Emotional Presence for Emotional Authenticity.
Emotional Authenticity
The first step in emotional authenticity is emotional presence because the present moment is the only place you have real power to shift your state. Much stress and emotional upset is caused by lamenting over the past and worrying about the future. Often what occurs when people slow down and become present is they begin to notice how they really feel. Perhaps this is one reason there is so much busyness in the world today. People seem to always have something to do or somewhere to be. They are constantly talking about feeling behind with too many things to accomplish in a day and no time for relaxation.
Power of the present moment
As you get present and allow yourself to actually feel, you release the resistance and feel the relief and power of the present moment. It is as if you release the beach ball (your emotions) you were holding underwater for the past several weeks or years and allow your body, mind and spirit to relax.
Practice this simple Presence Exercise several times throughout the day to bring your attention to the power of the present moment and allow emotional authenticity.
Presence Exercise
Look – notice what your environment looks like, pay attention to subtle details.
Listen – notice the sounds in your environment, notice the sound of your breath.
Feel – notice your body, feel your breathing, become aware of any physical sensations.
Breathe – sink your awareness into your breath. Notice the sensations in your body as you breathe. Feel your in-breath and your out-breath. Your breath is always with you and thus serves as a perfect grounding resource. It is calming, soothing and connecting. Breathe so that you maximize your oxygen intake and relaxation potential by breathing deep into your abdomen on your inhale. Watch your abdomen rise and fall as you breathe.
After this simple presence exercise you may notice feeling more centered, calm and aware!
Coaching and Counseling
Hilary Stokes Ph.D. and Kim Ward Ph.D. have been a team for 20 years, specializing in mind, body, spirit psychology. They are the authors of the bestselling books The Happy Map: Your roadmap to the habit of happiness and Manifesting Mindset: The 6-step formula for attracting your goals and dreams and founders of Authenticity Associates Coaching and Counseling. They are passionate about combining the best of holistic and traditional approaches to health and happiness. If you are interested in learning the answers to the most frequently asked questions on how to decrease stress and increase happiness sign up for their free video series.
