I’ve helped hundreds of people improve their lives through increasing their ability to stand with strength and with trust in themselves as they move through critical junctures in their lives. The abillity to "be present" in these moments is critical to success. What does it mean to be present?

Many people, as they go through the various routines of their lives, are behaving automatically, where events in the moment are easily predicted by an only minimally conscious awareness – the rest can be handled by a waking level of unconscious activity. Consider the mind's engagment while driving, or in menial work involved in your job, for instance.

But when a crisis occurs, or events which couldn't have been predicted show up with unexpected complexity, this automatic state of mind is not equipped to handle the situation, and a person falls into distress and confusion. Relationships suffer, inconvenient emotions arise, and automatic behaviors often attempt to fit into a situation which requires full, conscious engagement.

This is presence: actively engaging with and responding to what is occurring. Presence appears in a room as powerful command, and adept response to events as they unfold. I often hear stories of people showing up to a business meeting with presence and being mistaken for the person in charge! Not only do you react differently when present, but people react to you differently.

Powerful presence comes from getting current with your emotions, and engaging your conscious mind in all events, whether they are mundane or meaningful. It is impossible to be "too present."

You can't be fully present with what's happening unless you release yourself from what has already happened. This can include experiences that occurred five minutes ago or five minutes after you were born - when they happened is not as important as the continuing grip they have on your mind.

Getting "current with your emotions" means you have faced what has occurred previously, and have fully expressed and released yourself from those events. This isn't always comfortable or pretty at first. Many experiences haven't been faced because they were painful, formative, or at moments when you weren't able to respond well. As you choose to turn your attention to those moments, that have been living inside you ever since they occurred, you often revisit the emotional reality of those events.

Facing your emotions is a bold process, but I assure you two things: it gets easier the more you do it, and secondly, as you get current, your experience of life becomes more vivid, alive, and fulfilling.

This is because you are entering a state of emotional intelligence – a familiarity with how you react emotionally, and an ability to trust that your thoughts and feelings pertain to this situation and not some other thing.

You can become powerfully present in any moment – even right now as your read this – and your ability to do so is exponentially improved by the process of facing and expressing long-held emotional reactions to events that occurred throughout your life, yet were dismissed and ignored. This is what I assist my clients in doing, so they can enjoy their lives fully as they unfold.