Why Awareness? What does becoming aware or conscious really mean? Consciousness relates to our level of awareness. Some believe being conscious is the opposite of being asleep (i.e. slumber), and in a way it is. Not only does it refer to being awake, but it can also refer to an awakening. To move out of a dream like state of existence and become mindfully aware of our present moment. Aware of the thoughts we think, the emotions we feel, the sensations we experience and the surroundings we engage in.
The very nature of our lives can be demanding, filled with family, relationships, friends, work, study, socialising, activities, responsibilities, events, complications, issues and dramas. We can often go about our day-to-day life, living on auto pilot. Many feel that they don’t have the time to slow down, and more often then not, downtime can be filled with screen time to just tune out after a busy day.
But what would happen if we tune in, instead… what if we listened to body, our thoughts and our feelings… we can then become aware of our sense of self. This awareness of self can lead to greater relationships, life enjoyment and fulfilment. But how do we slow down, become present and aware of our thought processes? By taking time each day to sit and listen to the conversations in our head, the emotions that are coming up for us, the feelings in our body – we practice mindfulness. We become the observer of our self.
Why is introspection so important? With an average of 50,000-70,000 thoughts a day, there is certainly a lot of noise and confusion happening inside our heads. Most of these thoughts we are not even conscious of, some of them are just on constant repeat, playing over and over. Research has shown that the subconscious mind operates 95% of the time with programs, patterns and limiting beliefs, leaving our conscious mind running at 5% capacity. Sometimes that 5% is concentrating on what is in front of us, but other times we are simply not present, daydreaming or worrying about the past or stressing about the future.
When we spend quiet time observing our thoughts, we can really begin to question them. Are these thoughts serving me? Are they kind and self loving? Are they true? Often we believe what we think, but not every thought we think has truth to it. This is how limiting beliefs are formed. Somewhere along the line we’ve had a thought, we start to think of it as a fact and over time it develops into a belief. This belief may not be serving us in any way, therefore it is now classed as a limiting belief and it remains in our subconscious, ready to be triggered at any moment.
When we are not living with awareness, we are living in a state of constant reaction to our environment, circumstances and other people’s expectations. Awareness gives us choice. We can choose how we act, we can understand why we are reacting, or how we are being triggered. We can listen to our inner critic our ego voice, to see if we are self sabotaging in any way. We develop an awareness of our habits and past habits, we can see our weaknesses, we may even recognise that a lot of our thoughts are negative in nature – when we become aware of this, through effort we can choose to change those thoughts and behaviours.
Awareness like anything, is a skill and needs to be practiced and we can do this through quietly observing, engaging mindfully, forms of yoga, journal writing and meditation. It is easy to slip back into an unconscious state and it happens often, we just need to keep reminding ourselves to return to the present moment. A good way to become aware of the present moment is through our senses, tuning in, listening, watching and breathing. Mindfulness meditations can be utilised, which concentrate on the breath – sitting peacefully, eyes closed, observing our breath going in and out, when our mind wanders (which it will) we take note and gently guide our focus back to our breath. When we practice regularly, being present and conscious becomes more like second nature.
When we reach this level of awareness into ourselves, this conscious state of being, it is helpful to lean into our higher thoughts… to actively choose better, focus on the positives, appreciate the good in our lives and be grateful. To evolve further and continue our self growth, it is a great idea to develop this lighter side, this higher consciousness, otherwise we can become highly self aware, yet also very self critical. With practice and intention we can make the choice to develop our intuition, our creativity, our compassion and our capacity for love, creating greater fulfilment.
For many of us, we can understand the importance of awareness and be happy to integrate this process into our lives. We can see that by being aware of our thoughts, actions and behaviours we can become focussed and successful, have more fulfilling relationships and live with less reactions to negative experiences and dramas.
However some may choose to take this further and question this idea of consciousness, and observation…. if we are observing our mind, our thoughts and our feelings, who is it that is watching and observing. Eckhart Tolle, author and spiritual teacher, answers this beautifully. “The observer is our innermost being, the essence of who we are, the presence we are beyond form, that is the soul.”
When we come to the realisation that we are our soul, observing our human mind and body, our life perspective can shift. We may experience what is referred to as a spiritual awakening – an altered state of perception, a shift in our consciousness. We have transcended our sleep like state, to a higher consciousness, and suddenly feel more at peace with ourselves. A spiritual awakening is just that… a beginning, it can happen in a moment through sudden clarity and insight, be a slow gradual process, occur through heartbreak or trauma, or perhaps never at all. It can be a different experience for every body, for some our true self can emerge, we can develop a sense of well being and feel a universal energy and a oneness with all of existence.
Regardless of our perspective, developing self-awareness is crucial to self improvement. As a Life Coach, I encourage my clients to develop their self awareness to achieve their full potential, to notice self sabotaging behaviours, improve self-control, to gain clarity, self belief and inner happiness. I personally feel that self awareness is one of the greatest attributes that we can acquire, it allows us to return to and develop a relationship with ourselves, while also improving our relationships with others.
With love
Rebecca x
Ps. For further reading I suggest ‘The Power of Now’ or ‘A New Earth’ by Eckhart Tolle or ‘The Untethered Soul’ by Michael A Singer.