Awakening the Mystical Heart: My Journey with the Practice of Presence
Brian Mueller is a poet and community organizer based in Dayton, Ohio. He serves as Director of Engagement & Outreach for ChoosingPresence.org and is an active member of the Ohio Chapter of Illuman, where he co-leads writing retreats that support men’s spiritual journeys. As a writer, Brian is known for his candid, accessible poetry, with works including Cock‑A‑Doodle‑Doo: 100 Morning Haiku, the Poem of the Day series, and the Bull Series. Inspired by poets like Rumi and Mary Oliver, he believes everyone carries the voice of a poet within.
The Practice of Presence continues to expand in my life. Over time, I’ve come to appreciate the extraordinary gift it offers: the ability to be more deeply engaged in all aspects of my life. I shudder to think what my days would be like if I were still sleepwalking through them—missing the richness of my work, my relationships, and the natural world around me.
My first introduction to meditation and mindfulness came in a yoga class in the late 1990s. At the end of each class, we would practice savasana, or corpse pose—a deep state of rest that allows the body and mind to absorb the benefits of the practice. Alongside yoga, our teacher also led meditation and mindfulness sessions that incorporated various breathing techniques.
For many years, I associated meditation, mindfulness, and contemplation with Eastern traditions. It hadn’t occurred to me that a deep well of contemplative wisdom also existed within Western spirituality. I saw these practices primarily as tools for stillness and stress relief.
But as I became more spiritually awakened through life experience and intentional choices, I began to understand the deeper purpose of these practices. A real shift came when I was invited to work with Jim Heaney and Jim Taylor to help teach the Practice of Presence to others.
At the time, I had never heard of the Practice of Presence, and Choosing Presence had just been published. I quickly read the book and was intrigued. After a few months of practicing presence, I could feel something shifting inside me. Meditation was no longer just about calming my mind or feeling more peaceful—it became a doorway to deeper connection with the Divine. I found myself more often fully embodied, more present to the world around me. I’m not claiming to live in constant presence or enlightenment, but I am more attentive and more anchored. And when stress or anxiety arises, I return to my breath and rediscover a sense of peace and groundedness.
What I often share with others is that the Practice of Presence takes us out of our heads and awakens the mystical heart within. In that space, we find greater peace and encounter the Divine in people and places we might have otherwise overlooked. What makes Practicing Presence so powerful is its recognition of how easily we drift, and its invitation to return to consciousness gently, simply, through three conscious breaths.
