“When something changes inside you, things around you change.” ~Unknown
When I was twenty-three, I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety. It wasn’t until two years later, when I stopped taking the medication, that I discovered I had a mental health disorder related to my menstrual cycle.
Daily meditation is the foundation of my health. It helps me control the physical expression of anxiety and bad emotions. It has made me more accepting of myself and grateful for the many positives in my life.
But the journey of consciousness paved by mindfulness over the past seven years has reached many different corners of my life.
The awareness I develop from regular practice permeates my life as a positive multiplier, driving further progress in emotional regulation and health. It inspired me to start journaling every day. It encouraged me to face myself, my fears, and my choices.
Awareness brings about meaningful change. I completely changed my life and gave up a career in the investment industry to prioritize the things I found I valued most.
It’s just a shift that comes with developing a different type of consciousness. Together, these form the backbone of a healthy, productive relationship with myself and the world around me.
Everyone’s journey to consciousness will be different; you have no way of knowing where yours will go. But if it helps you in your reflection and journey, I will share the issues I faced.
Emotional Awareness: Taking Back Control from the Unconscious
Mindfulness practice revealed how much my emotions affect me. I hadn’t seen any separation between myself and my emotions before. I let them convince me of things that were not true and guide me in making decisions.
But now my relationship with emotions has evolved from “I yes This feeling” to “This feeling is is happening Big book.
Awareness of feelings reveals something crucial. First, emotions are temporary. Second, many emotions come from instinctive, animalistic parts of us that crop up to protect us. This means they often influence our perceptions and rationality.
Emotions are there to serve us, and so is our stress response. But we must recognize these physical reactions for what they are—processes that need to be completed. Stress and negative emotions are often linked to serious health problems, but we have the power to minimize their effects.
Through awareness, I recognize my changing perspective, my desire to act, and my need to serve the different parts of myself. The latter includes my core, the part of me that is rational and values. Quick, emotional reactions often don’t represent this part.
At first, I had a hard time accepting all the parts of myself that consciousness was revealing. But it paves the way for enhanced emotion regulation and management. I now know how to accept the messages my emotions are trying to send me, feel them, resolve them, and act on them in a way that represents all parts of me.
When we do this, we transform unconscious responses guided by our emotions into conscious responses. It doesn’t matter if we still have turbulent thoughts; what matters is how we behave. By making constructive choices, we take back control of our lives from our emotions.
Reflect on your emotions:
- Can I name my emotions and how I feel about the events or people involved?
- How does the desire to react manifest itself?
- Why do I feel this way?
- Does this indicate any unhealed pain, fear, or insecurity?
- How have my feelings and perceptions changed?
- Which ideas are supported by evidence, and where needs more clarity?
Ability awareness: Make full use of your abilities
When we don’t feel like our best selves, we naturally blame our circumstances or problems. We often completely overlook how much of an impact our inner space has on how we feel, how we function, and what we get out of the world.
Through paying attention, I find that my heart is always changing. My motivation, my energy, and my physiology all change this month. Patterns started to emerge—when my self-doubt and limiting beliefs were greater, or when I was cognitively or physically weaker.
Some things come in a natural cycle. Some people are deeply affected by “too much of this” or “too little of that.” I see a correlation between physical factors, mentality and progress.
You can absorb all the inspirational quotes about success and personal growth, but if you’re not prioritizing your health, you’re on the wrong track.
Intuitively, we perform best when we take care of ourselves. We become most confident when we can recognize the nature of our own self-doubt.
With awareness, I can identify and meet my needs. Whether it’s a self-compassion practice when my self-doubt is high or just fueling my brain when I’m feeling sluggish. I also schedule activities for times that best suit my abilities and work with myself instead of beating myself up.
Competency Awareness Reflection Questions:
- When do I feel most energetic, motivated, creative, focused, and confident?
- What are my motivation and energy killers and boosters?
- When is it easiest for me to make decisions?
- What activities work best when my brain feels sluggish, my body feels weak, or my social skills are low?
Here are some things to consider: sleep, nutrition, exercise, connection with nature, time with loved ones, stress management, and downtime.
Relationship Awareness: Finding Calm and Improving Connection
When I think back on some past relationships, I often feel like I wasn’t a part of them at all. Driven by unconscious reactions and the drive to please others, they barely feel authentic, which really limits their richness.
