Consciousness – The Gift of Simply Being Aware
Untriggered: Discovering the Three Principles That Dissolve Triggers, Anxiety, and Stress
A six-part blog series for regaining the power to live your life how you want.
Part 3: Consciousness – The Gift of Simply Being Aware
The second principle of life is called Consciousness.
It's our ability to be aware—aware of ourselves and aware of awareness itself.
That might seem funny. What do I mean, aware of awareness itself?
We can become aware of the present now moment. Aware of this. Now.
If you stop all activity—physical and mental—and become aware of this. Here. We can be aware of the fact that we are.
We are.
I am.
You are here.
Move your focus and attention from wherever it is (perhaps reading this) to the space around you. Become aware of the sounds around you right now.
(I'm outside writing at my patio table in the summer: traffic sounds like ocean waves, wind in the leaves, cicadas chirping, a lawn mower to my right, an airplane overhead.)
Now move your attention to movement or objects around you.
I'm at my table with objects on it. A candle in front of me softly flickering. Tree leaves fluttering in the breeze. Small pine trees with fairy lights waving their branches in a gust. My cat roaming in the bushes, hunting small things. Petunia blossoms shivering in the air. A tag on the cold plunge moving floppily in the breeze.
Now bring your focus to the space around and in between everything. Don't give it much thought. Just be here. In this space. Focus on the space between you and the next closest object. How much air fills that space? What about the next biggest space around you? The ocean of space? How far does it go out? How high up?
As you sit and contemplate the space, what do you notice about how you feel?
I start to feel more expanded—as if I'm filling the space with my beingness. The boundaries of what I think of as “me” begin to shimmer, shiver, and dissolve until I feel that everything is within me. Or that I am everything.
It's a light, spacious feeling—so very calm. All is well. All is in its right order. The world ticks along.
Spend some time being here. Now. In this. There aren't a lot of words to describe it. It's simply here.
Feel the tone beneath my words. There's a depth and calm behind and underneath the writing. Let it permeate your being. Allow now. Allow this.
Another way to point to it: As you slow down internally while sitting wherever you are reading this, you begin to notice different things. Notice here. Notice now. Stay here. Stay now. Soak in it awhile. Soak in being here. Infuse yourself with spaciousness. Steep in it.
Feel every cell of your body begin to open up, relax, slow down, and rejoice. Feel the song of love emerging from your soul as you open to being.
Our ability to be aware.
When you rest in pure awareness like this, triggers and stress lose their grip because there's no story being added. Just this.
Try sitting in this spacious now for a few minutes today. What do you notice? How does your body/mind respond? I'd love to hear in the comments.
(Coming up: Part 4 – Thought: The Creative Power That Shapes Your Entire Experience)
With Love,
Sara Joy
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