Awareness

If it is true that we only exist in this moment of time where our body exists it will also be true that it is only in this moment and in this place where we have the opportunity to actually achieve something of significance for ourselves and others.

But what we consciously accomplish in the world does not start with actions visible to others. It starts within us with thought, emotion and imagination. Also unconscious acting starts with a mental process. But here our actions mainly express feeling and emotion. Thought usually comes long after, to the frustration of ourselves and others. It is only when we consciously have learned to observe where we are, what we are and what is happening just now that we gain access to thought and reason.

Thus the path to maturity and wisdom begins with conscious training of our ability to observe what happens in mind and body in the experienced moment. Of course it is equally important to observe what is happening at the same time in the outside world. But this type of observance is basically a genetic program so it is always there in full measure. The sad thing is that this unconscious programming so often leads us to unpredictable reactions. So, if we don’t develop an awareness of our natural response to influences from the outside world it will very often be difficult to adapt to the actual situation. We are reacting instead of giving a deliberate response. Ancient behaviour like ”I didn’t know what to say, so I hit him” will easily take over.

This knowledge is not new. It has been an important part of great religions, of many well known philosophies and also of modern psychotherapeutic theories. But ultimately it’s not theoretical teaching that helps us to understand what makes our living more rich and what makes it definitely more poor. Life itself is the teacher. We learn from the effects of our actions. The hard part is to absorb these insights that life conveys. It requires conscious effort and a certain self-discipline which may be difficult to achieve in a busy and active life. Not even the greatest religions and philosophical teachings have been able to persuade most people, and not even many of their followers, to train conscious self-development to a greater degree.

If we are interested in contributing to our own development, and want to become  more mature and harmonious persons, the training must begin with observing over and over again what is going on within ourselves in the observed moment. What then must be noticed is: 1) signals that enter my consciousness through sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch, 2) signals from the body, 3) my thoughts and 4) my emotions.

This training is not very difficult. But it requires to concentrate a little while on what is going on in the mind and do this so often that it eventually becomes a habit.

Awareness of the body

Our sensory organs give us an experience of a world outside ourselves. But very often we also place the body outside the experience of ourselves. Especially when, for some reason, we are not friends with it. Maybe because the body feels awkward or because it does not match our beliefs about what is a well-functioning and beautiful body. In that way we can distance ourselves from our own body and pretend that it is not a part of us. In reality mind and body act as a whole and are experienced as a whole. But the body is a material thing that can be weighed and measured. This is not the case with our self-experience nor with our emotions and thoughts. So it is actually possible to distinguish between an experience of the body and an experience of being, feeling and thinking.

Becoming more aware of the body could be considered as quite unnecessary. Basically its functions are automatic. So there is no need to interfere with its activities unless we want to influence it in some way or teach it new skills. In more primitive forms of life the body takes care of itself. But for humans, not being aware of what the body is doing has its disadvantages. Many people whose muscular systems are wrongly strained, during work for example, will endure pain, may be for long times, without doing anything about it. They have learned to turn off the body’s signals and continue to use their body as before. But in the end an increasing pain will force them to abandon this harmful situation, whether they want it or not.

The questions is, why are some of us acting like this? It may have to do with this built-in difference between feeling and expression. We focus our will and energy on a desired goal and expect the body to participate. In the same time we are not especially aware of what the body can handle and are surprised when it fails. A violinist, striving to express her own musical feelings through her instrument, can not act in this way. She must train herself for a strong personal expression of the music and at the same time train the skill of her fingers. So she must focus her conscious attention on both mind and body until both work as one.

Training awareness of the body aims at a better understanding of its functions in order to achieve better health and more harmony in our lives. So we have to give ourselves more time in paying attention to the body’s signals. It should be important for us to know what the body is doing and what it is trying to tell us. And this is of course true not only for neutral signals of every day but also for unpleasant messages. Only if we understand the body’s messages do we have an opportunity to decide consciously how we should react to them. From this point of view it is understandable that some self-overcoming often is required to get to know the body and become friends with it. But it’s worth the effort. The benefit of being body-conscious is on the one hand that we care more about it during the time we have it at our disposal and on the other hand that our way of behaving in this world becomes more nuanced and thus more harmonious. Mind and body are one, but in humans they also need some help to stay that way. Besides, we can not actually divorce our body, no matter how much we try to ignore it. We will live in a lifelong family quarrel with ourselves if we do not care about our own body and give it our attention and our appreciation.

So, how can we increase our body awareness? We can start our training by noticing if there exists some tension of muscles or discomfort somewhere in the body. We can actively tense different muscle groups and then relax them in order to feel the difference. If we are out and about we can, for example, pay close attention to how it feels to walk. What do I experience with each step? What happens in the feet, in the legs, in the buttock muscles, in the back and the neck, in the arms? How do the facial muscles react when I take my steps? We can also observe our body in situations with others and notice whether its posture corresponds with what we say. Astonishingly often there is a difference and usually it’s the body that expresses the truth. This is more easy to notice when we observe others. The sense of touch is also strongly associated with body experience. Loving touch of various kinds therefor also increases body awareness. A friendly hand on the shoulder, a caress on the cheek, a hug, everything helps us to become aware of the body.

All this is free and is always there for us to experience. But it will not be available if we do not regularly practice to notice these sensations. It is worth remembering that it is our body that gives us a place on this planet. And because we are human, we have a certain ability to consciously make it participate in our relations with the outside world.  But this not only requires a conscious awareness of the functions of the body but also of the mind.

Awareness of the mind

Stand or sit in any place where you can be at peace for a while. Imagine that this place is completely unknown to you. You have never been here before, although in reality you may have been there every day. Concentrate for a moment to see this place with completely new eyes. Let go of all your habitual thoughts, feelings, perceptions and reactions about that place. Just concentrate on observing everything there is to see, without thinking about what you see, without evaluating or judging. You just look and do not care about anything else. Observe and take it in like a newborn baby which is seeing everything for the first time without understanding what it means.

After looking around for a few minutes then close your eyes and listen to all the sounds that come to you. Listen without valuing, without judging. Just listen. Now try to detect smells which may be there, no matter how faint they are. And finally, still with closed eyes, try to feel what your sense of touch tells you about your environment. Maybe you feel a slight air movement towards your skin, a small vibration in something around you, the warmth of the sun. Touch objects around you and concentrate on what you actually feel and not on what you know and what you think.

An experiment of this kind can provide a remarkable experience. Even that which is well-known can be experienced as something new if we focus on it and, when doing so, avoid thoughts and preconceived notions about what we see, hear, smell, taste or feel. In this way our experience of the outside world expands and becomes considerably richer than we normally are used to. It is a matter of opening all our senses and taking in the outside world without using all our old expectations and beliefs to undress what we perceive. Max Planck once said: ”When you change your way of looking, the things you look at change”. It is true that we mostly experience a world which we expect to experience and don’t notice things that also are around us in that place and moment where we actually are. The mind has a great ability to wander in time and space. But the body, and therefor myself, can never be anywhere else than in that place and at that moment where it is located.

Everything is in me

  and I have to choose

    how I should perceive

  myself and my world.