how to be present

“Presence” is a buzzword right now. But what does that actually look like in your daily, busy, normal life?

Being present means having the awareness to be in the moment where you are. Not living in the past and projecting it on to everything around you, nor future-tripping and becoming so obsessed with what’s to come that you aren’t here, now. I do both of these things all the time, but I’m getting better at sitting myself down in the present moment.

The present moment (this one, right now, in the room where you are sitting, in the clothes you are wearing, in the life you are living as it is) is the only one we can operate out of, after all. Any changes we want to make? Gotta be here first. Any joy we want to feel? Gotta be here to connect to it.

So, uh, how do you do that? I’m glad you asked.

  • Breathe. Wherever you are, stop what you are doing and spend one minute breathing. Remember that you have a body, that you are a human, that you are a part of this precious ecosystem of beings and feelings and intentions. You. Are. (Here’s a one-minute meditation that you can do literally anywhere, even in a business meeting, if you need to come back into presence. And here’s a playlist of music I use to come back and be present. And here’s the song I mentioned in my podcast.)
  • Forgive yourself. You are gonna mess this up all day every day so you might as well get over the idea that you will be perfect right here and now. Presence demands courage. So keep showing up.
  • Gratitude. “Gratitude turns what we have into enough.” It takes us out of our heads and into what is. When I am having a moment, I take one minute to shut up and just breathe. And then I take stock of what’s around me and see what there is to be grateful for. And BINGO — that thing I’m grateful for? I follow that and it leads me to the next great thing. Gratitudes are stepping stones to joy.
  • Talk about it. State your intention to practice being present to the whole world. In person, on the Internet, wherever. It’ll hold you accountable to showing up for the practice and serve as a reminder to actually create this as a beautiful new habit.

Show up for this. When you take a moment to breathe, actually do it. Spend more than 10 seconds and don’t half-ass your presence. You might as well do the thing you came to do.

So be here, now. Now is the only place where we can truly access the wisdom, creativity, and joy we seek, after all.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *