The power of being fully presence

Becoming presence is maybe the biggest superpower we have as human beings. If we are presence we notice more from our surroundings, from other people and what is going on inside us. We are able to listen en feel better. We can tap into our creativity and have moments of clarity. If we are presence there is no fear, doubt or feelings of shame. And we just know what to do and do it with ease. 

There is a lot of knowledge about how important it is to be fully presence and what can happen then. Eckhart Tolle wrote a bestseller about this: The Power of Now. The things that happen when you are fully presence are really powerful. To reach that state is something many people are looking for, but isn’t always that easy. 

I wasn’t able to be presence

Also for me it was for many years almost impossible to be presence. My focus was always on what was going on in my head. Thinking about what to do next, creating schedules and try to organize things. Even when I went out, I could think about football tactics and constantly evaluate the last match for example. Of course there will have been moments where I was presence and not that aware of my thoughts, but they were rarely. The first moment that I really felt presence was during a workshop of bachata, that was magical. 

It’s not always about the activity

But that you get presence by an activity once doesn’t mean that you always will be fully presence during that activity. After that time I danced a lot of times. Sometimes I could become presence, but a lot of times I was more in my head. About how to move, how it looks like, if I did the steps right, too focused on the rhythm or just thinking about something random else. And I have that experience with many other activities.

Activities that are often supportive

There are many activities known for becoming more presence that work for many people. The most mentioned are meditation, mindfulness, focus on your breathing, yoga, being in nature or going for a walk. For me they work a lot of time as well very good. But also cooking, listen to (non-vocal) music, having a deep conversation or just sitting down and doing nothing can be really helpful to get presence for me. In some ways, sport can also be an activity to bring you to presence. For me it depends on what the setting is, but mountain biking is the best one. You have to be really alert and don’t have time to think about other things. 

Not able to become presence

A few weeks ago during a coaching event from Evercoach I experienced a really powerful presence. After a social at the first evening many thoughts showed up in the morning. Things like, how can I realize the things that I want to put in my schedule? How can I eat the food that I want to eat and when will it fit in the program? How can I sleep enough? But also, how do I want to show up? And do I remember everyone I met before? This had a lot of influence on my presence and it was not feeling good. I was looking for a way how I could make the best of it.

Singing 

Then we started to sing a song. And we sang again that song. At that moment, especially the second time, I became fully presence. And for the rest of the event I stayed in that state. Just aware of how I wanted to show up. Focussed on connection with my fellow coaches and open for what was coming. And everything happened with ease. I remembered and recognized everyone I met and created real connection. Sometimes with a deep conversation, sometime with a hug, dancing at the party, sometimes a short conversation or only a moment of eye contact. 

Being presence is a choice.

Afterwards I was thinking what made me really presence? Definitely, the singing had a positive impact, but what was far more important was the CHOICE to be. I really wanted to be. As well is it with all the other activities. The only thing that can help you to become presence is to choose it and let go all others things/thoughts. You can go for a walk in nature or doing a meditation, but if you choose to focus on your thoughts, you will not be presence. Also, for focussing on your phone or be aware of time. That will disrupt you from the experience. So you have always the choice to tap into this superpower although there can be internal (unconscious) blocks to do this.

How do you tap into this superpower? Do you have activities that work best for you? And in what circumstances? To think about that and to acknowledge the positive impact of it on your life can be very important. Or is this something you want to do but you can’t be fully presence? Maybe you have internal blocks that avoid you to be. You can discover it and work on it. And I? I sing now often as loud as possible.