The Magic of Mindfulness & Presence

Hi humans! I just wrapped up a beautiful somatic therapy session with a new client, and wanted to share a bit about what makes this therapeutic work so powerful in my experience. The somatic work that I do is founded on several principles, and today I’ll be expanding on the principle of mindfulness & presence in my work. 

The principle of mindfulness & presence is an ongoing invitation to you, as a client, to become more deeply aware of your present moment experience, and to be witnessed and held in that experience by an attuned therapist.

This feels so much deeper than just describing the events that occurred over the past week. It invites you to connect with the truth of what you are doing, thinking, and feeling in THIS moment. To land in and explore who you are on more than just the level of mind.

In our society, we have been conditioned to be rushing ahead to the next task, analyzing our lives intellectually, planning for our next to-do item, etc - and I see that mindful presence with the Self (and in relationships) is a missing experience for most people. 

You’ve probably heard the cliche, “you must begin from where you are,” or some variation. That seems obvious intellectually, but experientially, this can be difficult to embody in your life.

The practice of mindfulness & presence acts as a direct doorway to “where you are,” so that you can “begin,” consciously.

Sometimes, where you are might feel resourcing, calm, safe, pleasurable. Sometimes, where you are might feel scary, uncertain, overwhelming, or painful. Or somewhere in-between.

Mindfulness typically conjures up images of people meditating peacefully in a lotus posture - but that’s not the half of it! More often (at least for me), mindfulness & presence looks more like sitting on my therapist’s couch, feeling a heaviness in my chest, the emotion of grief, and allowing tears to flow (even though it feels kind of scary to let my therapist see me cry). It's about letting whatever is present be seen, and flow. 

Simply put, mindfulness & presence in therapy allows you to begin your healing.

When people are truly present with themselves, they open up to a deeper intelligence than the mind. They know what they need. They can intuitively feel what to do next. They make wise choices for themselves.

It feels like magic, like a spiritual practice, for me as a therapist to witness my clients deeply meeting themselves, wherever they are.