What is Integral Presence?
Integral Presence can be seen both as a practice and as a result.
As a result, Integral Presence means living one’s full potential in a natural flow with oneself, others and the world. “Being in IP” is living every single moment experience with integral awareness while mindfully evolving forward in life. It is the art of living life fully and consciously.
As a method, Integral Presence is as a range of concepts and techniques to acquire the art of living life fully and consciously. We would be using mindfulness, body scan, conscious breathing, self-reflection, personality integration, grounding, mind balancing, alignment, the transformation cycle, transcendent awareness, the neutral observer … just to name a few.
Would you say it is a special kind of meditation?
No and yes. Some of the techniques are common meditations and some of the practices are not commonly known.
What is not specific to it?
Living in the now is the foundation of the Integral Presence approach and mindfulness is a very useful technique to develop that skill. Upon this foundation of present moment awareness are built some series of more advanced techniques in coherence with the ever advancing levels of consciousness of the practitioner.
Integral Presence has 3 fundamental principles: 1) living in the present moment, 2) staying centered and 3) breathe naturally. Practices like Zen meditation, martial arts, tai chi are also based on these 3 principles. As one practices conscious awareness for longer time, one’s mind becomes aware of more aspects and new dimensions of the human reality. This process is called awakening. This is the most natural evolution of the human mind for someone who practices Integral Presence, or other meditative practices, for longer periods in life.
What is specific to it?
What is specific to Integral Presence is that it opens a safe space for the ever-expanding consciousness of the human mind.
Each time when a person awakens to the next level of conscious awareness, one’s experience of reality shifts significantly. With each growth spurt in expanded awareness one needs a new reliable reference, because the frame of reference of the previous state of consciousness becomes inadequate, or at least incomplete, as a reference for the larger state of consciousness.
This growth in consciousness has an determining impact on the way we see the world, the way we make decisions, the way we interact with our surroundings, the effectiveness of our actions, the way we design our reality and the quality we experience in life.
The systematical approach of Integral Presence provides a series of key concepts that help us understand what is going on inside of us. They help us discover who we truly are and what our life is essentially about. You will find clear guidelines on how to proceed on your journey of growth as well as helpful tools for handling the challenges in our life’s journey.
What is integral?
Integral makes reference to two meanings. The first meaning is related to completeness and the second meaning is about integration.
Integral in the fist meaning points to the goal of becoming consciously aware of the whole spectrum of human reality that is potentially accessible for the human entity. It means knowing who you are, for real. It refers to all the aspects and dimensions of reality that human consciousness is capable to penetrate and acquire. The practice is about gradually expanding and deepening conscious awareness into all these aspects and dimensions at one’s individual, natural pace and rhythm, one step at a time, one initiation after another. Each time a new territory of one’s own inner landscape is (re)discovered in one’s own awareness, one is again one step closer to live in complete awareness of one’s innate wholeness.
Before being (re)discovered, some parts of ourselves have been hidden in the darkness of our subconscious, and may be covered with dust or got rusted. The recovery of these lost parts sometimes goes effortless and smooth, and sometimes the process is somewhat tumultuous or laborious. Integral in the second meaning pertains to the aim of integrating all parts of oneself, conscious, subconscious, unconscious and super conscious, into one coherent and unified consciousness.
To resume it in one sentence integral is about being who you are authentically.
Tell us what you propose concretely in the IP immersion.
During the IP immersion you access and discover a safe space where the natural evolution of the awakening of human consciousness is stimulated and accompanied. It provides elements of transmission, focus and guidelines. Each participant’s mind, soul and spirit is welcomed at the exact level of consciousness where that participant is currently experiencing reality and from that place safely stimulated towards personal growth.
During the immersion I will give suggestions that guide people into the experience, and these same instructions reveal at the same time the techniques of how to practice Integral Presence in daily life. Certain suggestions might just make no much sense, and you can simply gloss over them. It simply means that they are not the right guidelines for you in this moment in your life. But other instructions may provoke an enlivening or deepening resonance in your experience. You can use the suggestions that resonate most as vehicles to bring you to the next level of self-actualization. And these are then immediately the most potent guidelines to remember and take home to apply in your daily life and activities or in your personal meditation practice. You make take some notes right after (not during) the immersion to jot down the instructions that were most helpful to you.
Most likely insights, knowledge and wisdom will also spontaneously arise from your inner intelligence. These natural awakenings are to be expected and are the most precious fruits of the IP immersion, … to be cherished like gems. Also here it is useful to write them down right after (not during) the immersion experience.
Are there any prerequisites for practicing IP? Who can participate in these activities?
Everybody can practice IP. No matter how many decades one is practicing meditation, the art of Integral Presence is a life long learning process and evolution. But also absolute beginners are welcome to try out the experience and to start from zero. Everybody will be welcomed and be met at her/his own level and pace. The only prerequisite to participate is an open attitude and the sincere desire to evolve in one’s own psycho-spiritual growth.
Interview taken by Oana Stinga.