7 Important Ways To Improve Your Presence Of Mind
You can improve your presence of mind by learning to connect with your inner self in these 7 ways.
Getty You live in a world of stress and distractions, so the more you can learn about having a presence of mind, the easier it will be to make decisions.
First, what does presence of mind mean? You experience presence of mind when feeling grounded in the moment. You can listen to another person through your body, heart, and mind without distraction.
Everything comes together in your brain.
Your brain connects to every part of your body. You learn through your sensations, emotions, and thoughts. If you want to develop presence of mind, you need to take care of all of yourself.
When you experience presence of mind, you'll be aware of what you need. There will be no struggle. You'll feel confident that you made the right decision.
Learning to have presence of mind takes time and practice.
Here are 7 ways to improve your presence of mind.
1. Quiet your mind.
When you quiet your mind, you open up to your inner wisdom. This knowing arises from your unconscious brain, the knowledge of your body, and the yearnings of the heart.
The more you quiet your mind, the greater access you have to your inner knowing that arises from a healthy presence of mind.
There are many ways to quiet your mind, and one of them is to meditate. There are many meditation traditions, some secular and others religious.
In the end, it depends on what works best for you. You might find a meditation group in your area. There are also excellent apps such as Insight Timer that can help you meditate at home or on the go.
You might find it helpful to do something active while you meditate. You can turn any walk or other outdoor activity into meditation by setting your intention before you begin.
If you love cooking, dancing, or singing, you can make that into meditation by noticing what arises in your body, mind, and heart. The more you quiet your mind, the better you can move beyond your ego into what is truly best for you.
Doing this work enables you to quiet the chatter in your head so you can access the truth of yourself and to be able to make the best choices in the moment.
2. Listen to your body.
Your body is amazing! Your body will always let you know what you're experiencing in each and every moment. All you need to do is pay attention.
When your muscles and bones feel relaxed it's a sign that you're experiencing flow. You feel like life is moving ahead just at the right pace and it feels good.
When any part of your body is tight, it suggests that something in your life is out of alignment. Feeling stressed is a time to get curious and discover what is amiss.
Where you feel the stress gives you insight into what you need to change in your life. For example, feeling discomfort in the gut might be a sign that you are stuck in fear.
Your body will often let you know before you become aware of it in your head.
You won't have presence of mind until your body is calm and relaxed. The disharmony will often block your ability to know the truth at the time.
3. Avoid multitasking.
You might think you are good at multitasking but in truth, people aren't good at it. The more tasks you try to do simultaneously, the less attention you can give to each function.
Since you're trying to do several things at the same time, it's easier for your ego to keep you stuck in old habits.
4. Catch the lies you tell about yourself.
Your inner critic will do its best to keep you stuck in the limitations of your ego. Your ego has good intentions to keep you safe. However, it doesn't want you to try anything new. It will do anything it can to stop you from growing in confidence.
To hold you in your ego, your inner critic will keep alive all the negative stories you tell yourself. If you take a moment to get curious about your stories, you'll find that most of what you tell yourself is a big lie.
As you practice having more presence of mind, you'll notice when you lie to yourself and others. Every time you catch yourself doing this, it's time to let go and reflect on the truth.
Letting go of old stories takes time, determination, wisdom, and self-love.
5. Be kind to yourself.
If you want a strong presence of mind, you need to be kind to yourself. Whenever you're negative, you close down the energy pathways between your body, emotions, and thoughts.
As these pathways close down, you begin to lose your presence of mind.
Remember, you are human and never meant to be perfect. Your imperfections are what make you unique.
Treat yourself with kindness. Celebrate when you get something right and have compassion when it doesn't go the way you hoped. The more you do this, the more presence of mind you'll cultivate.
6. Take responsibility for yourself.
It would help if you took one hundred percent responsibility for your behavior, to be honest to yourself and others.
Once you commit to being honest, then you need to stay tuned into your inner world. Notice the story you're telling yourself, and then check it out to see if it's really true. This way, you will be able to let go of the lies and acknowledge who you actually are inside.
The more honest you are with yourself, the easier it will be to have a healthy and robust presence of mind.
7. Trust your intuition.
Your intuition comes alive when you're present to your body's sensations and emotions and have a quiet, receptive mind.
When you establish presence of mind, your intuition comes online. The most important thing to do is to pay attention.
When you come to a decision, you'll know just what you need to do.
Strengthening your presence of mind is lifelong work.
The more you work at it, the better you'll get at keeping your presence of mind through all the ups and downs of life.
Your job is to stay open to your inner world. Take time every day to notice what's going on within you. Your body, heart, and mind will lead the way. Your presence of mind will get stronger and stronger.
You'll also find a greater flow to your life. And you'll be able to make the best decisions for yourself and your family.
While life may not always feel easy, you'll know you're headed in the right direction.
Roland Legge is a Certified Identity Life Coach and a minister in the United Church of Canada in Yorkton, Saskatchewan. He publishes a newsletter with free advice and offers 30 Minute Discovery Calls at no charge.