We can learn a lot about ourselves from the way we approach our relationships. Our deepest wounds manifest in our triggers. Our behavior is primarily driven by our fears and insecurities, which are often underpinned by a need for approval and a fear of rejection.
Once we address these issues at their root and take back our lives from our emotions, we enter a new space. Challenges with others no longer become a reason to leave or make enemies, but become an opportunity to build something stronger. Or at least they give us a chance to act more authentically.
Awareness of one’s own changing feelings, needs, and typical behaviors provides a superhuman level of empathy.
Known as a major ingredient in successful relationships, empathy is the understanding and patience we need to lovingly consider problems from another person’s perspective. Most of the time, everyone is doing their best to navigate the world and their relationships, behaving in ways they have learned from experience and not out of selfishness.
When standards and values don’t align, boundaries are still key. But empathy helps find acceptance when needed. Where alignment exists, empathy is a tool that helps relationships grow and connections enrich.
Reflect on relationships:
- What are my values, desires, needs and expectations?
- Am I sincere about things, or do I have ulterior motives?
- What challenges do I often face in my relationships?
- What assumptions do I make about how other people should behave?
- Do these answers reveal areas that require self-work?
Connected Consciousness: Feeling the World Existence
Being aware and being are the same thing. When we practice mindfulness, we focus on the present moment. Mindfulness is not just about cultivating self-awareness; We also train our brains to understand everything around us.
Before my journey to consciousness, I lived in my head. Thinking through events, worrying about what might happen, constructing scenes, I turned my attention away from everything around me.
Through mindfulness practice, you can change your relationship with your thoughts, just like your relationship with your emotions. You realize that thoughts are just thoughts and you don’t have to be so obsessed with them. They become easier to let go, and your mind will become quieter over time.
When we practice presence, we train ourselves to notice the little things around us. I heard birds chirping in the morning. I felt the wind on my skin. I saw the pattern on the tie of the person sitting across from me.
Knowledge of the world is connection with the world. It’s this connection that ultimately helps us stay mentally healthy. This awareness gives us the grounded feeling we need to get out of our own heads and feel the energy of the world.
Maximize external awareness:
- Practice awareness of sounds, feelings, and smells during meditation.
- Take a moment to take a few deep breaths during the day.
- Get out into nature.
- Engage in mindfulness activities by engaging the senses. What can I see, hear, smell, and feel?
Life Awareness: Live a Purposeful Life
Previously, I worked on other people’s ideas of success and what I thought I “should” have or do. I know I’m not alone.
Likewise, fear underlies many of our motivations, as we fear being judged or not being accepted. We often prioritize conforming over doing things that are personally meaningful to us. We lack self-compassion, compare ourselves to others, and find it hard to say no.
Living with purpose begins with truly understanding why we want what we want and why we do or don’t do certain things. We can then take charge of the direction of our lives and make choices based on our values, not what we think is expected of us.
With awareness, we can believe that any real-life consequences are nothing compared to the benefits real-life brings.
It’s entirely possible to go through life passively, taking things as they come. It’s easy to get short-lived happiness and constantly get caught up in the present moment. But if we do this, we will always be plagued by a sense of dissatisfaction.
Awareness illuminates passive living and encourages us to enjoy the moment while making long-term decisions.
Reflect on your lifestyle:
- Why do I want what I want?
- Do I measure progress by comparing myself to others?
- What is meaningful to me and what are my values?
- What parts of my life lack consistency with these?
- What do I think is expected of me?
- When was the last time I made a positive decision or change to adjust my life?
your journey to consciousness
Ultimately, it’s a journey that never ends. We are constantly changing and life around us is constantly changing, so there is always a need for reflection. You may become good at identifying your feelings and staying present, but it’s still something you should practice staying in.
When we accept that, like our mental health, awareness is not a destination, we can enjoy continuing to manage life rather than overly wishing things were different.
With awareness, life becomes an art. No matter where it takes you, you have a powerful tool to navigate and make something out of it.
About Nicole Howard
Nicole Howard is a mindfulness and meditation teacher who believes everyone should have access to simple, practical tools to manage their health and mental health. Nicole shares insights into key areas of integrating mindfulness, wellness techniques and mindfully approaching life on her website theawarenessadvantage.co.uk. Follow her on Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook.
