Shift The Thing That Matters Most

This Week in Shift Therapy®

Hello friend,

A fascinating book called Shift written by Ethan Kross, Ph.D., an award-winning professor at the University of Michigan’s top-­ranked Department of Psychology and its Ross School of Business, was published this week. Shift is a compelling read, drawing on decades of research in psychology, biology, neuroscience, physical health, and mental health.

In Shift, scientific validation for the mindfulness-based shifting approaches that we practice together here and with Shift Therapy® is eloquently articulated. The new book details how and why strategically applying such techniques in the various contexts of our lives is a highly effective way of managing our health and mental health — and assisting others in managing theirs.

Even better, a range of replicated science also supports the idea that we can all learn these skills! Congratulations on your new book, Dr. Kross. Here’s to another step toward a future where everyone can learn how to strategically shift into a better state of mind to maximize our personal and collective mental health — i.e., our lives.

Let’s Presence Shift…

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Take a long deep breath

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relax your shoulders

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allow your head to roll around a little bit

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pull your shoulders back for a couple seconds

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relax your whole body

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perfect.

Take slow, deep breaths now

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notice yourself coming more fully into presence as you focus more of your attention into this moment

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keep listening to life

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keep feeling the tingling of your skin

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nice.

I've been a psychotherapist for over twenty years

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whether it's individual psychotherapy for yourself, or couples therapy, or family therapy, or attending sessions to help someone else, good psychotherapy sessions are almost always characterized by ‘shared presence’

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sharing presence is a healing experience

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shared presence is the root of the best things that flow out of psychotherapy

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sharing presence can deepen your sense that life is miraculous and purpose-filled

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sharing presence can remind you that 30 trillion cells are buzzing you into life right now

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you might notice that your cells are interacting with the world outside you through each breath you take, in near infinite ways at every moment

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you might be awed by the complexity of you

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miraculousness is the water that you swim in just as the air you are breathing becomes background in your day-to-day life

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when you play with that reality by listening to it, and allowing it to guide you through the state of mind and body you're navigating at any moment, you become more able to connect and reconnect to the insight of your miraculousness, and feel purpose flowing into your life

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that’s the deep value of presence shifting

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Presence is purpose

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all of the work that you do to benefit your life — working out, eating well, looking after your health, looking after others, looking after the world, meditations, gratitudes, psychotherapy, yoga, and or, whatever else you might be doing in an effort to live consciously — fully bears fruit only after you connect deeply to presence and purpose

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your inner life is represented by the automatic, ongoing conversation in your brain

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listen to it

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you can shift it mindfully

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presence is morphing into the changing thoughts and forms of your life

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feel presence flow.

Take another deep, slow breath

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relax your shoulders

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focus even more fully into this moment

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come more deeply into your understanding of life as miraculous

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listen to and feel your life unfold for the next 10 seconds

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take another deep breath

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feel yourself relaxing even more

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focus 100% of your attention into this moment

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What do you hear?

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keep listening

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be silent

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perfect.

Stay present

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focus the peace, presence, and purpose that you're experiencing at this moment into whatever you do next today

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what’s next for you?

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whatever it is, remain fully present for it

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talk to you soon,

Sean

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The Presence Shift FAQs

What is The Presence Shift®?

The Presence Shift® is a digital wellness destination operated by Harvard University educated and UCSF trained psychologist, Dr. Sean Sullivan, to guide subscribers through strategically shifting into a better state of mind, body and being at any time.

Subscribers have access to Presence Shifts® to strategically shift their state of mind, body and being at any time.

What are Presence Shifts®?

Presence Shifts® are beautiful interactive experiences that mindfully guide you into your selected state of being while teaching you how to shift your state whenever you choose.

What are Mindfulness, Mindfulness Shifting, and Presence Shifting?

Mindfulness is the experience you have when you focus 100% of your attention in the present moment as non-judgmentally as you can (i.e., nonjudgemental present moment awareness).

Mindfulness shifting is using mindfulness skills to strategically regulate your physical and emotional state whenever you choose.

Presence shifting is ‘mindfulness shifting’ in a beautiful, conversational world of peace, love, and humor where you learn how to shift your state of being on-demand — often alongside your loving guide, ‘Presence.’

