5 Everyday Moments 2 Practice Awareness
Practice Present Moment Awareness.
Be in the Now.
Practice Mindfulness.
I don’t know about you, but when I hear most of these phrases I picture a monk sitting in nature with no distractions entering a state of perfect bliss. Um, yeah, right.
That sounds lovely but it’s certainly not possible for most of us. In fact, most of us are barely just getting through the day nevermind finding time to sit in silence.
All is not lost though. Escaping into just a minute or two of awareness is still a good thing and easier to do than you might think.
Here are five everyday moments where you can practice awareness. You can certainly choose your own five but sometimes it helps to have someone point out the obvious and I am the master of pointing out the obvious.
Advice Before a Test: I Know This, I Got This, I’m Ready
When I asked my 13 year-old step-daughter when she heard her inner voice the most she immediately replied:
Before a test.
That really resonated with me because I always felt stressed out before tests and my endless mind chatter probably didn’t do too much to help me. In fact, it probably hurt me just like it’s hurting you.
You’re going to hear me say this a lot on this blog and hopefully it will start to sink in the more I say it:
Your Mind Believes What You Tell It
So, if you let your little voice/ego be in charge of the conversation then your mind is going to believe you’re not prepared, you didn’t study enough, you’re not smart enough, the teacher doesn’t like you, blah blah blah.
When You’re Really Mad or Sad, Practice Awareness
It’s easy to say “Practice Awareness” but it’s actually not that easy to do. Our minds our usually whirring along as fast a hummingbird’s heartbeat (which, if you didn’t know, is really really fast) so it’s pretty easy to ignore all the random thoughts and usually useless information going by.
One way to learn to practice awareness is when you’re really emotional about something. If you’re really angry or really sad take a moment to listen to what your little voice is saying. Chances are once you start to focus on it, it’s going to quiet down a little bit. It’s almost like it gets embarrassed that it’s been caught talking in class or something.
Only you will know what it’s saying in this moment of high emotion but I can almost guarantee that it’s only adding to the drama.
Your First Peek Into the Secret Handbook
So, are you ready for your first secret? I know I’m certainly ready to share it but before I do, I’d like to share a little bit about my strategy in presenting these secrets. There is actually a method to my madness (which, in and of itself, is rather frightening).
What I want you to understand is that there are lots of important things for you to know now but you can’t just dive right in. That would be like only reading the middle of a book (and hey, if that’s your thing that’s cool but you’re going to miss out on a lot.) So, I could just dive in a share a lot of inspirational quotes (to make you feel all warm and fuzzy) and jump all over the place but honestly, that wouldn’t be fair to you.
The Secret Handbook 4 Teens 