Yup, hate to say it as it goes counter to all that is non-dual, but being present made my anxiety and depression worse in most cases and sent my mind into a tailspin. There's some good literature on meditation and the potential for an increase in anxiety symptoms for some people with presence, mindfulness, presence techniques. You might argue that I wasn't doing it right (I certainly did and felt there was something wrong with me, thereby increasing anxiety) but after years, decades, of trying everything under the sun to gain presence I think I would have stumbled on something. I don't think it should be that hard or that much work. And it turns out it's not. My mind is no longer an endless hamster wheel (although it was most of my life), but a curious, calm, functioning entity, totally human, mostly sane.dijmart wrote:Really? Uh? This isn't my experience at all. My capacity for suffering is huge, potentially, without bringing "presence" into my daily life. Otherwise the mind is just on an endless hamster wheel.Onceler wrote: I also don't think presence dissolves any negative thing. It can make things worse, at least it did for me.
I'm glad it works for you and others, but obviously (from the narratives of many posters here and elsewhere) it doesn't work for everyone and it certainly didn't work for me. It made things worse.