The power of being present

Let me share with y'all all the gifts being present brings about (see what I did there, you're all welcome 🤣). It's my version of a holiday newsletter theme with the gift-giving, but for well-being.

Your presence is a gift to others

Being present is a gift to the people around you- being truly seen and heard and not half-ass listened to while you're scrolling is a powerful feeling. If I am in the middle of a task at work and someone comes up to my desk, I will pause, turn my whole body to look at them and say, "I would love to give you my full attention so please give me # minutes and I will be all yours."

Your presence is a gift to your anxious mind

Being present is a gift to our minds- our brains are photo generative which means they can make us think and see and feel like we are in the thing we are thinking about - not so helpful whilst ruminating on the past or being anxious about the future. So being fully present in the here and now can really stop those harmful thought loops in their tracks. This happens because bringing our intentional focus to the present engages the networks of our brains that, just by coming online through that engagement, shut down our default mode network, which only comes online in the absence of a task and is the culprit for self-referential thinking including that rumination. If that piques your curiosity, check out this article where I previously wrote about those networks!

Your presence is a gift to your nervous system which has been through some shiiiiit

In addition to bringing a calm to bust thought-generated anxiety, being fully present can also calm nervous system-driven arousal. Cultivating the ability to be in your body and orient to your current environment is an invaluable skill to help counter any intrusive sense memories imprinted from serious or traumatic historic events. It also helps when you feel out of your body - spacey or even dissociated. I have definitely been so caught up in a raging argument with someone in my head I've had to snap myself out of it and come back to the dog walk, or shower, or couch. Making contact with the senses and your present surroundings really helps to bring you back to the present moment and lessen those sensations of disembodiment, disorientation, and dysregulation. All those dis-es y'all!

If only I'd taken my own presence-ing advice yesterday

Fun story for y'all- I thought I would "experiment" with editing by recording all my shorts/reels in one long take on my phone. Except I forgot that file size is a huge barrier and ended up in a FRESH HELL of tech trouble shooting. At one point in desperation, I downloaded a scam app that I thought was associated with my amazing video editing software (Descript). It was not which I figured out after I bought it; the lack of a free version and no option to "sign in" to my existing account should have tipped me off 😑

If I had caught myself and recognized that I was seeing the red of frustration and taken a few breaths, maybe I would have paused to read the damn reviews which clearly called out the app as a scam 😧 and wouldn't have wasted money and time reporting them to (the real) Descript and the Apple App store (you bet I did!).

Committed to getting a short video out, I finally downloaded a reputable app and got one made and published yesterday evening. That 19 minute long-ass take on my phone finally made it to iCloud at 8pm last night - 11 hours after I recorded it. Experiential learning y'all 🤣 Next time when I am feeling tech-frustrated I will stand up and stretch and take a few breaths and return to troubleshooting when I am seeing less red!

Sharing this with y'all to show that a practice is called a practice because it is ongoing and ever-changing, even if you've been doing it on the regs for like five years like yours truly. So keep at it!

Presence practices - my holiday gift to y'all!

I created a five minute video to help you arrive in the present using some sensations with the body for my weekly long-form (five minute) video, and a short practice (<three minutes) engaging the five senses through open monitoring meditation for my daily challenge video. Shout out to my sister who pointed out to me that yesterday was World Meditation Day, so I was able to sneak in some marketing for that 😎

Speaking of my 12 Days of Self Regulation Challenge, how's it going for you? I'd love to hear about! Comment on YouTube or IG (handle is militaryyogini for both) or simply reply to this email 🥰

Deep blessings of peace and joy to you all this holiday season. I know the holidays are not all merry and bright for everyone, and if that is the case for you, I double those blessings: May you know true and significant peace 🕊️✨💗

💞Carly

Thank you for taking the time to read this newsletter!! If you know anyone who would benefit, I would be delighted if you shared the love and passed it along 🙏

You can find me on YouTube and Instagram with my Military Yogini handle, I'd love to connect with you there!

I greatly appreciate any feedback, comments, or requests for practices/info. I've got a lot of knowledge and skills to share with people, so tell me what ya need and we'll see what I can do!! Simply respond to this email to send me your thoughts 😊