The power of presence

Living in the Present Moment: A Gestalt Approach to Being Here, Now

We’ve all heard the phrase “live in the present moment” so many times that it almost loses its meaning. But what does that really look like in everyday life when you’re juggling work, family, emotions, or just trying to keep your balance?

From a Gestalt therapy point of view, living in the present moment isn’t about escaping reality or forcing calm. It’s about learning to show up for what’s actually happening inside you, around you, and between you and others right now.

Awareness: The Heart of Being Present

In Gestalt therapy, awareness is everything. It’s not about fixing or analysing yourself but simply noticing.
What am I feeling in this moment?
What’s happening in my body?
How am I connecting, or not connecting with the person in front of me?

When we pay attention like this, we start to see how often our minds pull us out of the present, replaying the past, rehearsing the future, trying to control what hasn’t even happened. Presence brings us back to the here and now, where life is actually happening.

Making Contact

In Gestalt, we talk a lot about contact, that meeting point between you and the world. It’s what happens when you’re really tuned in: listening deeply, feeling your own emotions, being touched by someone’s words.

When contact is alive, you feel connected and real. But when you pull away, maybe out of fear, distraction, or habit, life can start to feel flat or distant.
The simple act of noticing how you make or avoid contact can open the door to more authenticity and closeness.

The Body as a Guide

Our bodies are always honest and always in the present moment. They tell the truth long before our minds do.

Next time you feel anxious or restless, try pausing and checking in:
Where do I feel this in my body?
Is my breath shallow or steady?
What happens if I just stay with that sensation for a few seconds?

By bringing gentle awareness to your physical experience, you create space for change without having to force it. Your body becomes a guide back to what’s real.

The Paradox of Change

One of my favourite Gestalt ideas is the Paradoxical Theory of Change, the idea that we change not by trying to be different, but by fully becoming who we already are.

So rather than pushing yourself to “be more present,” try simply noticing when you’re not. Notice the busyness, the numbness, the resistance. When you bring awareness to what’s actually there, something shifts on its own. That’s where real presence begins.

Living with Presence

Living in the present moment doesn’t mean you’ll feel peaceful all the time. Life is messy, unpredictable, and beautifully complex. Gestalt therapy invites us to meet all of its joy and sadness, comfort and discomfort, certainty and confusion with openness.

Presence allows us to fully inhabit our body and engage with life as it is. It’s a practice of acceptance and courage, not perfection.

You don’t have to go somewhere else to find presence; it’s already here, waiting for your attention.

A Little Practice

Right now, wherever you are:
Take a slow breath.
Notice what your body is resting on.
Feel the air moving in and out.
Notice what’s around you: the light, the sounds, the textures.

This is it. This is the moment you’re living in.
Can you let yourself be here, just as you are?