Present Together-Getting Ready
Present Together - Getting Ready
Thank you for joining our experiment in collective mindfulness. We are thrilled by the enthusiastic response. This is a quick note to help you prepare.
There are many ways to “become present,” you can choose mindfulness at any instant. You will be receiving three different kinds of prompts. A breath prompt. A centering prompt. A heart opening prompt.
You will get two of these prompts per day, they will come at random and unexpected times but none will come too early or too late.
The mind will help focus your attention but remember that becoming present is not an activity of the mind. It really is about coming into your body. It is about sensing and feeling, it is not about thinking.
A bit about the prompts:
Breath
A breath prompt will remind you that you are breathing. It will invite you to bring your attention to your breath. This is a good opportunity to take a gentle-but-full belly breath. Keep breathing.
Feel your own presence.
Once you have come into yourself you are invited to remember that there are a whole lot of us doing this together, all over North America, at the very same time. Let us feel ourselves connect to each other. Smile. Pay attention to how it feels.
Centering
A centering prompt will remind you that you have a body. It will invite you to get grounded; to bring your attention and self to center, about 2 inches below your navel. This is a good opportunity to feel your feet touch the ground.
Once you have come into yourself you are invited to remember that there is a whole lot of us doing this together, all over North America, at the very same time. Let us feel ourselves connect to each other. Smile. Pay attention to how it feels.
Heart
A heart opening prompt will remind you that you are love, that you are here to love and be loved. It will invite you to bring your attention to your heart center, in the middle of your chest, to the right of your physical heart. Be gentle here, and allow your heart to open - maybe a little bit, maybe a lot. Trust yourself.
Once you have come into yourself you are invited to remember that there is a whole lot of us doing this together, all over North America, at the very same time. Let us feel ourselves connect to each other. Smile. Pay attention to how it feels.
I’m really looking forward to this three-week experiment. Feel free to e-mail your questions and observations - gibran@gibranrivera.com. But even better if you come back to this post and write your comments where all of us can see and be part of the conversation.
If you have more than a few seconds, or you just want to get into the practice of centering on your own, here are a set of prompts that I really like to work with:
Centering… know the basics
Drop your attention into your sensations and aliveness. Feel what is.
Purposefully bring your attention and self to Center (feel its dimensional quality, 2 inches below your navel). What changes as you do this?
Center in Length. Dropping into gravity and your lower body, lengthening up the spine. Dignity, vision and action.
Center in Width. Balance left to right. Widen from your centerline. Fill out and beyond your edges. Connection, community, interdependence.
Center in Depth. Filling in, feeling the space behind you, inside of you, in front of you. Not pulling back, nor pushing forward. History, present, future.
Center in Purpose. Speak your commitment to yourself. Or Center into your calling or longing.
This centering gem is from Staci Haines at the Strozzi Institute