“The simple practice of resting in presence reveals that seeking, worrying and excessive thinking aren’t necessary at all. Restful presence is already free of everything.” Scott Kiloby
When I first began to meditate many years ago I believed that resting meant that I had to control my internal experience. I already had a strong habit of suppression so meditation quickly became another source of control. It wasn’t long before I was struggling in meditation trying to be peaceful. I didn’t know that the peace I was seeking was already here and already part of my experience. I didn’t know that the key to experiencing peace was to completely allow not only my external but also internal experience.
Whenever we struggle to find or maintain an inner state we are increasing internal pressure. I like to compare it to a bottle of coke that has been shook up with the lid firmly in place. When the lid comes off the pressure rises to the surface and if there is enough force it can be quite explosive. In order to control that uprising we have to work very hard to “keep the lid on”. I always worked very hard to keep the lid on.
Restful presence is a practice that allows us to know that peace is here irregardless of what else is going on in our experience. Resting allows the momentum of movement away from our experience to come to a stop. It’s this stopping that allows the build of up internal energy to move through and release from the body. Energy is meant to move through the body not stay in the body where it creates all kinds of discomfort and dis-ease.
In my work with clients my focus is on creating safety, stability and a foundation of support for these big energies to move through the body a little bit at a time. It is beautiful and nuanced work that supports the physiology to do what it already knows how to do which is to heal and to rest.
All of Candace’s services are Trauma, PTSD, Complex Grief, Chronic Illness and Benzo withdrawal symptom sensitive.