What does Presence mean?
Presence is being in the here and now. When you are present, you are not afraid to occupy your own space. You feel your emotions as they come and go. These emotions may be unpleasant, but you choose to feel them anyway because you see the value in expressing them. When you are not present, your focus is from your head and to the clouds, outside of your body. When you are grounded and present, your focus is from your waist down. Your feet feel the ground as you walk, and your center of gravity is vertical from heel to head. Your senses are honed; you smell the air, feel the sun, and the clothes on your back. Presence is a primal state of being, which most people are seemingly disconnected from.
Benefits of being Present
1) Authenticity. People sense when you are occupying your own space. Heads will turn when you enter a room because of the energy that you emit. You lock people’s eyes when talking to them, and give them your undivided attention. Your attention is always on the here and now, with whatever you are occupied with. You are authentic and have no malevolent motives.
2) Charisma. The definition of charisma is presence. Attractiveness from charisma is centered on comfortability in one’s own skin. We allow those around us to be comfortable when we are comfortable. When we are not overthinking, we become grateful for the small things, and the energy from this gratitude is expressed in charisma and confidence.
3) Happiness. Gratitude equal happiness. Once we realize that we have everything we could possibly need to be happy, then we will radiate joy. Presence allows us to absorb our surroundings and take pleasure in them through gratitude. Feel the wind on your face, the muscles in your body, and the heart pounding in your chest to realize how lucky you are.
How to be Present
Presence is actually simple. The only difficult part is maintaining it, and not running from the emotions inside you. A practical exercise to be present is to slow our motions. When you are walking, cooking, and so on, do so very slowly. As you slow down your motions, you become extremely conscious of your body, and may even feel weird. When you feel weird, or when people start to take notice of you walking so slowly, then you know you are doing something right. Don’t run from the feeling, but embrace it. It is your true self.
Very insightful article. Do you think there are any times where it is beneficial to NOT be present?
I think that presence is living in the here and now, and does not mean you cannot dive into your imagination every now and then. We should not live in a false reality fabricated in our head, which allows us to run from our problems. This is an example of not being present. Presence gives us an acute awareness of what is true, so I believe we should always be present.