Presence means being involved in the experience you are having, with some awareness of what is happening in and around you.
It isn’t a permanent state of serenity. You can be present while uncomfortable, excited, uncertain or looking for the right words.
You’re at the table. Are you tasting the meal?
Perhaps you’re planning what to clear away, checking whether everyone has enough and considering tomorrow’s work.
There is nothing wrong with those tasks. But the food you wanted to enjoy has become something you are efficiently consuming between responsibilities.
I AWAKE’s attention to the body and senses invites contact with the moment itself: taste, touch, pace, the person speaking, the response you are having before you improve it.
You don’t have to be present to everything at once. One detail can be enough to notice that your life is happening now, not after the list is finished.
Sensory attention begins with the particular detail. Self-intimacy explores the relationship with your own experience rather than merely watching yourself more closely.
The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health’s Meditation and Mindfulness: Effectiveness and Safety introduces practices of attention and their research context. It gives a broader reference without making presence another standard of flawless calm.