A PRACTICE TO FIND PRESENCE
In June, I went hiking in the Santa Clarita Mountains. These days I find myself yearning for nature more and more. Even though I have a big backyard in Austin surrounded by nature, the yearning for the ocean or forest is strong these days.
While hiking up the mountain, a realization came to me… of how disconnected we are from nature as a society.
I stopped at the peak to listen to the birds and air blowing through the trees, and I decided to lay under a tree as it reminded me of the importance of being in nature. Nature is our roots, it is our grounded-ness.
We spend most of our time in a car, on a computer, on a lunch date, and most of our day we’re missing the simplicity in life. It’s always at our fingertips, all we need to do is slide on our sneakers, grab a hat, water bottle and walk out the door into nature.
Our presence in life is simplicity. At times we seem to overcomplicate things by overthinking and adding more.
A strong presence is being and not necessarily thinking… just being.
So the question is: how do we just BE?
Consistency:
As human beings, we are beings of habit. To grow and evolve into new habits we must be consistent in whatever we are taking now.Commitment:
Commit to whatever to have decided to take on.Positive mindset and attitude:
I love to bring in gratitude, the things I’m grateful for. To focus on what brings inflow in my life.Observation:
Being able to observe myself and others before acting or reacting.
The things above are beautiful things to incorporate into your life, though to be honest will only take you so far until we retrain our nervous systems to hold these. That is why rituals are so important.
Rituals to Be
Here is a step-by-step guide for simple, daily rituals that have helped me to BE, to continue to embody and to come back to simplicity and presence.
Pranayama and meditation
Prayer and meditation are pillars to my ability to remain present and to have a strong presence of being.
Yoga and Fitness
Being able to move our bodies and detox by sweating is very important to clear out the old to allow for the new.
A clean diet
Less processed foods and more whole organic fruits and vegetables. Our bodies is our temple for presence. If our temple is clean, our minds and hearts with be clear or clearer.
Prayer and Reflection
A prayerful mind equals a strong relationship with ourselves.
Time in Nature
These steps are crucial to becoming more present in life – to find a strong presence in life and to know who you are. The second step as I listed above, consistency and commitment, helps to make a habit of these tools on a daily basis.
As we do, so we become. It’s as simple as that.
To be content and feel complete in our everyday lives moment to moment.
Onkar is a student & teacher of Kundalini Yoga for the past 15 years, intuitive counselor & meditative healing, Level 1 & 2 KRI certified, Level 1 Satnam Rasayan healer & the founder of HEALREVIVE – an online platform of support for bringing spiritual ritualism into our everyday lives.
She brings her love & wisdom of teaching & meditation experience to create powerful 40-day programs that help to heal the mind, body & soul. Known for her approachable methods for accessing the technology of Kundalini Yoga, Onkar has brought this accessibility to the masses as a frequent contributor to mainstream publications & wellness brands.
She finds the greatest joy in life being a mother, wife & teacher.
This blog post was originally written for and published on KORA Organics website, https://blog.koraorganics.com/a-practice-to-find-presence in July, 2022.