A Note About Presence
Awareness and Attention
Awareness in an OPEN FOCUS, a wide angle lens. it's blurry and soft, it sees the whole picture.
Attention is focused, sharp and pinpoint.
It's the difference between being outside at night and being aware of all of your surroundings (the noises in the distance, the grass under your feet, the breeze on your face. Then you turn on the flashlight, and you shine a focused spotlight on a small area in the grass- this is now where your attention goes.
Try to start holding an awareness of your whole body and system, while you let your attention drift around to check in with different things.
Our Most Important Partner In This Life
In this lifetime we will have a lot of relationships, a lot of people will come and go. However, there is ONE person (being) that has been there from the first breath we took and will be there until the last one we ever take on this earth- and that is OURSELVES. That relationship, that partnership, that being is the most important ally that we have in this lifetime. Without it being whole and well we cannot relate, love, create, or experience to our fullest potential. We need to take responsibility for the well-being of that being.
It's an ongoing conversation- a back and forth just like you would have with a loved one.
It takes being present- being aware and attentive.
The most important opinion is yours. No one else can know what something feels like in your body. All of the "experts" will give you their opinions through their particular lens, and that is incredibly valuable information. However, no one can know how that advice is going to sit in your body. Only you can know that.
So it is time to start that dialogue, really start to listen and pay attention.
Can you become the observer?
Part of the path to optimal fascial health and wellness, is the necessity of becoming the observer.
Can you start to observe your thoughts?
Observe the sensations happening in your body moment to moment?
Observe your emotions and feelings?
The key here is to just observe- try not to attach judgment. ** Or observe if you DO in fact attach judgment. And then try not to judge that you attached judgment. :)
What type of person are you?
Are you the person that pays NO attention- and is disconnected from your body?
Are you the person that pays too much attention? Is hyper-focused on every little sensation?
Have you BECOME your illness or injury? Has it become your identity?
Do your thoughts tend to be more positive or negative?
Are you a worrier? Do you go down the rabbit hole?
Repetitive Inquiry
Get Curious- be the observer and inquire about the goings on in your system.
How did that yoga pose or class feel in my body?
How did it feel to go for a run?
How do I feel when I start to think about the presentation I have to give at work next week? Or the conversation I need to have with my mom?
We are dynamic beings that change every moment, there will never be a permanent state, which in my opinion is a wonderful thing. It means that if we don't like the way something is right now, we can change it. We just have to first be AWARE of what it is we want to change.