Engagement in everyday life involves being present in the moment. We become more present as we engage in what we do.
If this seems abstract, think about a concrete example. You are at a party. You’re by yourself, looking at all the people clustered in small groups, looking from the outside. At some point, you move toward a small group of people, listen to what they’re talking about and, when the time is right, you say something relevant. You are now part of the conversation.
What does this tell us about engaging? You enter the conversation, but you do not barge in. You feel your way into it, so that you can become a welcome enrichment to the conversation instead of being an intruder.
The experience of engaging in this way is like the experience of attunement. It involves a slowing down, heightened attention, and ongoing feedback between what we experience and what we do. We notice what’s happening outside and what’s happening inside, and we keep adjusting in a gentle way.
This kind of engaging is not just an idea. It is physical. It is something we can feel in our body. What we feel in our body helps us adjust what we do in our interactions.
This kind of being involved from inside out is what we call Proactive Mindfulness.
This is what we teach experientially in the Proactive Mindfulness course: the embodied practice of mindful engagement.
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