What Do You Want Your Presence To Be A Source Of?

The word contagion became immense during COVID. The thought of a virus moving from person to person arose a great deal of fear since 2020. But as the masses held fear, fear became a contagion. Passing from person to person at a quickening pace.

Thankfully, many of us took a moment to stop and ask: should we really be afraid of this virus to the degree we’re being invited to? For the very few of us who were highly vulnerable, being more careful made some sense. But for the vast majority of us, the level of collective fear in no way matched the scale of the threat.

In that case, we unnecessarily spread the contagion of fear, causing a great deal of unnecessary stress.

Or perhaps it was necessary.

Perhaps it acted as a moment to show how out of touch we can become when we don’t remember to stop, take a deep breath, and truly orient ourselves to our current moment.

Perhaps we unconsciously turned our presence into one that held stress, tension, tightness and fear, and passed that along to others by means of our actions, words, tone of voice, furrowed eyebrows, and energy.

At times, activists and changemakers can also hold the same tension, tightness, and stress as they react to and navigate the state of the world. That’s why I want to address this important reflection around what state of mind and energy we are ALL putting into our communities.

As humans we are equipped with a nervous system that is picking up cues through our senses, telling us various things about the people around us. A frozen face, and crooked smile, an elevated voice, wide eyes, tight shoulders, or short breaths – all of these cues are subconsciously read by our senses.

That information is processed in part by our ventral portion of our vagus nerve, the portion of our nervous system responsible for social engagement. It picks up cues and passes them to the brain and heart, giving us clues about how other humans are feeling.

When we are present, embodied, and in tune, these cues are loud and obvious. When we are caught in the unconsciousness of modern day life, we may not notice these cues at all.

Our ‘senses’ go a bit deeper too. Our hearts give off an electromagnetic field that is reflective of our emotional state and overall well-being. That electromagnetic field is measurable. It can be discerned by other people’s hearts, and nerve endings within the heart pass that information along to the brain for sensemaking.

We not only gather information about the people around us via our senses and social engagement system, but also energetically via the receiver that is our heart.

We’re not just material beings, but energetic ones.

Our energy is made up of our internal emotional state, the state of our nervous system, and the thoughts and we carry. All shaped by the experiences we have had over our lifetime.

So what do you want your presence, your energy, to pass onto others? What do you want it to be a source of? What do you want to model to your environment?

I ask this question because so many of us want to change the world. We want help make the world a better place, and yet we are often only looking outside ourselves for the answer.

It is true that we must act to create a better world. I for one do not believe that simple “being conscious and joyous will change the world.” No, we must take intentional action.

But the vision of a better world begins in our minds and hearts, and taking care of the state of both is a necessary step towards action.

Every single one of us makes up a piece to the overall puzzle. And while our collective actions are a hugely important part of how we’re going to change our world, those actions are carried out by our bodies, minds, and presence.

The question in the headline of this article is meant to invite us to come back to our focus on wellbeing. Our growth. Our awakening to who we are and our full potential. To make some time in the day to take stock of our energy and emotional state, and see it as just as important as other areas of our life.

Wellness does not have to be a serious gruelling battle towards ‘perfection’, unless of course that is the energy you want in your presence, but instead this focus on growth and potential can be held in an energy of love, curiosity, and joy.

So what is your presence going to be a source of?

Take a breath in. Allow yourself to open and expand. Then let out your breath. Let go and notice how you feel.

Notice how you feel. What do you want your presence to be a source of?

Quick Exercise

Take note for 30 seconds: how do you feel right now? Do you have tension? What’s your energy like? How does your body feel? Your mind?

Take 5 minutes and just breathe. Use a pace of 5 seconds on the inhale, and 5 on the exhale. In through the nose, out through the nose. When you breathe out, let the breath just fall out or let go. Truly give to the process of your breath. Be totally there as you breathe in, and be totally there as you let your breath out.

In 2, 3, 4, 5
Out 2, 3, 4, 5.

When you’re done, check in again. How do you feel right now? What do you notice that is different than before? Do you have tension? What’s your energy like? How does your body feel? Your mind?