Week 1: Presence

Week 1: Presence

Week 1: Come into Your Body through PRESENCE

Beginning Wednesday January 31

"In Week 1, your focus in on waking up and becoming fully present to your body, mind, and life. Most importantly, though, begin to see the underlying factors that are contributing to whenever you feel stuck in your life." Baron urges us to look beyond the form that the dysfunctions in our lives take: the overeating, self-sabotaging, dramatizing...whatever. Instead, become present to what is under these behaviors, "Seek the Truth". And he reminds us of a quote from the Bible "When you know the truth, the truth will set you free." It is time to stop trying to "heal deep wounds with surface Band-Aids." We need to get quiet enough to see the Truth. Then we will see beyond form, we will begin to know the Truth of ourselves.

1. Yoga Practice: See this section in book. Most of us will be doing our regular classes throughout the 40 days. If you have any specific questions about the practice or postures, bring them to your yoga teacher. Commit to at least 20 minutes of yoga, at 6 days this week.

2. Week 1 Balancing Diet: Before the start of the 40 days, please read pages 93-98. This will help you identify your personal dietary tendencies, hot/cold, deficient/excessive. You will know what is right for you. This is good, because we are slowly eased into the dietary adjustments...nothing too drastic this week.
To-Do:
Identify yourself in the patterns of hot/cold, deficient/excessive.
Begin to include some of the foods that your body needs into your diet.

"You don't have to overhaul your entire diet all at once-this is using the brute force of your will,...willpower does not work. If you start to make the changes in smaller chunks, at whatever pace feels intuitively right for you,...you will rediscover a sense of rightful balance...One thing that will help support making these changes is your daily yoga practice. Your mat becomes a mirror, and as you step onto it every morning, you will be able to start seeing the direct effects of your diet."

3. Presence Meditation (5 minutes)

"Meditation cultivates presence." Read pg. 99. 5 minutes in the morning and 5 minutes at night.
The focus of this week's meditation is to direct our mind to the moment at hand. Using right aim and right energy (neither too much, nor too little) we practice presence. We do this by focusing our mind on this breath, not the one before or the next one, simply this breath.
Direct meditation questions to Dr. David Dwyer, or your yoga teacher.

4. Week 1 Presence Excavation Questions:

"The excavation questions will shine a light on the dark corners of your mind, where we all store the beliefs and patterns that are holding us back in life."

Remember, friends, we are committed to full participation in this process. We may believe that our thoughts are "healthy" , but our underlying beliefs are sabotaging us, unconsciously. That explains why we continue to think we are suffering, on any level, from "The world is against me, everything is wrong", to "I know I would be really happy if just this little adjustment were made...I lost 5 pounds, so-and-so did or said the right thing, I found the perfect partner, if I had more money, the right job, house..." and on and on. These thoughts reflect an underlying dissatisfaction. So lets challenge ourselves to examine those thoughts.
Please consider these questions as the week progresses, comment as you feel guided to do so:


a. How much am I taking responsibility to learn and grow from the experiences, both easy and difficult, that I have in my life?

b. What are my beliefs about:

• My body (Do I believe it is too heavy, too weak, or just right? Do I believe it serves me well?
• My relationships? (Do they nourish me? What purpose do they serve in my growth and in my life? Do I believe I am treated as I want or ought to be?)
• My work? (Is it fulfilling?)
• Spirituality?(Do I believe in a higher power?)
• Sex? (What role does it play in my life? Do I experience shame or joy around it? Do I misuse it? Do I see it as a vehicle for spiritual and emotional expression?)
• Money? (Do I believe it is the root of all evil, or does it simply give me freedom to do what I want in life? Do I have a lot of fear around making it or keeping it?)

c. When in my life am I fully present? In my job? With my partner or kids? When I am working? When I am playing? When I am alone?

d. Where in my life am I hiding? In other words, where do I privately know that I need to take more responsibility and/or become fully present?

e. Where in my life am I flirting with disaster?