THE BEING HERE PROCEDURE

Peter Graham

9 January 1994

The aims of the Being Here Procedure' are to help a person expand his/her consciousness of and presence in the present time and to resolve current attention holders or involuntary responses that occur when this is done or attempted. The procedure is capable of helping a person become more able to experience things in life, leading to an inner peace and a greater sense of personal power. To paraphrase an old saying: "Life begins in the here and now".

Definition: Being here means being in touch with the here and now, being conscious of the present and being willing and able to experience one's perceptions of it.

Being here involves being able to "hold a position" in space in the present time and being able to observe from that view point. This includes being conscious of the here and now and able to maintain contact with it on a continuing basis (rather than transiently or fleetingly).

The basic idea of the Being Here Procedure is to be in the here and now on a continuing basis without consciously doing anything else while doing the exercise or attempting to do so. It is basically a verv simple action. In its highest form, it is "just being". Being in the here and now is a relative thing, as the more free attention (awareness) that a person has available, the more "here" that person can be.

The Being Here Procedure can be used as either a remedy or as a tool for personal growth.

When used as a remedy, the Being Here Procedure is generally done to a result, such as when the person feels better, less dispersed, calmer or "more here". It can be done this way on a regular basis as an exercise to reduce stress (eg. daily or once or several times a week). It is normally ended on a "win" or success of some sort. It takes as long as it takes, but typically takes from 15 to 45 minutes (plus or minus) to reach an "end point" when done this way. If continued after the person has reached a "good point", things may start to turn on (as occurs when it is being used a major tool for personal growth).

As a personal enhancement tool, it is generally done for longer periods (such as up to several hours per session), although the optimum length of the sessions varies from person to person and can change over time. It is best done regularly in a series of sessions not too far apart (not more than a week maximum) over a period of weeks or even months. It is done to a major (substantial and stable) result, which may require considerable persistence and commitment on the part of the person concerned.

The Being Here Procedure is a relatively "unlimited" procedure, meaning that it can be done beneficially for reasonably long periods (eg. for up to dozens or even hundreds of hours in a series of consecutive sessions) and can also be done many times over a period of years (each time to a major result).

Things that grab, disperse or consume attention while doing or attempting to do the basic exercise of being here are sometimes handled (eliminated or reduced to a greater or lesser degree) through the use of one or more special handlings as described in a separate article. These handlings help to release and make available more free attention to the being by resolving areas of fixed attention and unwanted automatic responses.

The Being Here Procedure is directly based on the work of other persons. See the section "Acknowledgments" below.

The Being Here Procedure

If the person' s eyes are open, say "Close your eyes ".

1. 	"Be here and do nothing else but be here " or "Be here and do nothing but be here "

2. 	After a period, acknowledge (with an "OK" or similar) and check how the person is going or what is occurring or what has occurred by asking a question or questions such as:

	"OK How did that go?" or "Howareyoudoing?" and/or (ifmoreappropriate) "OK What did you experience (while doing this exercise) ? "

	or (if something is observably occurring):

	"What's happening?" or "What are you experiencing?"

	or (if something did observably occur):

	"Whathappened (while doing this exercise)?" or "What did you experience (while doing this exercise) ? "

3 . 	If person' s attention is on something in particular, handle by asking the following (and/or do another handling as mentioned below):

	"Does that remind you of something ? " "Does that remind you of something else ? " (until no more answers).

4. 	Accept and acknowledge whatever the person says and ask (if appropriate):

	"Is there anything else you would like to say (about that) ? "

5. 	Continue from 1. above to a suitable End Point.

Application Guidelines

When being done for the first time, start with a small time frame at first (eg. 5 seconds) and see how the person goes. Find out what the person experiences during that period and can do reasonably comfortably. Do not be surprised if the person can only do it for brief periods on a continuous basis without something happening automatically or involuntarily. Gradually stretch the time out as the person is able to do it for longer periods (j ust being here continuously without experiencing unwanted automatic responses). For example, start with 5 to lO seconds, then 15, then 20 and so forth up to minutes (and then eventually up to hours, if being done as a major exercise).

Facilitate the viewer by giving assistance and coaching as described in the article "Facilitation Actions for the Being Here Procedure and the Focusing Procedure " of the 10th of January 1994 (by the same author).

Help the person to become more aware of and more able to identify things that occur (in his or her own personal world) while doing the procedure, especially those things that occur involuntarily or sub-consciously. To do this, the facilitator can (as needed only, not every time) ask one or more questions such as:

"What did your attention do (while doing the exercise) ? " and/or "Did your attention go onto anything in particular?" and/or "Were there any thoughts?" and/or "Did you experience a particularfeeling (or sensation)?" and/or "Did you observe any images ? " and/or "Were there any changes in your perceptions?" and/or "Did you experience an impulse (to do something) ?" and/or "What did you do (while doing the exercise) ? " and/or "Did something occur automatically (while doing the exercise) ? " or similar questions.

