I Am Here
I Am Here embodied presence meditation by Marie Louise
An Embodied Presence Meditation with Marie Louise
What happens when we stop trying to silence thought and discover that attention can move?
I Am Here is an experiential meditation inviting you into the direct experience of essential attention to the body of skin. Bringing attention to breath, sensation and the living communication of the body-mind organism.
There is nothing to achieve and nowhere else to get to.
Thoughts may arise. Sensations may shift. The body may contract and release.
Rather than fighting what appears, we become curious about what is here.
One sensation. One feeling. One moment at a time.
An Invitation Into Presence
So much of our attention is continually moving towards what has been, what might happen next, what needs doing, what needs changing, or what our mind has decided deserves our attention.
Meditation gives us an opportunity to become curious about attention itself.
Not necessarily to stop thought.
Not to deny what we are feeling.
Not to force the body into a particular state.
But to notice.
What is happening in the body?
Where is attention?
What happens when attention moves towards sensation?
Can I notice contraction without immediately needing to change it?
Can I experience a breath without needing it to be different?
Can I become available to this moment as it is?
I am here.
I am open.
I am available in this moment.
Presence is not an idea to understand.
It is something we experience.
And perhaps, as we become increasingly available to the extraordinary experience of being human, more of the intelligence of life becomes available to move through and express as us.
Get Your Skin in the Game
Meditation is one of the experiential doorways within my wider exploration of human development, consciousness and the extraordinary human organism.
The invitation isn't simply to gather more information about ourselves, but to develop relationship with what we can directly experience; body, mind, emotions, nervous-system responses, energy, awareness and spirit.
Because you don't learn to drive a car by reading about it.
Your skin has to be in the game.
If you're curious to explore this inner landscape more deeply, Discover Worlds Within offers practical processes, activations and inquiry into the human sleeve and our capacity for greater awareness, self-governance, conscious creation and authentic expression.
Explore Discover Worlds Within →
#Presence #Attention #Embodiment #Consciousness
The art of process
The art of process, evolve yourself® with Marie Louise
What if life isn't asking us to arrive, but to participate?
There is an intelligence to process. We can see it everywhere in nature.
A seed contains possibility, but possibility alone does not make a garden. Soil matters. Water matters. Light matters. Timing matters. The environment matters and there is something within the seed itself that knows how to move towards expression.
Perhaps we are not so different.
Our lives are continually being shaped through the relationship between what is within us and the environments in which we live; our experiences, relationships, conditioning, attention, choices and the ways we respond to what life presents.
And within that relationship is something powerful:
Our capacity to consciously participate.
We Are Always in Process
Human development is often spoken about as though there is somewhere we are supposed to arrive.
A better version of ourselves. More healed. More evolved. More successful. More spiritual. More together.
But what if the invitation isn't to finally become finished?
What if it is to become increasingly available to the process of being alive? Our bodies are continually responding.
Our nervous systems are continually receiving information. Our emotions move. Our thoughts change. Our relationships reveal us. Our environments affect us. Life happens. And through all of it, something is continually being expressed, reorganised, discovered and created.
When we begin to pay attention to this movement, development becomes less about manufacturing a new self and more about developing a relationship with the human being already here.
Attention Is Part of the Environment
We often think of environment as something outside us; the room we live in, the people around us, the food we eat, the culture we inhabit.
But attention is also an environment. What we repeatedly give attention to influences what becomes familiar.
The stories we rehearse. The sensations we notice or ignore. The assumptions we continue to make. The possibilities we allow ourselves to perceive. This doesn't mean pretending everything is wonderful or using positive thinking to override what is actually happening.
It means becoming curious about the quality of attention we bring to our experience.
What am I nourishing?
What am I rehearsing?
What am I protecting?
What am I giving life to?
What might become possible if I brought awareness somewhere new?
Trust and Action
This is where the art of process becomes interesting. There is a dance between trust and action and subjective experience. Between listening and moving. Between allowing and choosing. Between recognising that life carries an intelligence of its own and recognising that we are not passive spectators within it. We participate. We can tend the soil. We can change environments. We can interrupt patterns. We can listen differently. We can choose where attention goes. We can become curious about our conditioning rather than unconsciously living from it. We can notice contraction without immediately making it wrong. We can act when action is called for and allow space when something needs time.
This is not control.
It is self-governance.
The capacity to be in relationship with what is moving through us while becoming increasingly conscious of how we meet it.
The Garden Doesn't Bloom by Force
There is something wonderfully humbling about a garden. You can create conditions that support life, but you cannot pull a flower open. You can water it. Feed the soil. Give it light. Protect it when necessary. Prune what no longer serves its growth. And then there is an element of allowing.
Human beings can be similar. Our fullest expression isn't necessarily something we have to force into existence. Perhaps part of our work is creating the conditions in which more of what is already alive within us can emerge.
Awareness.
Attention.
