A lot of people ask me how they can be present, especially if they have so many things going on. The reason for this question is that they want to be more spiritual (energetically involve) and not miss an opportunity that comes up. It is really quite easy if you use the 5 senses approach that covers you vision, hearing, taste, touch and smell, because it gives you more input and helps organize your situation. So if you want to be present and remain focused, try it out and see if it works for you.
How to Be Present by Centering Yourself
I always start by taking a deep breath and relax. I breath in a few times and exhale in most any format. The purpose is to center myself so that I can relax. I observe more when I am relaxed. Then I kick in the 5 sense approach. For vision, I look at different aspects of a person for who I am to talking to or taking note of. I look at their clothes, note the color, shoes, and their body. Is it relaxed or is it tense. Then I look at characteristics of their face. Do they smile, do they have a glitter in their eyes, do they stand up straight and a whole host of personal identification from their purse to the style of their clothes. I also make a limited judgement if I want to spend time with that person,
Taking In Your Surroundings
At about the same time, I look at the surroundings and see the environment that I am in. Sometimes, I do this first. Is it colorful, what colors set the scene, and what are the shapes? Do the people have jewelry on and a host of other things such as if its a square, large or round room, does it have ventilation, etc. As you can see, the more items I identify, the easier it is for me to remember one of two of them and connect to what is happening.
Connecting Through Touch
When it comes to touch, I always feel the person’s handshake or hug, depending on the situation. This has a big affect. Especially if it is of the opposite sex. My clients call it a soft feel of the person. If it is a guy, do they have muscles, are they tense and if it is a women, you get to feel the shape of their body and other aspects.
Grounding Yourself Through Smell
When it comes to smell. At the moment of handshake or hug, you get to smell indirectly the other person. Do they have perfume or body odor. A lot of time this is instinctive, but it really helps ground you and get integrated with other people. Hopefully, most people don’t stink and you don’t have lingering perfume on your clothes from the encounter.
Hearing How a Person Speaks
Then it comes to sound. How do they speak. Do they say hello or some other comment. What do they talk about. Is there music, do you hear any nature such as birds or water, if the event is outside. Hearing is important because the way a person talks and the sound of their voice always stays with you. Especially if the person talking is attractive and you have some type of sexual awareness.
Bringing Taste Into the Moment
The most difficult one is taste. If you end up kissing people when they say hello, then you might get some taste of perfume, lipstick or aftershave lotion. If food is being served, then you can use your taste buds to describe your food. Basically the object of using the five senses approach is to increase the amount of information for your brain to remember, which often helps staying present.
Presence as the Essence of Spirituality
When I go to a restaurant, I often count the number of people there and look at the food prices to determine a rough estimate of the revenue that the restaurant makes after I ask the waiter if it is busy tonight or if the food is what people want to eat. As you can see, if you are exposed to a 100 items consciously you will remember some of them verses just a few items which you may easily forget. A lot of being present is just a physical process, but you can determine the spiritual climate by people’s dress or the occasion. You will find that by categorizing things by your 5 senses, it is much easier to be present and it will activate you energy more fully, which is the essence of spirituality, when it is used for health, happiness and well being.
