. When done with mindfulness any activity can become meditative…even washing dishes and doing laundry! There is a Zen Koan that says…. “Before enlightenment chop wood, carry water….After enlightenment chop wood, carry water.” When we slow down and bring our attention to what we are doing we are practicing mindfulness and when we center our awareness on what is present in the moment we enliven “Our Presence”. Grounding ourselves through daily self care practices, we can more easily stay centered and balanced or return to our equilibrium when we are feeling scattered. We live in a time and culture where our attention is pulled is multiple directions at all times, easily creating a fragmented experience of self and reality. Extra effort is required to stay present. The more present I am, the more in touch I am with what’s true for me. Meditation is a doorway, through which practicing presence becomes more familiar. In my life, for prolonged periods of time, I have experienced the benefits of a daily meditation practice.
I was first introduced to the idea of meditation as a senior in High School. I was trying to figure out what I ought to do for my senior project when the idea of learning Transcendental Meditation(TM) was suggested by a friend in the community. I started reading some Deepak Chopra books, which talked about TM, along with The Science of Ayurveda and Mind/Body medicine. I was mesmerized! The thought that “the wisdom of the whole universe resided inside each and every cell of your body” was so intriguing that I knew I’d found something that I wanted to study and explore. I felt an exciting “YES” resounding throughout my whole Being! The idea of Quantum Healing was fascinating to me and I decided that doing my own meditation experiment to explore connection between Mind & Body would be fun. So….. For my Senior project, I got initiated into TM. It was Sept 1993 and for the project I committed to sit in meditation for 20 minutes twice a day while keeping a journal about my experience over the next 9 months of that school year. The miraculous results were life changing for me! Suffering from chronic headaches for many years as a teenager, I had resorted to taking a heavy duty heart medication for 2 years and while this helped tremendously, I did not want to be dependent on this medication. I got off the medication 2 weeks before I started my meditation practice. I had a headache every day during those 2 weeks, which I’m sure, in part, was my body detoxing, but once I started the meditation practice the headaches stopped and I have never dwelt with them quite so severely since.
At 17 years old it was a huge commitment to show up twice a day for meditation! I would sit quietly, focusing on my breath and a mantra while allowing my thoughts to just float by. Through this practice, I cultivated an awareness of the internal landscape of my Being. I could feel more resonance with what was going on in my body. My mind felt like it resided more in the tissues of my body vs. floating somewhere “out there”… above it all. As I sat there, feeling and breathing, the thoughts became quieter and less distracting… There was a feeling of “waking up” as sensations in the body began to come more to the foreground. As I became still quieter throughout my mind and body, I noticed my breath lengthening, especially the exhale… subtle spinal adjustments would happen at the end of long deep exhales, profoundly shifting the way I was sitting …. I was shapeshifting as layers of tension melted away in the quiet, still space… I got the sense that my ego or sense of self was softening as those layers of tension fell away. My heart space felt open and expanded. I could sense the profound wisdom present in the cells of my body. I felt completely at peace while also “lit up” and “awake”. By returning to this space everyday I was grounding into “Who I am” and feeling into the inter-connectedness of all things. I learned that this was a profound way to “show up”. From this space we are informed! If we allow this “experience of presence” to guide us in life we will make the choices that will serve us best!
Do you have a meditation practice? What activities do you find especially meditative for you? For some, it could the ritual of having their coffee or tea in bed every morning before getting up. For others, it might be working in the garden. In the comment box below describe yours. One of my favorite forms of meditation is the experience of sensuality that being in nature provides. TRY IT… When you are outside…. Be aware and notice through all 6 of your senses… Connecting with Nature is so healing!
