I was working with someone and after answering my question about what they thought they got from our sessions, they turned the question to me. “What are you getting from our sessions?” they asked. It was a profoundly generous question. I thought about it and began speaking, not sure where I was going. What came out led to the conclusion that I enjoy the responsibility of being present.
Who enjoys responsibility? Well, apparently I do when I am with my clients. It is a very different experience to engage with humans in this way than what we do with each other daily. We skim the surface and we float there and we tap lightly on the waters of relationship to see tiny ripples.
The responsibility of being present though is an experience of being inviting and holding possibility. Our bodies can shift and enliven and speak when the right kind of presence shows up. In session, I have made an agreement with myself and you to be someone who intends to hold that right kind of presence. It’s not perfect, but often it is good enough and good enough gets us to the place of change.
Presence has been a guiding principle of my work. I have studied it in various forms for nearly 15 years. I didn’t know where it would take me, but it has brought me along a path to experience and knowledge that I am grateful I get to share.
And I am so grateful for the reflective question from my client.
Part of presence is the ability to listen. My fellow somatic practitioner, Amélie Gualier, recently shared this lovely interview with Gordon Hempton. Is your listening true openness to what is happening in the soundscape in this moment? Or is it as, Hempton terms it, “selective impairment”?
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