I often use the example of the 'busy road' when explaining the mindfulness approach to my clients. If we assume that the road is your 'mind', we can imagine you sitting on the side of this road, blindfolded or unbound. Meditation shines a bright light into your mind, illuminating the path so you can see it better. This bright light is awareness.
Concious awareness involves directing attention to the present moment in a purposeful, unbiased, and specific way.
Awareness Without Prejudice. It involves not only being aware of thoughts and feelings, but also their nature that encourages escape, such as 'this is really unpleasant', 'destroy this!'. It encourages us not to engage in these avoidance behaviors that our minds tell us to do to get rid of unpleasant emotions. Developing an unprejudiced awareness makes it easier for us to observe all our emotions and thoughts as they are, without labeling them as good or bad. Developing a Curious Attitude. It is another important part of conscious awareness. Instead of running away from the unpleasant as quickly as possible, it encourages turning to it, approaching it, being curious about it. To investigate/examine a bodily sensation or thought; 'Hmm, what's this like? It allows us to say.
For example, when our subject is the feeling of anxiety. Anxiety do something, get rid of it --> staying stuck in the behavioral chain reaction of anxious thinking --> Anxiety continuing to increase.
The brain is structured around forming habits. The problem is the behaviors we create as part of this habit cycle. Instead of doing something to drive away the anxiety or unpleasant feeling, turning to and approaching our feelings of anxiety offers a more advantageous alternative. Curious; It means to pay close attention to it, to turn to it, to turn towards it. Developing a curious attitude towards our feelings and thoughts and staying with them in a certain way is not as bad as we think. With conscious awareness practices, instead of the automatic reactions we often give to our emotions and thoughts, we establish a different relationship with these emotions and thoughts. We can learn to experience differently.
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