If a meter is being used (very useful and recommended but not essential), ask "What's that? " or "What 's happening? " or "Did you have a thought (just then) ? " or "Did you experience something (just then) ? " (or similar) when a definite meter response (such as a fall of about inch or more) is observed as different than the normal pattern of the needle for that person.

What the viewer's attention goes onto and what he becomes aware of are very important. The facilitator should help the person identify them as they occur and do a "handling" on them if appropriate. The standard (usual, routine) handling is to ask the Remind Questions (as given above), which is usually enough. However, there are also several other handlings which can also, or alternatively, be done if needed, as described in detail in the article "Facilitation Actionsfor the Being Here Procedure and the Focusing Procedure " of 10 January 1994.

As a general rule, seek to work with what is occurring now and what the person is experiencing now (very recently in the session or right now). Even with the Remind Questions, one is asking what the person is being reminded of (now, in the session) and none of the things spotted (such as a past incident) are taken up or otherwise handled. If the images or feelings of a past incident tend to persist or keep coming up, the facilitator can ask "What is it about (the thing the viewer 's attention is currently on) that reminds you of that (the incident) ? "

If it appears that the person is doing something else (other than just being here), ask "What did you do (while doing the exercise) ? " or "What do you do (while doing the exercise) ? " and handle appropriately ie. with discussion, education, encouragement, and so on.

As the person gets better at doing the basic exercise and can do it for longer periods (and needs less facilitation), let the person "go through things" more and more before pausing the exercise to find out what is happening or to do a handling. If appropriate, consult the viewer over this. Let the procedure do its own special work and run its own cycle without unnecessary facilitation, intervention or interruption and work toward giving the person successes and building his confidence and abilities.

If the person has great difficulty doing the basic exercise ofjust being here and doing nothing else, it may help to get the viewer to do it with his/her eyes slightly open (not enough to see anything clearly but enough to let some light in). Another alternative is to temporarily place his/her attention on or listen to his/her breathing while doing the exercise. The focusing of attention on one' s breathing (as done in some meditations) gives the person something to focus on, otherwise the person's attention may wander out of control. Another option is to tell the person to listen to or focus on the silence between the "noise" of automatic thoughts and mental chatter that may be occurring. Asking someone to simply "be in the here and now" and "do nothing else" is beyond many people at first and can be especially difficult to sustain for extended periods. If this is the case, do it for short periods and end on a success each time.

Just being in the here and now and doing nothing else for the very first time may be a personal achievement for the viewer (and would be an end point). However, as the person progresses, the procedure becomes "being in the here and now, doing nothing else (other than perceiving) and continuing to do so". If a person has great difficulty with this, it may help to discuss the role of intention in doing the exercise and to do an Intention Procedure2 to give him/her a better understanding of intention and how to maintain and increase it.

The end point for the procedure depends on its usage. If the procedure is being done as a remedy, then it is generally complete when the viewer has had a win or success or when he is in the here and now (with no particular emphasis on continuing to be here) and nothing is currently turned on. However, if the procedure is being done more for personal expansion, the procedure itself can be ended on any of the following: a substantial success, a major realization or insight, a prolonged period ofjust being here with no automatic responses occurring or the attainment of a personal milestone. End each session at a good point or when nothing is currently turned on.

Rather than doing the Being Here Procedure continuously for long periods, it is better to alternate it with the Focusing Procedure (especially in the early stages). In other words, do the Being Here Procedure to a success or a "good point", then some Focusing Procedure, then more Being Here Procedure, and so on, gradually building up to longer periods of each and more expansive successes. When used as a remedy or in the early stages, it works well to do one and then the other in same session. Note that the Being Here Procedure can also be done as part of a series (program) of procedures that are cycled through a number of times until a particular result has been achieved.

Acknowledgments:

The Being Here Procedure and the Focusing Procedure are directly based on procedures developed by Colin Macdonald and Eddie Mace respectively. I have used different names for these procedures, as they are not done in exactly the same way and a number of new actions and handlings were added.

After studying and using Eddie Mace's "Procedure Attention Zero", Colin Macdonald developed the "Just Being Exercise", which is essentially the same as the Being Here Procedure. He developed the "Remind Questions", which are now an important part of these procedures (as they now exist). The Remind Questions have been found to be exceptionally useful in a number of other applications as well. Colin has also written up his own rendition of both of these procedures (dated April 1992).

2. 	Colin MacDonald (Sydney, Australia) has developed and written up a simple but effective exercise called the Intention Exercise which would be appropriate here (April 1992).