Peace & Presence
Peace, presence and tranquillity….. the beauty and stillness of nature
For much of my life, the feeling of presence felt out of reach. I was living in survival mode, under chronic stress, and constantly braced for what might come next. When I first experienced true stillness—feeling grounded, settled, and fully in my body—I cried. Not from sadness, but from relief. Relief that I wasn’t stuck in a state of panic anymore. Relief that I had finally come home to myself.
When we allow ourselves to become still—when we sit, pause, and be—something remarkable happens. Everything slows down. Time feels less demanding. The constant urgency to get things done dissolves. It’s deeply restorative. As Deepak Chopra puts it, “Life gives you plenty of time to do whatever you want if you stay in the present moment.”
Of course, presence isn’t always easy. The world is full of distractions—traffic, notifications, emails, social media. But our biggest distraction is often our own mind. Thoughts pull us away from the moment more effectively than anything else. Have you ever drifted off mid-conversation, thinking about dinner plans? (I definitely have.) Or replayed conversations in your head, or mentally clutched your to-do list like it’s a life raft?
Stress makes this even worse. When we’re overwhelmed, our attention is constantly pulled into the future—what needs doing, what might go wrong, what’s coming next. Ironically, this scattered state makes us less productive, not more.
To become still and focused, we may need to take an honest look at how we’re living. What are our stressors? Are we trying to do too much? Are we allowing any space at all for simply being? When life is wall-to-wall busy, there’s no room for stillness to land.
A few words of wisdom
Learning to return to the present moment takes practice—and awareness. It starts with noticing what you’re thinking and how you’re feeling. When thoughts and emotions slow, presence naturally follows.
One simple way to begin is through grounding. Close your eyes. Get still. Feel your feet on the ground beneath you. Then bring your attention to your breath and begin to breathe consciously. As your breathing slows, your internal world starts to settle. Notice the sensation of the breath moving through your body. Let its rhythm calm your nervous system.
In that slowing—right there—you’ll find what your mind and body have been waiting for: a sense of peace and a pause in the presence.