How to Live Your Moments with Presence

                                                                                                                 - Manisha Varma

Ms. Manisha Varma is a Counselling Psychologist with over two decades of rich experience working with youth across the spectrum of psychological and wellbeing concerns.

Hello There! Before you read any further, take a minute to see where you are.... Physically and Mentally.... Is it the same place? How present are you right now as you have begun reading? Very often, the answers make you wonder. Why? Because there is an inconsistency in Presence. The body presents itself for the task at hand. Then, what about the mind? Well, that's where the inconsistency begins..... since it's oftentimes elsewhere. 

Now visualize this... You awaken to a fresh day and orient yourself to time and space.... Do you also orient to your breath? Your senses? Very often, the mind almost automatically gets into a state of Doing.... Lists of tasks.... since that is what the beginning of day "needs to look like". But, does such a way of being capture richness of moments? If you already are into actioning of one task after another with minimal awareness, then perhaps not. 

Richness is the result of feeling Full in the moment. And that may not necessarily come with filling the moments with tasks. How does one introduce richness, you may ask. 

The following steps can assist:

• Conscious Pause - a moment of observing and sensing.... Breath, sensations, surroundings, people, etc. In the pause, plain and simple witnessing; without the need to color the experience in any way through one's opinions or views. 
• Noticing Striking Features - Having taken a Conscious Pause, what was your attention getting drawn to while you witnessed? Was there a specific pattern in your breathing, a certain kind of sensation; and/or a certain moment in your observation that felt different - alarming or insightful; on the face or reassuring? 
• Action from Knowing - The experience even for brief moments can leave you with some understanding. This understanding would mean getting in touch with your reality that springs from within. Is that understanding nudging you to take certain action? Does the action impact things that may follow? 

From the above steps, one can notice that making the most of moments is by being Awake in moments. Richness dipped into on a consistent basis helps achieve calm. There is a sense of ease since one has allowed oneself space to witness and understand the human experiencing. So, getting acquainted with who you inherently are as a person and a doer is like getting closer to a dear Lifelong friend; witnessing all inner dynamics of influence is like knowing all the shades of this friend . From this space of experience, there is more control that one starts being aware of, as things appear to be more organically doable.

Dipping into these Deliberate Pauses to just be a Witness to moments allows harmony between the doer and the doing. From this practice, the mindset that develops has more wisdom and benefits for all. It is more accommodating. 

This awakening to moments is like awakening to the Freshness of your breath, which is the very life force that keeps you going.

So allow yourself the opportunity to be a Witness in order to See and Perceive Better. 

Gain more out of Living in Presence.✔✔