Presence as a Gift
By Lisa Solis DeLong, RN
When I think of presence this list of modalities pops into my mind: meditation, prayer, quiet time, media fasting, breath work, mindfulness, grounding and visualization. All of these practices contribute to discovering the gifts within presence, but these aren’t the only ways to find treasures. Sometimes the greatest gifts show up when there is no map to follow.
I was surprised, in my training in universal shamanism, that a modern book about presence would be assigned. I thought an ancient text like, the Bhagavad Gita or the Tao Te Ching would be a more likely source for understanding presence. But, The Presence Process, by Michael Brown, was our text. It served me well in understanding a blend of ancient wisdom with modern thought and it has stuck.
The core idea of Michael’s teaching is, as long as you are truly engaged in what is happening in the present moment, you are by default living a life of purpose, meaning, and connection. In 1989, Michael was diagnosed with an acute health condition known as Horton Syndrome. As a result, he experienced debilitating headaches. He was told there was no known cure for this illness – and so, like many people today, Michael embarked on a personal journey, looking for ways to heal himself.
It took 9-years of experimenting with various healing and spiritual modalities but he found a solution. He discovered that his pain and suffering subsided every time he entered a state of what he now calls “present moment awareness.”
His story resonates with me because presence as a practice came to me by way of sitting at the bedside of my eldest and youngest sons. Over a twenty-year period, first Justin, and then six years later, Jacob, both experienced leukemia beginning at around age five and received the same four-year treatment. One remains in physical and one is in spirit.
In my experience, presence came in moments of profound pain and helplessness. In my book, Blood Brothers, a memoir a faith and loss while raising two sons with cancer, I share a moment of presence when absolute bliss came in the midst of Jacob’s near-death experience. While in the deepest throws of despair I found myself in a state of complete euphoria. I didn’t know to call it presence but that experience taught me what presence felt like. That awareness is incorporated into how I exist in the world and is contributing to how I conduct my life.
One universal truth comes with any conversation about presence. The benefits of mindfulness, (the more popular synonym for presence or present moment awareness), have been demonstrated and studied by scientists in such areas as physical and mental health, longevity, relationships, leadership, work performance, and many more. One of the leading academics specializing in mindfulness, Ellen J. Langer says, “Mindfulness is the cure for everything; the essence of being alive.” She takes it one step further with, “Virtually all the world’s ills boil down to mindlessness.”
In this fast-paced, result-oriented world, it’s easy to see why we have difficulties in being present. But with much of the world now faced with an acute awareness of illness, distress, and suffering many people are practicing present moment awareness and/or asking simply, “Shouldn’t we give it a try?”
Here are 3 of Michael Brown’s lessons learned that can help us find purpose in pain through presence.
- All uncomfortable emotions are opportunities for growth.
- We are responsible for the quality of our life’s experience.
- Becoming more present may well be the greatest service we can offer ourselves and the rest of humanity.
Learning to lead ourselves in present moment awareness may require a big transformation. Any challenge, personally or professionally may be the catalyst asking us to look at our beliefs and habits. If you’re up for it, you can help make a deep change in those you lead by deeply changing yourself.
Here’s how presence shows up for me: In this present moment I am grateful for these fingers, this mind and this heart creating words for this page. I see the gift in this intersection in time for the opportunity to share thoughts with others. May we be present to discovering the gifts hidden in each moment of everyday as we navigate the road ahead.
Suggested reading: The Presence Process, by Michael Brown; The Power of Now, by Eckhart Tolle; and The Healing Power of Mindfulness: A New Way of Being by Jon Kabat-Zinn, excerpts from The Presence Process Summary, April 18, 2019; Marta Brzosko
