I have been aware of practising conscious presence for a number of years now and had thought I had a handle on it (so to speak). Over many sunrises I became aware of different qualities I held within myself as I was doing things and this seemed to bring a whole other dimension to conscious presence that I had not really pondered on before.
My Conscious Presence was now starting to become more rich and fuller. This was a revelation for me in that I could clearly see that prior to this finding, I was actually practising Mental Awareness and not Conscious Presence.
Mental Awareness is the art of having one’s mind focused on whatever the task at hand is and not wandering off in any other direction toward a future or past event that leaves us more drained of energy than we really need to be.
Mental Awareness is just that though: I found myself still living in my head while my body was carrying out its function, even though my thoughts were in line with the function and my breath was gentle. As I went about the activities of my day there was this mental note taker making sure that I was ticking the boxes of Breath, Mind and Body. There was still a disconnection from my body.
Enter Conscious Presence: I found that being aware of my qualities made a great difference. I pondered on the idea and word Consciousness, and I could feel that it held much more than an awareness of my mind – it had everything to do with my whole body, every cell of my body.
I found that deepening my Presence was necessary to being more aware of my different qualities and to deepen my qualities I found that being aware of the consciousness through my whole body allowed me to feel and embody the quality.
I could now feel Conscious Presence through every particle and space of my being; as my breath draws it in, it feels like I am being filled with the Love of God and I found this makes all the difference. I feel into the word Consciousness and it invokes an all-encompassing/spherical quality. It is so much more than mental awareness.
In staying Consciously Present (as much as I can) there is no more note taking, I am able to feel me and just be. I feel my exquisite female qualities, Love, and the Divine Angel that I Am being more embodied and Lived. It feels more a Beauty-full connection between God, Soul, Myself and All.
With Love and Much Appreciation to Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine.
By Dianne Hetherington, Angel of God 🙂 , Brisbane, Australia
Further Reading:
Meditation, Mindfulness, Conscious Presence – Are These Really the Answers to a Better Life?
Checking Out – Are We Sowing the Seeds of Our Own Dementia?
Walking in Presence and Without Pain
The Truth about Serge Benhayon 
Yes this is one that I find gets me everyday. When we are off with other thoughts whilst we are in the activity of doing something, then we are definitely in the mental space.
Conscious presence is very much different, and even as I write this comment, I can feel where my fingers are and how my thoughts can drift in and out, if I don’t bring my presence to what my body is being asked to do. The simple thing is that if I don’t consciously move my body, something else will move it instead, then what is being delivered?
We are far from perfect but when we make a choice to be aware of our bodies more, then we will live on this planet earth much more lovingly and caring of everything. We are far from this, but it isn’t to say it isn’t possible either, it starts with the one and then it filters on…
The shift from being only in the mind to holding a deep presence of the body is such a huge and massive shift and yet so subtle and simple. Yet at times appears difficult especially when we are stuck in the mind and trying to get into the body.
Yes Henrietta, it is the mind that makes everything seem so arduous, when the body brings the simplicity of it all. We just need to be with our bodies more and it will definitely communicate louder and louder, and then it is that, that impulses us forward.
The body’s particles speak loudly and beautifully and it is such a simple experience to settle into communication with this physical expression of our inner most. Listening to the body particles on a deep level is like having speed dial to multi-dimensionality, and the depth of who we are. But when the head takes over it is like something comes between like a veil …and though we get a sense of it (the body and its particles), it is still something separate, something not really lived and breathed, and we miss out on the depth of what is there.
Thank you Dianne – this is great as it is a very good reminder that there is a distinct difference between actually feeling and connecting to the body versus thinking we are connected to the body. It might seem silly to state this but so it is and whilst the approach is mental it does not allow you to percieve the fact that you are not feeling your body at all but simply makes you think that you are feeling the body. This is actually quite disturbing to realise, especially when you reliase this yourself and can feel how incarcerating it is to be stuck in the head and not actually feel the body in full.
When I do Esoteric Yoga or lay down to bed often I can get a sense of my level of self connection. The more connected, the more still within, the deeper I feel myself sink. Less connected, the mind is racy and the body has a tingle or a buzz within it that is disturbing.
Thank you Dianne, I enjoyed reading of what you discovered as I feel I was locked into ‘getting it right’ regarding my approach to conscious presence which was quite functional, instead of truly enjoying my whole being and my body being together… and how fun and light that feels! Approaching anything with seriousness can be a way to obscure the truth.
Great reminder to keep things fun, not allowing seriousness to take over.
Being aware of the quality of being conscious with our bodies highlights how anxiousness need not be a part of our lives no matter what we are doing.
Connecting with our quality does support us to be consciously present, ‘ found that deepening my Presence was necessary to being more aware of my different qualities and to deepen my qualities I found that being aware of the consciousness through my whole body allowed me to feel and embody the quality.’
So true Dianne, it is not the moves we make but the quality of our movement.