Movement.
Rest.
Relationship.
Play.
Curiosity.
Love.
Challenge.
Expression.
Food/thoughts/friends
All become part of the environment. And importantly, so do the difficult parts of being human.Process isn't only the beautiful blooming.It is also the compost.
The uncertainty.
The seasons when nothing appears to be happening.
The things that fall away.
The moments that ask us to meet ourselves differently.
Nothing in nature blooms continuously.
From Potential to Expression
Potential is an interesting word. We can spend our lives trying to reach our potential as though it exists somewhere ahead of us. But perhaps potential is not simply a destination. Perhaps it is something life continually invites into expression. A possibility becomes an action. An intuition becomes a choice. A feeling becomes communication.An idea becomes creation. An awareness changes a response.
Something once unconscious becomes visible, and suddenly another possibility exists.
This is where process becomes practice and practice becomes expression. Not through perfection.Through participation.
Get Your Skin in the Game
We don't learn the art of process only by understanding it intellectually. We experience it through
Our bodies.
Our relationships.
Our reactions.
Our creativity.
Our choices.
Our grief.
Our joy.
Our resistance.
Our desires.
Our willingness to begin again.
The human organism becomes both the instrument and the place of inquiry and perhaps that is part of the extraordinary opportunity of being alive: to become curious about the life moving through us, to participate consciously in its unfolding, and to create the conditions in which more of our innate nature can find expression.
This is an invitation to tend the garden. Give attention to the soil. Notice what you're feeding. Pull a weed occasionally. Plant something wildly optimistic. Leave some room for things you didn't plan and trust that not every stage of becoming needs to look like a flower.
You are not a finished product.
You are life in process and there is an art to participating in what wants to bloom.
Continue the exploration
Discover Worlds Within is an experiential exploration of the human organism — body, mind, emotions, energy, nervous system, spirit and consciousness — and what becomes possible as we develop greater awareness of the life moving through us.
5 Reasons Tuning Into Joy is a Tonic for Wellness
5 reasons joy is a tonic of wellness with Marie Louise
In the pursuit of wellness, we often focus on physical health, diet, and exercise, but we may overlook the profound impact attention to Joy can have on our overall well-being. Joy isn't just a fleeting emotion; it's a state of being that can positively influence our mental, emotional, and physical health. We have the ability to cultivate the environment in which joy can thrive with attention. Here are five compelling reasons why tuning into joy can be a powerful and potent tonic for wellness.
Boosts Immune System:
Research has shown that positive emotions, such as joy, can enhance the function of the immune system. When we experience joy, our bodies release neurotransmitters like dopamine and endorphins, which have been linked to strengthening the immune response. Regularly tapping into feelings of joy can help bolster our body's defenses against illness and promote overall health.
Reduces Stress and Anxiety:
Joy has a remarkable ability to counteract stress and anxiety. When we experience joy, our bodies naturally relax, and stress hormones like cortisol decrease. By intentionally cultivating moments of joy through activities we love or spending time with loved ones, we can create a buffer against the negative effects of stress, leading to greater emotional resilience and a calmer state of mind.
Enhances Mental Clarity and Creativity:
Joy has a way of clearing the mental fog and enhancing cognitive function. When we're joyful, our minds are more open, creative, and receptive to new ideas. This heightened mental clarity can lead to increased productivity, problem-solving abilities, and a greater sense of purpose and fulfillment in our daily lives.
Improves Relationships:
Joy is contagious, and when we radiate joy, it can positively impact the people around us, strengthening our relationships and social connections. Joyful interactions foster empathy, compassion, and understanding, creating a supportive environment where communication flows more easily, conflicts are resolved more peacefully, and bonds are deepened.
Promotes Overall Well-being:
Consciously choosing to give attention to things that make you joyful invigorates the pathways of joy in your brain to become the new automated response to life. In neuroscience, it's said that "neurons that fire together wire together." By consciously firing and wiring moments of joy, this neural feedback becomes the new norm. Conversely, feelings of the critic and judgment bias often create a deep reflex of toxic biochemistry and, if played long enough, can become heavy and depressing. Imagine the transformative effect of firing and wiring moments of joy into your neural pathways, creating a default state of positivity and resilience.
Cultivating our ability to attune and give attention to the things that make us feel good is by far one of the greatest gifts we can give to ourselves and the world around us. It isn’t always easy to see the good around our world, but with a little awareness, it might be worth the effort. So, here is the invitation to give wellness a crack and let your experience of doing so raise new evidence that you are worthy of your own attention. Let's make joy a priority and embrace its transformative effects on our exploratory and open wellness journey.
Author
Evolve Yourself® with Marie Louise
Marie Louise is a seasoned facilitator of wellbeing processes and activations, having positively influenced the lives of thousands of individuals across the globe. With a profound understanding of human nature and relationships, she has elevated countless individuals, enhancing their capacity to thrive.