As you might have noticed, I like writing :) Not just these newsletters, but longer texts on the bridge between east and west, ancient wisdom and modern life, body and spirit, heart and mind.
I am working on my first book project. While editing the introduction, I reflected on what will probably be the main topic and red thread in the book: Presence.
If you’ve followed me over the last couple of years, you know that I went through quite a few changes. I took a sabbatical mid 2024, not sure where I’d land. I separated from my adult-life-long partner. I traveled to some of the most remote islands of French Polynesia. I went on a quest to find who the heck I was once I let go of my long-held roles as a life partner and a yoga teacher in Copenhagen. I faced money stuff. I reoriented myself on just being me. Years before that, I had transitioned out of academia to become a self-employed yoga teacher. I lost my mum. And I changed countries many times.
Needless to say, I got lost a few times along the way.
Yet one thing I came to understand is this: what enabled me to move through all the tumultuous changes I underwent was cultivating Presence.
Day after day, presence is what enables me to remember who I am, no matter what happens or falls apart. To find my inner compass, not to plan the final destination, but to take the next step.
Presence taught me to surrender when I wanted to control or fix.
Presence brought me home to myself when I desperately tried to find home everywhere else.
Presence keeps showing me what faith means when I do not know what or who to trust anymore.
Reflecting on presence, I pinpointed the following six elements that consistently helped me (and keep helping me) cultivating it and staying in it. (And yes, the old scholar in me likes systems!)
What I generally call presence is the quality of intentionally creating time and space to be with the moment, without further agenda, whatsoever.
In the following, I’ll present you *|FNAME|* each element and suggest one way to connect to it and grow presence a little more in your life.
1. PAUSE
The first step when connecting to presence is to stop what I am doing: drop my conviction that “there is too much to do to take a break” and find the courage to pause.
Practice with me: Stop what you are doing and observe your breath for a minute.
2. MAKE ROOM FOR WHAT IS
As I pause, I simultaneously create space to face what is present either in the form of feelings, sensations, breath, or thoughts. I am finally entering the present moment.
Practice with me: Allow your breath to get deeper as if you wanted to expand your torso in all directions on each breath. Visualize your body or head as a vast sky able to hold anything.
3. ANCHORING THE MIND IN THE BODY
Shortly after making room for what is, my thoughts will take over and divert my attention from the moment, reminding me how “busy” I am and how bad I want to be somewhere else or solve something important. If I want to stay in the moment, I need an anchor to decrease my likelihood to drift off: body sensations.
Practice with me: Notice your sensations in your feet, hips or back. As you exhale invite these body parts to relax towards the ground. As you settle, observe how your belly moves with the spontaneous flow of each breath cycle, rising and falling.
4. OPENING TO THE FIELD WITH CURIOSITY
Now, there is more space to be face-to-face with whatever is present when I stop. At times, the feeling of tiredness that I have pushed away for days rushes in, or a particular emotion or physical sensation I have dismissed, or even a realization, an understanding, a strong desire or simply calmness can emerge. Whatever arises, I try to allow it without judgement.
Practice with me: Pay attention to what arises with curiosity; the quality or energy behind your thoughts, the body sensations, a sense of clarity or confusion about an ongoing issue, or a particular emotion. Meet it with the same openness that the one you would use if watching birds on a tree or the ocean waves coming and going on the sea shore.
5. LETTING GO AND RELEASING THE GRASP
Opening to the field of the moment implicitly requires letting go. I refrain from automatically reacting to and jumping onto the next thought or action. When I create the space to be, in contrast to the space to produce or do, I allow my mind to release its grasp onto whatever it would rather focus on—e.g. planning, fixing, ruminating, worrying, etc. I can then instead use this freed energy to keep my attention here and now. Sensations of release, rest and ease can start to spread in my body.
Practice with me: Sit or lie down for a few minutes. Each time you exhale, allow your limbs to sink down in the ground. If you find it hard to relax, try to tense all your muscles and squeeze your fists for three seconds, and then release completely as you exhale. Observe the sensations of letting go as an experience.
6. FAITH
As we let go and plunge in the moment, even if only for a few minutes, fear, grief and other forms of discomfort we usually are too busy to feel are very likely to emerge. This is where faith plays a crucial role in our ability to sustain a present-moment practice. As I view it, faith grows organically out of the afore mentioned components. It is not something to force or believe in, but to be allowed.
To me, faith relates to my capacity to open to a greater intelligence or power, which I do not need to put a name on. Without faith, I would not be able to move past the hardships I had little or no control over. Neither could I shift my perspecitve from challenge to opportunity to learn and grow in any hard situation. Knowing faith is a daily inquiry for me—which might last for the rest of my life!
Practice with me: Take your journal or sit down to reflect for a couple of minutes. Think about two or three situations in your life at the moment where you could use some help. Write down spefically what you would like to receive help with or for. How does it feel to ask for help to a greater force? What do you trust, deep in your heart?
I hope this supports you somehow.
Love and warmth,
Cédric
