How to stay conscious and aware throughout the day

[Yannik]

Hey guys! 

I've asked myself the question how I can be more conscious throughout the day of everything I do, feel and think.

I meditate for about 3 hours (yes, sure I can still deepen my practice) but I hope there are some techniques or strategies that work while you are for example working, talking with colleagues and generally going throughout the day so that I less likely slip into old habits or neurotic behavior.

I thought of binaural beats music, breathing techniques (e.g. Wim Hof Method), changing up the environment, changing up the way you do things (using e.g. using my wrong hand).

Do you have any recommendations except those?

 

 

[Psyche_92]

Try not being conscious and aware.

[Yannik]

@Psyche_92 Haha, just thinking about it gave me kind of an aha-moment 

[Psyche_92]

3 minutes ago, Yannik said:

@Psyche_92 Haha, just thinking about it gave me kind of an aha-moment 

Don't try doing it though, it won't work  .

[pluto]

B R E A T H E

[The Don]

Be mindful. Observe yourself. Notice when you have a thought and let it dissipate.

Remind yourself to be mindful; after a while you'll become mindful automatically.

You can write in a journal about your thoughts and how they appear in your mind. Also observe your thoughts as and how they appear while you write.

Just try to stay mindful continuously.

At some point, you'll see that it takes effort but in the end, it's worth it.

[Joseph Maynor]

Practice keen mindfulness.  

Edited July 21, 2019 by Joseph Maynor

[Good-boy]

Spend more time in the nature alone.

[OctagonOctopus]

If one wants to change ones neurotic behaviors psychoanalysis is the perfect tool for that. Contemplate about ones neurotic behaviors, look at them from every possible angle. Be in a committed relationship to oneself, that is, understand everything about yourself, what, why, how, you do everything that is you. 

[Michael569]

Deep abdominal breathing all the time. Autopilot does a very poor job with this. 

[Rinne]

On 7/21/2019 at 3:30 AM, pluto said:

B R E A T H E

Can you elaborate? Sorry im not understanding.

[RickyBalboa]

Not sure if it suits your preference but I try to be very much so in my body when I am simply walking from place to place. I feel all the nuances of my movement. Noticing the tightness in my hips. The erectness of my spine. The flexibility of my joints. using momentum of my arms efficiently. I just continue to learn how my body moves and its resting positions. Looking for imbalances in certain muscle groups and compensating for their lack of work in my movement. Not sure if I look weird some of the time but i've been told I move very gracefully. Sometimes people I meet for the first time prompt me with "Do you do yoga". Hope you can add this to your list of conscious activities. 

[pluto]

8 hours ago, Rinne said:

Can you elaborate? Sorry im not understanding.

Most people are not conscious because they do not breath properly. Like Michael Said: Deep Abdominal Breathing, practice this until it becomes automatic for you to breathe that way. When it becomes second nature, you will naturally be more present, conscious, aware at all times.

If you master the breath, meditation and similar practices can become obsolete as you can be in a meditative state 24/7. I have experienced this.

 

Edited July 23, 2019 by pluto

[Zigzag Idiot]

On 7/19/2019 at 6:14 AM, Yannik said:

Hey guys! 

I've asked myself the question how I can be more conscious throughout the day of everything I do, feel and think.

I meditate for about 3 hours (yes, sure I can still deepen my practice) but I hope there are some techniques or strategies that work while you are for example working, talking with colleagues and generally going throughout the day so that I less likely slip into old habits or neurotic behavior.

I thought of binaural beats music, breathing techniques (e.g. Wim Hof Method), changing up the environment, changing up the way you do things (using e.g. using my wrong hand).

Do you have any recommendations except those?

 

 

Putting attention of physicality of your feet to disperse  attentionf rom my 

[LastThursday]

Notice that when you're thinking in words (subvocalising) , you have a small amount of tension in your jaw, tongue and throat. Relax the jaw, tongue and throat and it will be harder to subvocalize.

When you're walking in the street, pay attention to your peripheral vision. For example, look straight ahead as you walk, but pay attention to any trees or cars or people that go by you (don't look directly at them). If you try this frequently, you'll notice that your vision expands - and it will put you into a light trance.

Relax any tension in your body any time you notice it (shoulders, chest, face and so on).

These techniques are designed to reduce self talk and enable you to be more mindful.

[Vaishnavi]

Valuable question, even more valuable answers in here!

Here's my take

• There is no way to be mindful throughout the day except for being mindful throughout the day. It sounds so ludicrously simple but it is so!
  • Someone on this forum once posted, the demons (ignorance, need for distractions) are too big to fight. You cannot win against them wi†h rumbling, wining, wishing, so be mindful whenever you catch yourself not doing so! That is as simple as it can get.
• However since it can get a difficult to keep up with that, here are a few strategies:
  • You can set triggers in your day time, say every time you enter your room it's a trigger to bring in mindfulness to the moment.
  • Similarly specific activities can be used as opportunities to practice mindfulness, say lunch time/shower is when you specifically practice mindfulness (something you do everyday)
  • (With both these activities, the more you practice the more automatic they become)
  • A less desirable though effective strategy- Cellphone reminders with rituals, say every 2 hours the reminder goes off on phone and for the next 5 mins you practice complete mindfulness meditation, no matter where you are (can make you addictive to your phone though, you'll always need it)  
  • (A personal practice of mine if you enjoy music)  complete mindfulness while listening to it. It's effective cause music is one instrument which is a result of multiple elements dynamically interacting;  the artist and his voice, the lyrics, the musical instruments, the background music, the tonality, pitch, mood, feel, its a complete orchestra in itself! all being independent and interdependent at the same time. 
    • you can try being aware of any one single element of the whole of music (say you focus just on the voice or just the instruments) blurring everything out (would bring in ton of surprises and moments of awe as you'll start to become aware of the same music you've been listening for so long, like unconscious elements coming to light! 
    • or you can be aware of the whole symphony and see how everything is balancing itself out, being really aware of how one element is compensating for the other (a little complicated but again a lot of fun) 
    • You can try this even with cinema and conversations, observing how the emotions rise and feel in your body. 

[Yannik]

Amazing suggestions, thanks for your engagement  

Edited July 24, 2019 by Yannik

[bejapuskas]

On 22. 7. 2019 at 0:20 PM, Michael569 said:

Deep abdominal breathing all the time. Autopilot does a very poor job with this. 

+1, do this while you are meditating as well

 

Be aware of the thought stories you're telling yourself, be aware of attachment