The Art of Returning: Presence as Power…
If there’s one spiritual truth that every mystic, therapist, monk, neuroscientist, and tired millennial eventually agrees on, it’s this:
The present moment is the only real place anything can change.
Everything else… the flashbacks of mistakes you made, the fears about how tomorrow might unfold, the imaginary conversations you had in the shower…is mind-noise. Useful for survival, maybe. But completely useless for transformation.
Eckhart Tolle, author of The Power of Now (which was my very first bible into transformation), calls this the pain-body, the emotional residue of the past that tries to pull us out of presence. I call it the false identity’s security system.
The Breath: Your Portal Back to Now
The most direct way back into presence? Breath.
Not the shallow autopilot breaths we take while rushing, scrolling, or spiraling, but conscious breath.
Breathing isn’t just biology. It’s the only bridge between:
your internal world and the external one
your mind’s frequency and your body’s truth
survival mode and embodiment
Every ancient tradition knew this… yogis, Taoists, mystics, even the Desert Mothers and Fathers who sat with God in silence.
Why breath?
Because you cannot breathe in the future. You cannot breathe in the past. Breath forces you into the only moment that ever exists. Each inhale reconnects you with what’s real. Each exhale releases what doesn’t belong.
The second you follow your breath, something subtle happens:
thoughts lose their grip,
awareness widens,
your system stops bracing for imaginary threats.
This is the moment your consciousness stops running and starts witnessing.
Presence Is What Heals the Mind
Therapy, shadow work, journaling… they all become transformation, not just information, when you’re present. Why? Because presence is the seat of choice. When you’re here, you can observe instead of absorb You can feel an emotion without becoming it You can challenge a belief instead of obeying it.
Neurologically, this matters. When you’re present:
your prefrontal cortex lights up (clarity and decision making)
your amygdala calms down (fear response)
your nervous system shifts from survival to safety
Neuroplasticity can only occur when awareness is present. You cannot rewrite a pattern while you’re unconsciously repeating it. Fear lives in what might happen Regret lives in what already did Power only lives in what is.
Your Inner World Is a Mirror
Everything you experience through others… attraction, rejection, disappointment, longing, tenderness, is the subconscious reflected back at you. And presence is how you finally look into that mirror without flinching. When you slow down enough to witness your reaction instead of judging it, you’ll notice something: Most emotional spirals aren’t about right now. They’re echoes… old protective mechanisms trying to keep you safe. Presence lets you feel the emotion without building a storyline around it.
Instead of:
“Why is this happening?”
“What did I do wrong?”
“What if I lose everything?”
Presence asks:
“What am I feeling in this exact moment, and what is it trying to show me?”
Usually, it’s something simple and human:
tenderness
longing
joy
grief
excitement
fear
And when you meet those feelings with breath instead of resistance, they move. They alchemize. They teach.
How to Return (Even When Your Mind Is Loud)
If presence feels hard, here’s why:
Your nervous system learned to be anywhere but here.
Hypervigilance starts as protection.
Presence can feel like vulnerability.
But the more often you choose it, the more familiar it becomes.
Here’s a simple re-centering practice:
1. Pause.
Notice that you’re spiraling, planning, replaying, assuming, or analyzing.
2. Breathe in through the nose for 4 seconds.
Feel your belly and ribs expand.
3. Exhale through the mouth for 6.
Let your shoulders drop.
Let your jaw unclench.
Let your mind uncurl.
4. Ask: “What is true right now?” Not tomorrow. Not yesterday. Just this breath, this heartbeat, this moment.
5. Answer honestly.
You’re safe. You’re held. You’re breathing. You’re here. Everything else is story.
For More Breathwork & Presence Tools
If this lesson resonated, I go even deeper inside my workbook:
📘 Bent Not Broken: A Journey Through Transformation
Purchase your copy to learn:
more breathwork practices
somatic grounding tools
presence exercises
and guided prompts that rewire the nervous system from survival to safety
And if you want support dropping into your center right now…
🎧 Tap this link for my 10-minute “Returning to Presence” Guided Meditation.
It’s short, simple, and worth every breath. One moment of clarity can shift your entire timeline.
More lessons, tools, and “WTF is happening to me?” resources are on the way.
Stay tuned, loves. You’re not bending alone.