This is such a great explanation of the difference between mental awareness and conscious presence, energetically two very different ways of being that have us moving and living either from a part of us or all of us.
There is something prescriptive and mechanical about the tick box approach often used in mental awareness, the driver is still very much the mind and it’s not really interested in connecting with and feeling the body, but more in controlling it, and still being in charge. Conscious presence is a whole body feeling, fully embracing all equally without being driven by the mind.
“I pondered on the idea and word Consciousness, and I could feel that it held much more than an awareness of my mind – it had everything to do with my whole body, every cell of my body”. This is such a great article which is much needed with the proliferation of modalities and techniques that teach you to be present but are still doing this from the mind. Until your whole body is engaged, there is no true change or evolution.
Unless I am connected to and get a sense of the bigger picture – multi-dimensionality through the connection to my body, bringing the qualities such as joy then I am not living in conscious presence. Conscious presence is the expansion of who I am – love in all my glory as opposed to the controlled focus of the mind where I think I am connected to my body and I am not… there is much I am exploring here in my day and reading this blog today is very timely. Thank you Dianne for sharing.
This is a beautiful “I pondered on the idea and word Consciousness, and I could feel that it held much more than an awareness of my mind – it had everything to do with my whole body, every cell of my body.” I do agree concerning our whole body and it is clear that every cell vibrates and connects with something much grander and expansive than just our physical form.
‘I am able to feel me and just be’ and this sums it up, that to be consciously present is not a tick box exercise but one that embraces all of us, in each and every moment no matter what. There’s no trying or controlling just feeling us and all we are and observing, and there’s an understanding of all we are connected to and part of, a bigger wider whole.
Distinguishing between mental awareness and conscious presence is hugely significant and I, too, have found it very profound to make the distinction and with it bringing a whole new and grander dimension to life.
It is great that this topic has been discussed and shared, so more people are aware if they are practising mental awareness or conscious presence.
Well said and it is the difference between words spoken and words lived.
Thank you for a great sharing showing the difference between mental awareness and conscious presence, one is just a mental exercise that can tick the box the other has to do with our qualities, feeling ourselves from the inside out the love we are in every particle, a whole body intelligence.
Awareness is not mental. It belongs to the whole body.
Never thought about it in that way but so true Eduardo.
Yes, the ‘whole’ no part left out or not part of being consicoucely aware, the hands and toes are as much part of it as the head and heart, it incorporates the delicate follicles and cells. The breath we breathe is absolutely significant to how we perceive and feel life and when we breathe consciously aware and gentle we can feel connected to the all.
This blog just brought me straight back from being in my head into my body, simply re-turning to the marker of connection with my body, I have left myself with before I went in my head. This is what I have practised and still do with being present as it all started with the Gentle Breath Meditation by Serge Benhayon. This is where I learned the difference between motion and stillness. And how to be more present with my movements, instead of constantly being in my head. So every now and then when I loose my presence, I sit or stand and do some Gentle Breath Meditation. It truly works, and feels so good to be back in my body. I recommend it to everyone. See: http://www.unimedliving.com/meditation/free
We can be very focused mentally, but still ignore our bodies. No wonder we can feel more drained as we allow our minds to override our body.
I agree with what you are saying here Diane and have also experienced this for myself. There is a big difference between just living in the present and bringing my whole presence to the present moment.
Bringing my whole presence to the present moment, ‘I could now feel Conscious Presence through every particle and space of my being; as my breath draws it in, it feels like I am being filled with the Love of God and I found this makes all the difference.’
When the whole body participates, then we can recognise its previous absence in retrospect. We can feel its richness and wholesomeness in confirmation.
Once we experience the grandness of conscious presence and how expansive it is, why would we ever go back to the limited and reduced way of using mental energy to get through life?
When we are focused on the task at hand without the distraction of the mind pulling us back and forth to the past and future life is so much simpler.
‘There are no rules, things to do, or ways to be, there is only the willingness to love’.It has been a slow process for me to be consciously present I think most of it has been mental awareness with the missing ingredient of love , thank you for sharing the difference between mental awareness and conscious presence.
Is is a continue practise to be present in the body as we mistly lived a long momentum of
Living life from our mental level in our head.
But worth iT a lot.
The joy is found by being present with the body.
Thank you Dianne for this clear distinction between ‘doing’ and ‘being’. Learning to re-connect to my body was initially very challenging as my mind had always been very active in ‘functioning’ in a way that brought little awareness to the physical body and its constant communications to be more aware of the disregard I was living in.
Attending Esoteric Yoga sessions (The Yoga of Stillness) was a pivotal point in re-connecting me back to my body through conscious presence and a bridge to return to know (remember) the innate stillness within.
Read more about Esoteric Yoga –
http://www.unimedliving.com/yoga/about-esoteric-yoga
When we are doing mental awareness and it usually is a doing, a coldness in fact, and there is a separateness in how we treat the body, a lack of willing to be in the body; bringing quality in changes it, it becomes about how we move all of us and there’s no separation, a very different feeling and quality!