Excerpts from The Power of Now © Eckhart Tolle, pages 90-105, used with attribution.

Being is your deepest self.

You are cut off from Being as long as your mind takes up all your attention. When this happens – and it happens continuously for most people – you are not in your body.

Unless you stay present – and inhabiting your body is always an essential aspect of it – you will continue to be run by your mind.

 

To become conscious of Being, you need to reclaim consciousness from the mind.

 

A very effective way of doing this is simply to take the focus of attention away from thinking and direct it into the body.

 

Keep focusing on the feeling of your inner body for a few moments. Do not start to think about it. Feel it. The more attention you give it, the clearer and stronger this feeling will become. It will feel as if

every cell is becoming more alive.

 

The more consciousness you direct into the inner body, the higher its vibrational frequency becomes, much like a light that grows brighter as you turn up the dimmer switch and so increase the flow of electricity.

 

If at any time you are finding it hard to get in touch with the inner body, it is usually easier to focus on your breathing first. Breathe into the body and feel your abdomen expanding and contracting slightly with each inhalation and exhalation. Then breathe in the light.

 

Feel that luminous substance filling up your body and making it luminous also. Then gradually focus more on the feeling. You are now in your body. Don’t get attached to any visual image.

 

Tolle describes how going deeper into the inner energy field of the body can lead to experiences of Being that seem to extend beyond the physical boundaries of the body…

When you can feel the inner body clearly as a single field of energy, let go, if possible, of any visual image and focus exclusively on the feeling. If you can, drop any mental image you may still have of the physical body. All that is left then is an all‐encompassing sense of presence or ‘beingness,’ and the inner body is left without a boundary.

 

Then take your attention ever more deeply into that feeling. Become one with it. Merge with the energy field, so that there no longer a perceived duality of the observer and the observed, of you and your body. The distinction between inner and outer also dissolves now, so there is no inner body anymore. By going deeply into the body, you have transcended the body.

 

For Tolle this inner space awareness is something to be accessed, not only as a “time‐out” exercise to be experienced in solitude, but out in your daily activities, especially when they become stressful and challenging… 

So, when such challenges come up, as they always do, make it a habit to go within at once and focus as much as you can on the inner energy field of your body.

 

When you focus within and feel the inner body, you immediately become still and present as you are withdrawing consciousness from the mind. If a response is required in that situation, it will come up from this deeper level.

 

As long as you are in conscious contact with your inner body, you are like a tree that is deeply rooted in the earth, or a building with a deep and solid foundation.

 

If you need to use your mind for a specific purpose, use it in conjunction with your inner body. Only if you are able to be conscious without thought can you use the mind creatively, and the easiest way to enter that state is through your body.

 

Whenever an answer, a solution, and a creative idea is needed, stop thinking for a moment by focusing attention on your inner energy field. Become aware of the stillness. When you resume thinking, it will be fresh and creative.

 

When listening to another person, don’t just listen with your mind, listen with your whole body. Feel the energy field of your inner body as you listen. That takes attention away from thinking and creates a still space that enables you to truly listen without the mind interfering.

Tolle says that anchoring awareness in the inner body also affects the physical body… 

Awareness of the inner body has other benefits in the physical realm. One of them is a significant slowing down of the aging of the physical body.

 

As there is more consciousness in the body, its molecular structure actually becomes less dense.

 

The more consciousness you bring into the body, the stronger the immune system becomes.

 

The accumulation of time as the psychological burden of past and future greatly impairs the cells’ capacity for self‐renewal.

 

It is also a potent form of self‐healing. Most illnesses creep in when you are not present in the body. If the master is not present in the house, all kinds of shady characters will take up residence there. When you inhabit your body, it will be harder for unwanted guests to enter.

Tolle anticipates a very reasonable skepticism regarding his statements…

 Is there any scientific evidence for this?

Tolle’s answer to this question is also the invitation this website offers…

 Try it out and you will be the evidence.