# What awareness is We can't live healthy lives when our subconscious always drives us: - Constant fear of loss leads to more stress. - We experience less [connection](people-why.md) with others and trouble experiencing [love](people-love.md). - A false sense of crisis can lead to neglected needs. - We'll fixate on something and ignore important details around it. Staying mindful, or aware, isn't the same for each person, and we have a tendency to specialize with it. - Non-judgment: gathering information without using [logic](logic.md) on it. - Acceptance: holding multiple [belief structures](values.md) at once. - Non-attachment: having no [feelings](mind-feelings.md) about the incoming experiences. - Compassion: associating with the emotional [hardship](hardship.md) from another's experience. - Conceptualization: able to physically see different perspectives in [space](reality.md). - Analysis: able to draw rational connections from previously [understood](understanding.md) information. ## Self-awareness Knowing ourselves is the basis of all [understanding](understanding.md). - Self-awareness does several things: - Detects early signs of [risk](safety.md) - Decodes emerging [patterns](symbols.md) - Gives us freedom to [choose](mind-decisions.md) instead of react - Awareness is the first step to *all* conscious [change](people-changes.md). - Without self-awareness, our subconscious [habits](habits.md) automatically run our lives. - We are the main curators of our mental health, as well as the first to experience its consequences. [Cognitive distortions](mind-bias.md) will frequently disrupt self-awareness: - Overgeneralization: drawing broad conclusions from a single event. - Catastrophizing: expecting the worst-case result of an experience. - Personalization: believing things are exclusively associated to you, even when they're not. - Black-and-white thinking: seeing things in absolute good/bad terms. - Mind-reading: assuming you know what others are thinking without concrete evidence. - Rumination: repeatedly thinking about distressing events or feelings, which can [dysregulate](mind-awareness-dysregulation.md) us. When we're unaware, we frequently respond wrongly: - If we don't know what causes things, we'll work to [fix something](https://adequate.life/fix/) that might not be broken or can't control. - Sometimes, our [fear](mind-feelings-fear.md) will compel us to "fix" things that destroy even more than what we had observed. - And, when we're unaware of *those* consequences, we won't see what we destroy or try to "fix" things further! When we stay unaware of ourselves, we become [dysregulated](mind-awareness-dysregulation.md). We must challenge our cognitive distortions with further awareness. - Awareness of thoughts: know precisely what you're thinking (e.g., [meditation](mind-awareness-meditation.md), CBT) - Non-identification: understand you are not your thoughts. - Curiosity: openly ask if a thought is accurate or helpful. - Grounding techniques: [come back to the present moment](mind-awareness-meditation.md). ## Awareness isn't easy We all have inner [conversations](people-conversation.md) with ourselves called "thoughts". - While they're *always* [logical](logic.md), they're not always reasonable or well-adjusted. [Meditation](mind-awareness-meditation.md) takes discipline through patience, which is proportionally less necessary with increased [success](success-1_why.md). We're in constant conflict. - Each [decision](mind-decisions.md) and [uncertain thing](unknown.md) in our minds is a guaranteed source of inner conflict. - These conflicts start within ourselves and branch out to [others](people-conflicts.md). - We [constantly hear new things](information.md) that interfere with our thoughts. Many of our [feelings](mind-feelings.md) may be undesirable. - Mindfulness means reframing the "bad" and "good" feelings to "desirable" and "undesirable". - They are simply indicators of something else, and not anything we must act on. The more we do, the less we're aware. - Doing things requires us to pay attention to tasks, which means we're not paying attention to our thoughts. - When we aren't aware of what we do, we typically develop [habits](habits.md) without thinking about them. - Over time, our [memory](mind-memory.md) will discard details until all we have are mental and physical habits. - Eventually, we'll persist in consistent [unforgiveness](hardship-ptsd-release.md) and bitterness. Gaining self-awareness can often be lonely. - Nobody else sees or knows our thoughts, no matter how well we [communicate them](language-speaking.md). - Barring [a higher power](religion-answers.md) directly speaking with us (such as [God](https://theologos.site/gospel/)), we often sense nothing. ## Language We understand the world through [the words we use](language.md). - Our words are often insufficient because we explored a concept when we were *much* younger. Learn to make comparisons for your feelings: - Describe your experiences and feelings with a story. - Create fictional stories with characters that represent your different feelings. - Use colors to describe the mood as you experience the different things you feel. Write a journal: - Even when nobody reads it, [writing](language-writing.md) forces you to clarify exactly what you're thinking. - Venting in a journal articulates the experience and helps to differentiate fact from fiction. - It doesn't have to make sense, follow a pattern, or capture your feelings. Immediately before *any* important experience, take about 30 seconds to write down the most important points of that upcoming experience. For every thought, conduct an audit of its connected thoughts by asking several clear questions: 1. Where will these thoughts lead me? 2. Will these thoughts get me to where I want to go? - Will these thoughts build me up or tear me down? - If not sure, where *do* I want to go? 3. Are these thoughts [morally acceptable](morality.md) beyond what I simply feel to be right? 4. Do I feel guilty thinking these thoughts, and why? 5. Could I share these thoughts with someone else? - This gives tremendous insight on the relationship between your spiritual state and others' spiritual state. 6. Where did these thoughts originate? ## Don't overdo it If things become *awful*, we may need help attaining awareness through outside help. - Prescription drugs such as antidepressants, antianxiety medications - Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing ([EMDR](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_movement_desensitization_and_reprocessing)) - Neurofeedback - Somatic therapy - acupuncture/acupressure/EFT tapping - Cognitive behavioral therapy ([CBT](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_behavioral_therapy)) - Guided yoga/meditation - Various forms of [writing](language-writing.md) Awareness is *only* useful for detecting problems. - Effective [solutions](mind-creativity.md) typically exist beyond our minds and understanding. - If the answers *were* within our minds, there'd be no reason to learn or do anything else *but* meditate, since we could just find the answers through introspection alone. Too much awareness can sometimes make people more *selfish*. - The large-scale purpose of increased awareness should be primarily to [serve others' interests](people-3_respect.md). - Depending on your [social status](groups-member.md) and [culture](people-culture.md), knowing certain facts can inhibit your [success](success-1_why.md) or prevent you from being a [decent human being](people-3_respect.md). Further, we sometimes must pace ourselves, since too much truth at once may overwhelm us. ## More information [Relaxation Response](http://www.relaxationresponse.org/)