Deep, Transformative Presence
My thoughts today are about presence.
Isn’t it wonderful to have someone be fully present to you? Some of my favorite people are masters as making me feel like there are no phones or anything other than our connection in the moment.
I have the pleasure of co-teaching with Spring Forest Qigong Master Jerry Wellik and I find him a disarming master of being present in the moment. Being around him inspires me. Being present is actually one of his favorite topics to teach.
For me, sometimes the process of becoming present has unfolded like this:
First realizing my discomforts. There’s nothing like taking a pause to realize I’m tired or clenched about something.
Then reconnecting with goodness and wonder.
And then a pesky existential question: how do we hold the pain and joy together?
The resolution I find only comes through cultivating an added dimension to presence.
There is a trick I’ve learned in qigong, the Taoist tradition of working with life force energy called qi (“chee”). Qi is both material and non-material. To connect with qi and cultivate healing, we learn to cultivate an in-between feeling. In practice it means connecting with a sensation between being grounded and floating.
Imagine that there is a place between the weighted sorrows of the world and the ebullience of our joys. There is something more, something intangible but also very Present, in this space. In this in-between space I feel so free.
Eye of the Heart is offering two Earth Day offerings this year that are about deep transformative presence:
Celebration on the Altar of the World – Altar del Mundo is a contemplative sunrise celebration
of our interconnection. At its heart, this service enters into the mystery between our delight
and longing. When was the last time you were present to the rising sun?
The Earth Day Dance Celebration. Dancing and singing are so powerful because they can erase everything beyond the present moment. Now imagine intentionally dancing with that presence along river banks and in gardens to participate deeply in the renewal of spring. There are many ways to witness or participate in this truly unique event.
However you greet the spring – with all its hope and grave concerns - I wish you the freedom of deep presence.
With big love,
Emily Jarrett Hughes
