MINDFUL PRESENCE WHAT DOES THIS MEAN Mindful presence

MINDFUL PRESENCE

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? • • • Mindful presence is a skill that can be cultivated • When we are able to be fully present in what we do, everything becomes more vibrant and alive. It is living in the Now Often, our minds are wandering. Although we are here now, doing a task, many times we are thinking about what’s next on our list or re-hashing a mistake from yesterday. One of my favorite authors, Eckhart Tolle, gives an excellent description of mindful presence in his books The Power of Now and A New Earth. In these, we learn that our purpose is to allow conscious presence to flow through everything we do. This is what Eckhart calls “our inner purpose. ” Being present in this moment is our inner purpose. Of course, our life seems to demand of us that we carry out tasks: we may have a job to do, treatment for cancer to pursue, obligations to family, church and friends. The goal of living with a mindful presence is to be able to align these “outer purposes” with our inner purpose of being present.

AN EXERCISE IN MINDFUL PRESENCE

HOW TO CULTIVATE MINDFUL PRESENCE • Practice mindfulness meditation • Observe moments with your 5 senses

BENEFITS OF MINDFUL PRESENCE • Decrease anxiety, fear, anticipation, stress and other negative emotions that are dependent upon future and past-based thoughts • Create physical changes in your brain structure and re-wiring of pathways to make this way of being more natural • You will find that you are much more often in a state of peaceful calm when you make an effort to align your inner and outer purposes. • Make it a goal this week to be more present in everything that you do, even the mundane tasks like doing the dishes.