Ben Greenfield leads a breathwork and meditation practice centered on presence, introducing the metaphor of a translucent breastplate. He shares how he teaches presence to his twin sons and critiques the modern obsession with busyness, laying groundwork for a revised purpose statement in the next chapter.
Chapters
Hey, welcome to my weekly recording from my book Fit Soul Book. If you enjoy this free chapter, you can go to fitsoulbook.com where you can grab the book for free. I release a chapter from the book now every Sunday and we're about to dive into Chapter two. Chapter two the Breastplate of Presence On a specific Sunday night last year, during a long meditation breathwork session, God anointed me with his presence. Came out of the blue. I was never really fully aware of how unpresent, constantly busy and distracted I am and have grown to be for so long, until he spoke this truth to me in a moment of silence. It began with me meditating upon the way I spend my day and dwelling upon the Groundhog Day esque nature of much of my life at that time. Accomplish one task, move on to the next task. Complete the next piece of content, read the next book, listen to the next podcast, prepare for the next meal. Have quick conversations on the phone. Shoot off hurried email replies. Do a workout. Eat dinner. Spend an often rushed evening with the family. Rinse, wash, wash and repeat. But see, God cares about each day. I mean sure, second Peter 3, 8 in the Bible says that a thousand years are as a single day to God. But that doesn't mean God doesn't still care for each of these days. Hours, minutes, seconds, microseconds. And this means that for us to be fully grateful, fully aware, fully impactful, fully purposeful, fully excellent, and fully living to the glory of God, we must also be present each day, present each hour, present each minute, present each second, present each microsecond, and perhaps most importantly, present each each breath. This anointing of an extreme awareness of presence that God gifted to me is hard to describe, but I'll try. I like to visualize and feel presence fitted upon my torso almost like the most thin, delicate, fragile glass breastplate you can imagine. It was and is, even as I visualize it now, completely translucent, shimmering, glowing and flowing with each twist and turn of my body. Like glass, presence can be shattered at a moment's notice. But unlike glass and more like water water or gel or some other seamless fluid, it can instantly reform after it's broken, as long as the awareness of the broken presence and the desire for restored presence returns. As one learns to care for this so called breastplate of presence, one can grow better and better at keeping it from shattering and reforming it when it is broken. One of the best ways to maintain the integrity of your presence is with your breath. Imagine that each of your inhales charges your presence with a deep white and blue light. And each exhale sends tendrils, vibrations, frequencies and atoms of that presence wherever God inspires you to direct your presence. I know this sounds a bit woo woo, but when you practice using your breath to ground yourself in presence, you'll find yourself able to, even in stressful, hectic, rushed, busy and crowded scenarios, give your attention to whatever or whoever most needs it. It actually works to visualize a breastplate of presence, then to charge it with an inhale and send it forward into the world on an exhale. And the world so desperately needs presence, doesn't it? In an age of constant distraction and doing, doing, doing as though we are human doings instead of human beings, most people's presence is constantly non existent or shattered. Yet not many authors, preachers or gurus speak of the crucial importance of presence. Mindfulness, yes. Focus, yes. Awareness, yes. But presence has an altogether different ring to it when the word is said aloud or envisioned as a breastplate upon one's body. By definition, presence is a state or fact of existing, occurring or being present in a place or thing. While being present means becoming fully focused on or involved in what one is doing or experiencing. I want to help teach that kind of presence to people. Since that meditation last year, God has placed this on my heart. I firmly believe that family is foundation and that before one ventures out into the world to slay dragons or affect change and impact, one must first go to battle for or implement habits and routines in one's own immediate family. So I began teaching my twin boys, river and Terran presence. Presence with each tiny particle of air in their young inhales and exhales Presence with each padded footstep sound out of their bed in the morning. Presence with each ray of sunshine that strikes their skin. Presence with every drop of rain that settles on their head during a drizzle. Presence with every bite of food slowly lifted to the lips and savored and chewed. Presence with every sip of wine and olive oil and yes, even water. And of course, presence. Eye contact, care and love for every human being with which they interact. Pure body, unadulterated presence much saturate the life of one who wants to be fully connected to loving others and loving God. How is that presence broken? Well, sure, as I've already mentioned, our daily distractions, particularly technology work and endless to do lists, threaten each moment to break our presence. But I think the vicious cycle of loss of presence begins when we're young. Think back to your childhood, which is something so many of us fail to regularly do remember who you were as a child before you began to feel the pressure to become who you thought the world wanted you to be rather than the true authentic self God called you to be. Presence began to fade when it was overwhelmed by all the running, lifting, twisting, twirling, spinning, catching, releasing, starting, ending, consuming, smartphone checking, escaping and endless trying and yearning as you tried to be who the world wanted you to be. As you disconnect from self, that fragile breastplate of presence fails to remain with you on the constant because you become dissatisfied or disillusioned with the simplicity, contentment and peace of being who God has called you to be. But if you return to this Presence by learning to pause, breathe and halt your dancing through the bullets of the matrix of life, you once again become connected to your true purpose. You're not ashamed of the purpose statement that you'll discover in the next chapter. You're not so caught up in the doing that you forget about the being and you have deep knowing that if you cannot be present, then there's too much. You know what I mean? Too much to do, too much to tend to, too much to make, too many promises to keep, too much business to tend to, emails to write, books to read, tests to take, school to do, podcasts to listen to, phone calls to dial rooms and garages to clean, new hobbies and toys to try, mail to open, mail to send yes, yes, yes to all the shiny pennies and opportunities accompanied by a relative lack of no. This distracts me from presence. These tasks and to do lists can all seem very laudable, honorable and productive, but at the end of the day result in little meaningful impact versus focusing with excellence upon one fully present task done well, or one fully present conversation that leaves someone feeling truly cared about because you took the time, looked into someone's eyes, listened with patience and love until that meditation session, until I realized what presence truly was. My purpose statement was to empower people to live a more joyful, adventurous and fulfilling life. But I realize now this purpose statement doesn't place me in the present and indeed tempts me to be and even paints me into the corner of being some kind of strong chest thumping warlord who leads people on adventure quests in a never ending cycle of unfulfilling doing. I have no regrets about that purpose statement and it served me well during my days of cowboy, athlete, jester, entertainer, adventurer. But I've learned, as you will discover within the pages of this book or listening to this book, that it is time to rise to a greater calling as a father, as a leader, and as a king. So what is my true purpose statement after much reflection and introspection upon the importance of presence? Well, I'll tell you in the next chapter how I form this purpose statement and how you can form your own purpose statement too. But here's mine. To read and write, learn and teach, sing and speak, compete and create in full presence and selfless love to the glory of God. I feel a deep sense of presence as I think of and live out that purpose statement. And if I can go forth and love others with that purpose statement while remaining fully present, then I know deep in my soul that I'll be living as God has truly called me to live. So I now commit, I promise, and I prioritize for the rest of my days to wearing this breastplate of presence and to sharing that presence with others in as deep and meaningful a way as I can, from the first breath I take upon waking, to the first step I take when my feet touch the ground out of bed, to the first sip of water that touches my lips and onwards into every experience and interaction of the day. How about you? Do you plan to be more present? Perhaps you need some accountability in doing so. Or even more people in your life upon which to practice your presence? I'll tell you. And in chapter eight, I'll also tell you how I form this purpose statement and how you can form your own purpose statement too. For resources, references, links and additional reading and listening material for this chapter, you can visit fitsoulbook.com Chapter 2.
Season 2 | Episode 85 | Kamusta ka? -- Cultural diversity in therapy, athletic performance, and all things RT with Marriage and Family Therapy Associate, Kim Agramon-Bai