Does Presence Shifting Work?

We believe it works very well. Over the last four years, ~90% of our surveyed ‘Shift’ app users reported being able to shift into a better state of mind while using the app, usually in less than 10 minutes.

When you master focusing 100% of your attention right here and right now, you can drop into a ‘present’ state of mind and body, and then learn shift your state of being as you choose.

How Do I Learn To Presence Shift®?

1. To develop a foundation of mindfulness shifting skills, begin by completing The 7-Day Presence Shift Starter Program.

2. Regularly Presence Shift® through different states of mind, body, and emotion. You’ll receive one new 3D Presence Shift and one new 2D Presence Shift each week. See below for more details about the types of Presence Shifts you’ll receive.

Your weekly Presence Shifts® will cover a range of topics while teaching you our favorite strategies for shifting your state of mind and body on demand. All subscriptions allow you to Presence Shift as frequently as you choose. We recommend presence shifting at least once a week to maintain progress.

What Is The 7-Day Presence Shift Starter Program?

The 7-Day Presence Shift Starter Program includes seven introductory daily emails that introduce the core skills for developing your mindfulness-shifting ability in ~10 minutes a day.

What Kinds of Presence Shift®s Are There?

ALL Presence Shifts are ~10-minute mindfulness shifting experiences that guide you into a selected state of mind and body.

• 2D Presence Shifts are consumed by reading an email you receive, as a podcast, or in a more personalized format in the ‘Shift’ mobile app — iPhone | Android.

• 3D Presence Shifts are beautiful, conversational, 3D mindfulness shifting experiences guided by Presence that teach you how to shift into your chosen state of being at presenceshift.com.

Feel free to repeat any Presence Shift® as frequently as you choose. Each experience will feel different because you are different in every moment. In your 3D Presence Shifts, Presence will typically converse differently with you each time.

Does Presence Use AI?

At The Presence Shift®, we are committed to using AI in ways that help people learn how to shift into their chosen state of being when they want to. We are also constantly assessing the possible risks and benefits of using AI. Currently, ‘Presence’ uses a very small amount of AI during The 7-Day Starter Program. If you enjoy your early experiences and you want to continue allowing Presence to guide your Presence Shifts, you’ll be informed about possible mistakes Presence can make and asked to agree in order to continue.

As you continue presence shifting, AI will likely be relied upon to optimize your Presence Shifts more. Presence’s AI can help optimize Presence Shifts by learning what does and does not work for you during your Presence Shift experiences. Presence can also learn and improve from other shifter’s input and feedback. If you’d rather stick with low-AI or no-AI Presence Shifts, you'll have excellent Presence Shift options to do so. It’s always up to you.

Who Teaches The 7-Day Presence Shift Starter Program?

The 7-Day Presence Shift Starter Program is presented by Dr. Sean Sullivan. Sean is a licensed clinical psychologist who developed (and fell in love with) presence shifting during over twenty years of personal practice and his therapy practice. In his psychology practice and research, Sean focuses on how to use technology to teach people how to better manage their own psychology better.

Sean began his psychology career after graduating from Harvard University and interning at the Center for Mindfulness and Science at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Later, he was a clinical psychology resident at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio and completed post-doctoral training based at the University of California, San Francisco.

Some housekeeping

You’ll want to “whitelist” or otherwise tell your email provider that messages from @substack.com are solid with you.

Also, if you use Gmail, our emails may end up in your Promotional tab because we send some weekly emails to many subscribers at the same a time. Just move those emails from us into your general inbox and you should be good moving forward.

Disclaimer

The Presence Shift®, Shift Therapy® and Shift Therapy® LIVE provide wellness content. They are not intended as medical advice, or as a replacement for professional mental health advice or services. We, and Dr. Sullivan, can’t ever respond to you with personalized psychology feedback or advice, and we do not provide any mental health services here. We teach presence shifting — shifting yourself into a better state of mind with mindfulness.

More Support?

Dr. Sullivan is not able to provide direct personal feedback or mental health advice online. If you need more support, ‘Wanna Talk About It’ is a great place to begin connecting with live support. If you think you may need help, please find the support you need. A new coach, or therapist, or friend can change your life!

Photo by Daria Nepriakhina 🇺🇦 on Unsplash