How are we present to ourselves?
Can we sit still and just be aware of our feelings?
Do we fidget and become restless in our seats looking for something to do?
How we are when we are by ourselves actually tells us a lot about ourselves.
When we are at peace with ourselves, it is easy to sit and be still.
When we are uncomfortable with some aspect of ourselves, it is hard to spend time alone.
When we take a moment to just breath and relax are we really relaxed?
Most of the time, we are not relaxed around ourselves.
We need to be doing something or be engaged in a conversation.
We look for some kind of distraction to take us away from how we are really feeling.
Yet, if we take a moment to explore that feeling instead of avoid, we can learn quite a bit.
We can see more clearly where our work is.
We can feel what it is that triggers us.
We can discover what unresolved issues are rolling around inside of us.
It is not always comfortable to just sit with ourselves.
In fact, it can be quite challenging.
Yet the rewards are enormous.
And the practice itself is quite helpful.
It gives us that moment of peace with which we can enter our day.
It helps us to be more centered and grounded.
It reminds us to be more gentle and more kind with ourselves.
And it calls us to be more present to everything in our lives.
Presence allows us to be more available to others, and to ourselves.
~ Sam Liebowitz, The Conscious Consultant