Awareness is the Greatest Agent of Choice

There are 5 Facets of Mindfulness

1. Non-reactivity to Inner Experience
2. Observing, noticing, attending to feelings, thoughts, sensations, perceptions
3. Acting with awareness
4. Describing/labeling experience with words
5. Non judging of experience

“It all depends on how we look at things,
and not on how things are in themselves.
The least of things with a meaning is worth more in life
than the greatest of things without it.”
Carl Jung

The following awareness exercise will help you gain awareness of your thinking habits, whether negative or positive.

By becoming aware of the thoughts you are thinking you are in a position to choose to free your mind of thoughts that constrict your awareness and are self-denying.

Observing without judging, you are in a neutral position able to know the thought and its impact on your felt experience…and so make an informed choice of either “owning” the thought as your own, one you will continue to invest with your formidable emotional power to inspire you to take action towards realizing a goal, or whether you will replace it with a more useful, effective thought. 

Noticing Exercise – What am I thinking?

1. Choose a day, any day where you will commit to observe, note and keep track of your negative, self-critical, self-denying, judgmental thoughts by noticing how the thoughts you are making effect how you feel.
2. Have a notebook and pen ready to capture and write down whatever comes up, just notice, without judging or self commentary.
3. Recognize how it happens. What triggers the thought? What precedes the thought? What follows it? Observe without judgment any thoughts and feelings related to anxiety, worry, procrastination, self-worth, self-belief, resistance, conflicts of any kind and write down what you notice.
4. State the thought out loud without judgment and write it down. Continue for the entire day without reviewing the list.
5. At the end of the day, review and compile your list, noticing the patterns of thought. Some thoughts will have a greater emotional impact or frequency. Assign a value of emotional intensity to each thought.
6. Post the list somewhere you can see it or, if you’re inspired, bring the list to life with images illustrating your particular negativity soup, so you can see it. Distinguish between self-honesty and self-criticism. Self honesty is without judgement…just noticing what’s there and how you feel about it. Have fun with this process and know that your brain will no longer invest in the items on your list, as you are already fully aware. Take time to notice.
7. Relax and take a few, long deep breaths. Look at the list or picture of your list on your wall, as if it belongs to someone else. Exercise self-compassion while you review this list. Notice what you are experiencing within your body – notice the sensations and feelings.
8. Leave the list up as a reminder to what once was you and keep adding to it as new negative thoughts emerge. Look at the list daily for the next week, noticing how your emotional response to the list changes over time.

Think of this Noticing Exercise as a way in to a process of self-empowerment that the right coaching partnership can facilitate. Contact me  if for a complimentary discovery session.

“Every act, thought, and choice adds to the permanent mosaic:
Our decisions ripple through the universe of consciousness to affect the lives of all.
Every act or decision made that supports life, supports all life, including our own.”
David R. Hawkins