Presence is a palpable sense of being all
here - physically, mentally, and emotionally. It gives you a
masterful command of yourself and it commands the attention of
others.
Presence is spiritual in nature. It is the
embodiment of spirit. Through simple mental and physical
practices, you can develop this power.
Actors develop presence as natural outcome
of their training. Actors are trained to stay focused in the
feelings in their bodies while holding the center of
attention. You can use techniques established by actors to
develop the power of presence to support your professional and
personal life.
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Get out of your head and into your
body. Learn to ground yourself in your physical body.
Cultivate awareness of being fully relaxed in your skin
all the way down to your feet. Contact the energy in your
head and let it flow slowly down through your entire body,
filling every part of you until it fills your feet. Anchor
your energy into the arches of your feet. Then drop energy
into the earth as if you are growing thick, deep taproots.
(Grounding
Exercise Cassette Tape available from author, see
website below).
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Breathe. I mean really
breathe. Deeply and fully until you feel high on
oxygen. Breathing increases alive ness. Relaxes stress and
flows psychophysical energy through the body. Ten minutes
of deep breathing will make you radiate an expanded
presence.
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Explore the tension of being the
center of attention. Find out where you tense up and
block energy in your body when others focus attention on
you. Give yourself permission to really "feel"
it, relax into it until it releases into a flow state.
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Move your body. The more you
move, the more you relax. The best way to still the mind
is to move the body. Movement that expresses emotion is
best. It clears you of stored tensions and quiets your
mind.
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Be real with yourself. Give
yourself permission to contact your authentic thoughts and
feelings. People with a powerful presence are present to
and aware of their real thoughts and feelings.
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Be real with others. Allow
others to see who you really are rather than projecting an
image that you want them to see. Others are drawn to
authenticity. They sense it in you and trust you.
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Let go of perfectionism. Expectation
of perfectionism creates tension in you and in others. It
makes people afraid of you and it makes you afraid to give
your gifts to others. Give up trying to be perfect, now.
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Receive others. Open yourself to
take in their energy. Use a soft eye focus when making
eye contact. A soft eye focus shifts you out of judgement
and into acceptance of others. It creates a sense that you
are drinking others in through your eyes. It reduces the
resistance to others and literally draws them to you
magnetically.
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Contact your passion. Look for
things that excite you. Pursue them, even if in small
ways. Touch into something that excites you everyday and
risk sharing it with others. The energy of passion lights
up your energy field.
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Practice being in this moment.
Being in the now moment means being aware of how it feels
to be inside your body. Focus on body sensation. Pay
attention to everything you can feel with your five
senses. What do you smell, taste, touch, see, and hear
right now? Take "being here now" breaks several
times each day.
