A Hindu priest for 15 years, Richard Bock has mastered the art of meditation (among many other things) and has a few things to teach us. The core of his work is the art of breath, which is not something a lot of people give a ton of thought to. I know I didn’t before I took his class in Soulvana called Dropping Into Essence. But what I really got from him was how important it was for me to start being more present in life. Following are some quotes from the class I took that may help you want to be more present and experience more presence as well.
1. Your Good And Bad History Is So Important… For The Present Moment
Your entire history has come to this moment.
If you are struggling with your past, you will often find yourself out of the moment and somewhere in the past.
Instead of struggling with it, try remembering what Richard Bock says – Your entire history has come to this moment.
In other words, everything that happened brought you here. Here may be good or bad, but it doesn’t change that your history brought you here and you are no longer in the past.
I found that when you really see yourself as here – the point where you have been brought to by your history – your past isn’t something you need to struggle with. You are not there anymore. You are here, so why worry about what happened? Concentrate on what you are doing now.
2. Do You Have A Longing To Come Home?
Home is always here… now.
I love this simple quote.
If you feel lost and wish you could go to a place where you feel at home, then you are not present. When you get in the present moment, you feel at home. No matter where you are, you do not feel a longing for something that you’ve experienced before because you are here and experiencing the here and now.
Richard Bock says, “To be human is to be here.”
3. Freedom Is Also Here
Freedom is like the breath, present always. You won’t find it by going someplace or doing something. You can’t find it because it is the one looking.
Freedom from your past, your negative thoughts, your troubles, or anything else, is always here looking for you.
When you can become present, you can experience that freedom.
4. Forgiving The Past
When consciousness comes back to just inhabiting this humanness, there is a complete acceptance of everything that has happened in the past.
In other words, when you are present, you accept everything that has happened and move forward through new experiences.
Richard Bock says that he saw a bumper sticker that said, “Forgiveness is giving up all hope for a better past.”
Wow.
Let that sit for a while.
5. Why You May Want To Practice Breathwork
When we breathe fully with our whole lung capacity, the body gets lit up. And in that lit up state, anything that keeps us from being fully present becomes apparent.
What’s great about really present and energized at the same time, through breathwork, is that you can really spot those thoughts that are trying to keep you from being fully present.
Richard Bock says that this type of awareness can help you spot a past trauma that you may have forgotten about, but is still affecting you on some level, and release it through your new awareness.
