Cultivating presence

choosing to notice

Recently I walked into a gym which I go to on a regular basis. My eyes were drawn upward. “Did you paint the ceiling?” I asked. “Nope,” the front desk attendant replied. “It’s been this way for a long time.”

I was confused at first. How could I have never noticed that the ceiling is black before? But then I thought, “Wow. Could this be the result of a regular meditation practice?”

A fellow aggressive stance friend confessed to me recently that she was worried that her memory might be faltering. I know her well, so I stopped her in her tracks. “This is what I see happening: you are constantly thinking about the future. Even when you’re speaking in the present, sometimes you mix up words because your brain has already surpassed you. Then, because you aren’t fully present while you are speaking, you later forget the conversation even happened.”

She immediately relaxed and said, “You are so right.”

Most of us are caught up in something that pulls us away from the Now: rehashing relational issues, regretting past actions, dreaming of a better scenario, making a to-do list, planning for the future, etc.

None of those things are necessarily bad, Subscriber First Name, but if we get swept up in unproductive, thinking, feeling, or doing, we cannot be truly present. What happens then? We are left ungrounded, unsettled, confused, and dissatisfied.

In this week’s video I mention a book that speaks to groundedness. The author, Brad Stulberg, advises that if we do not cultivate authentic presence as a practice now, when we eventually achieve our goals, we are left unable to truly appreciate the moment because we have focused on the external, which is fleeting. And we find ourselves just as dissatisfied as we were before.

When you practice yoga this week, consider setting your intention to be fully present in each moment you flow. Appreciate the movement you have, the health you enjoy. Allow your breath to re-ground you in the present again and again. You might just notice something “new” in your life that has been there all along!

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I want to hear from YOU

Many thanks to those who have sent in audio files. I’m still collecting insights from you all.

If you’re up for it, please record a voice memo on your phone stating your first name only, your enneagram number, (option to state where you live) and answer one or all of these questions (taken from David Daniels’ book):

1. What do you tend to think about most often?

2. Why do you think that’s what you think about?

3. What do you notice that you don’t need to put any effort into noticing?

4. In what ways has what you’ve taken notice of (focused your attention on) been detrimental to you, and in what ways has it served you?

5. When you walk into a room full of people, what do you notice first?

Email me the audio file, and some or all of it could be included in upcoming audio-only content. If you’d rather record yourself asking a question, go for it! (again, including your first name and type) Thanks in advance!

Upcoming opportunities in Minneapolis:

Sunday 10/17: Feeling Personality in the Body — this 90-minute movement-based workshop touches on the basics of what the enneagram is and then guides students through an extended yoga class in which we move through each pose I’ve assigned to represent the 9 types. This is an intermediate yoga class meant to simply introduce the idea of the enneagram. (taught at Life Time Fitness; you don’t have to be a member to attend; register at the front desk or email me)

Saturday 11/6: Yenneagram Intro — this day-long workshop is heavy on information and light on movement, but we do all 9 Yenneagram yoga poses throughout the event. I teach the basics of the modern psychology of the enneagram, using 9 asanas as kinesthetic learning opportunities. It’s a day of note-taking, discussion, and periodic movement that’s perfect for anyone new to the enneagram or still trying to determine their number.

When the workshop is posted, I will share the link to registration on my website, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Many thanks!!

Courtney