Like it or not, we all got enrolled in a Ph.D program called Presence. As students, we have choices. To fight it, worry, panic, blame others, or as Ram Dass said, Be Here Now. The practice of being present used to be an optional learning or advancement for those wanting to become more ‘spiritual.’ As yoga and meditation have risen in popularity, practicing presence has steadily increased. Yet the practice of presence was an option, not a have to.
Presence is now a ‘have to’
In this Ph.D program of Presence, we are being asked to stay in the now or we risk our sanity, our relationships, and our family members in the freak out called ‘future thinking.’
Many clients are talking about their own particular cocktail of future thinking anxiety, and how it moves throughout a day. Even the slightest projection into future thinking causes anxiety. Every hour, day, week, month or year of distance from the now we engage, incrementally increases our anxiety levels.
Practice timelessness
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary Definition of Timelessness is: 1a: not restricted to a particular time or date the timeless themes of love, solitude, joy, and nature. b: having no beginning or end : eternal. 2: not affected by time : ageless.
What if is there is no time? What if we question the construct of moving ahead in time that all of our lives are built upon? What would change for you in how you live? What would rise in your present moment and what would be let go? Take just a few moments to contemplate this, to talk about it with someone near you. What if really all we have is now and we live it to the fullest extent?
I encourage clients to practice the concept of timelessness.
Lately, I practice this with the strong tall trees in my backyard. There is a particular grove of trees I call the wish trees. Every day, I lean my back against a tree, make a wish for myself, for my friends and family and for the world. Every day the trees are there again, standing in the same spot waiting for me. I arrive in the now and make my wish. I experience them in the now, my wish in the now, and feel how that now feels. What is present? The feel of the bark, the smell of the air, the quiet behind my eyes. Nothing more.
Presence does not always feel wonderful. Presence with our partner’s low mood, presence with longing, presence with loneliness, presence with a toothache. Presence by embracing parts of us we don’t like so much.
In this time, we are asked to show up at the highest level of feeling, thinking and being. Some of us have more practice than others, yet it challenges everyone, because so many of our habitual ways of feeling stimulated, connected or engaged are missing.
Join me in a practice of timelessness and presence. We can all practice together.
If you’re not on my calendar and want to be, I am offering tele-medicine Video sessions through state of the art HIPAA compliant software. I am also offering EMDR Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing on Video. Book an online session or FREE 15 minute consultation here: https://valtate.com/
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