Presence or distance?

I have been thinking a lot about distance and presence lately. About the certain objective distance I need to see something, or myself, clearly. And about the presence I need to know how I feel, or more accurately: how my body reacts.

Are these mutually exclusive?

It feels like the recommendation is always either one or the other. Last night I started a course on coaching, and the edict there is: distance (to allow space for the coachee). But I am also in in the process of finding my own path of yoga, and the only possibility there is: presence (to discern).

So as I sat this morning I contemplated the entangled interdependence of the two. I will never be able to be authentically listening - in a coaching situation or otherwise - without being truly present. And a key component of presence in yoga is objective observation of body and mind. I can't disentangle the presence I need to discern from the space I need for discernment.

Because distance and presence require the other for its full exercise. Because everything requires balance.

Next up: virtual vinyasa class Saturday April 30 13:00 UTC (9am Brooklyn, NY). I hope you can be there <3