Expanding Your Awareness

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The Mind Should Be Nowhere in Particular – Takuan

 

We basically have two forms of exercise, mental and physical. In my opinion they go hand and hand and as evolving human beings we should strive to find balance between the two. Unfortunately, most people only focus on exercising the physical side, whether that be going to the gym, playing sports etc. There is of course mental components to all physical exercise, and how much we choose to engage the mind is really up to the individual. There are forms of exercise which begin to merge the two – mind and body. Yoga and martial arts come to mind.

But as a Buddhist monk once told me, most people are keen on keeping their body’s clean, showering daily, brushing their teeth etc., but yet they neglect scrubbing their minds, like much needed mental floss. Exercising your mental side, or your mind naturally does a few things. For one, it enhances your awareness. This includes, your awareness of yourself and the world around you. Another natural by-product is a reduction in stress, which plays a big role in much of the modern illnesses that befall humanity.

Venturing deeper into the expansion of awareness aspect of mental exercise, comes an almost never ending adventure. Awareness is such a deep topic that I can only really touch upon on it here in this blog post. By expanding your awareness, the world becomes more alive and interesting and so do you.

Slowing Things Down

One great way to start becoming more aware and getting yourself off of auto-pilot is by slowing things down. By slowing down your physical movements, this begins to slow down your mind. The only way this works though is if you are present in your movements and not letting your mind wander. Like Tai Chi, by slowing your movements down and being in ‘your body’, your mind becomes more integrated and aware of your body at a deeper, cellular level.

My old XingYi and Tai Chi teacher once told me something that has stuck with me ever since, ‘the slower you go the faster you’ll be’. This I found applies to how our mind can function at a higher level, and can be applied beyond martial arts. If you slow down your movements, and thus your mental activity, you become more aware of the subtleties of your surroundings and your mind actually becomes sharper, more concentrated and acute. By slowing things down and taking our time, we can approach doing the mundane tasks of everyday life as if they are a moving meditation.  galaxy eyes

Now, you could say this is hard to do in this fast paced society where I hear so many people saying (including myself), ‘there is not enough time in the day!’ and rushing through life seems to be the norm. But in my opinion, this is exactly why it can have such a powerful effect and is needed now more than ever. Also, I am not saying to do this all the time, but as an exercise when time permits. Eventually though, you will find yourself being more in tune and slowing down your movements throughout the day. A more methodical experience in your movements will begin to appear if you take this on.

Sleep Can Become an Adventure

I think it goes without saying, but sitting meditation is a great tool to help expand your awareness and if you have not added some form of daily, sitting meditation into your life, I highly recommend you do. This can also effect the quality and awareness of your sleep, especially doing so right before bed. I have had experiences where I am actually aware of myself falling asleep. In these interim states of awareness, you can do things such as astral projection and have out of body experiences. Even sleep can become much more exciting! There are more detailed exercises you can engage in to facilitate this type of awareness when falling asleep which I may touch upon in more detail in future posts.

A wilderness survival teacher I had once told me, ‘most people are so unaware that they don’t even notice which way the wind blows when they step outside’. The benefits of increasing your awareness become more apparent, for instance being more aware of your surroundings and thus the people in it. You begin noticing things you and most people normally would not otherwise, including people coming into your sphere and even picking up on their intent.

The impact this can have on your safety is obvious. Another benefit is you naturally become less reactive as you are in more of a state of flow when you are more present, aware and relaxed. Ultimately, this is a state of mind to strive for and I feel is one where I like to be as much as possible.