Why does being conscious is so damn hard?

[KaRzual]

I mean it's really damned hard for me to stay conscious through the day. When i let my mind slip in it causes havoc, monkey mind and makes me unhappy. When i feel into my emotions i feel pretty ok even when they are "negative" ones (or so called by the mind).

How do you guys stay conscious in your life? Is it that hard for you too? 

[Anahata]

In my experience practicing lucid dreaming hightened the state of awareness I have in the waking state as well as in my dreams so you might want to look into that. But this is just one practice that contributed to it.

There are many ways to mantain a high level of awareness. 

Keep in mind that an important facet of this work is eliminating the stress factors from your life. You see, if you are in a hardcore or mild survival mode on a constant basis, your instinct takes over and you cannot achieve it until you get your life together. It's hard to keep your vibes high & highten your awareness in a healthy way if your mind is constantly battling against the anticipation of danger.

 

Edited May 28, 2021 by Anahata

[vladorion]

Simply forcing your attention to be in the present moment rarely works.

It's important to investigate what causes monkey mind.

When you find yourself lost in thinking, ask yourself, "what do I want to get by thinking this?". You'll find that you can narrow it down to just a few things: acceptance, approval, love and peace. Realize that others won't be able to give those things to you, it will never be enough. Feel that acceptance, approval, love or peace that you wanted to get from others. You can give it to yourself.

With enough practice, your mind will become less needy and you'll have an easier time living in the present.

[Anahata]

Oh and practicing mindfulness meditation at least 30 minutes in the morning can do wonders.

[KaRzual]

6 minutes ago, Anahata said:

In my experience practicing lucid dreaming hightened the state of awareness I have in the waking state as well as in my dreams so you might want to look into that. But this is just one practice that contributed to it.

There are many ways to mantain a high level of awareness. 

Keep in mind that an important facet of this work is eliminating the stress factors from your life. You see, if you are in a hardcore or mild survival mode on a constant basis, your instinct takes over and you cannot achieve it until you get your life together. It's hard to keep your vibes high & highten your awareness in a healthy way if your mind is constantly battling against the anticipation of danger.

 

So yeah i'm in the place of getting my life together. And i'm pretty ok with feeling bad. But what drives me crazy is my constant inner chatter which tries to undermine whatever i do/however i feel.

[Anahata]

Thought labeling meditation, dancing etc

Also, having a to do list set in place that's intuitive can keep you away from worries and unwanted thoughts. Your mind tends to keep reminding you of things you have to accomplish, even day to day tasks. So I suggest you put in place a good system for planning & action taking where you have to check mark stuff and get things done in a strategic way.

[KaRzual]

7 minutes ago, vladorion said:

Simply forcing your attention to be in the present moment rarely works.

It's important to investigate what causes monkey mind.

When you find yourself lost in thinking, ask yourself, "what do I want to get by thinking this?". You'll find that you can narrow it down to just a few things: acceptance, approval, love and peace. Realize that others won't be able to give those things to you, it will never be enough. Feel that acceptance, approval, love or peace that you wanted to get from others. You can give it to yourself.

With enough practice, your mind will become less needy and you'll have an easier time living in the present.

Great advice, really solid. I'm going to try it from now. 

[KaRzual]

12 minutes ago, Anahata said:

Thought labeling meditation, dancing etc

Also, having a to do list set in place that's intuitive can keep you away from worries and unwanted thoughts. Your mind tends to keep reminding you of things you have to accomplish, even day to day tasks. So I suggest you put in place a good system for planning & action taking where you have to check mark stuff and get things done in a strategic way.

Mind telling me more about labeling meditation? 

[Consilience]

5 minutes ago, KaRzual said:

Mind telling me more about labeling meditation? 

I know this question wasn't directed at me, but a really amazing meditation teacher named Shinzen Young developed a mindfulness based meditation technique that uses noting and labeling. I've personally found it to be extremely effective for untangling and loosening the grip of background stress, emotional dysregulation, and being able to drop into a very powerful states of mindfulness. It's got a really great synergy with stereotypical meditation techniques like anapanasati (mindful breathing/watching the breath sensations) or self inquiry. What's even better is that the technique is extremely easy to practice even as you're bopping around living life. It takes a bit to build up momentum, but once you find a groove with the technique, it really starts to take a life of its own.

Here's a link for instructions: 

https://www.shinzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/SeeHearFeelIntroduction_ver1.8.pdf

[Anahata]

Just now, KaRzual said:

So yeah i'm in the place of getting my life together. And i'm pretty ok with feeling bad. But what drives me crazy is my constant inner chatter which tries to undermine whatever i do/however i feel.

Maybe you should look into shadow work and find a professional that can guide you through the process. ❤

 

Best wishes

[KaRzual]

6 minutes ago, Consilience said:

I know this question wasn't directed at me, but a really amazing meditation teacher named Shinzen Young developed a mindfulness based meditation technique that uses noting and labeling. I've personally found it to be extremely effective for untangling and loosening the grip of background stress, emotional dysregulation, and being able to drop into a very powerful states of mindfulness. It's got a really great synergy with stereotypical meditation techniques like anapanasati (mindful breathing/watching the breath sensations) or self inquiry. What's even better is that the technique is extremely easy to practice even as you're bopping around living life. It takes a bit to build up momentum, but once you find a groove with the technique, it really starts to take a life of its own.

Here's a link for instructions: 

https://www.shinzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/SeeHearFeelIntroduction_ver1.8.pdf

THANKS! Reading through it right now. 

[KaRzual]

7 minutes ago, Anahata said:

Maybe you should look into shadow work and find a professional that can guide you through the process. ❤

 

Best wishes

I feel like i should into many things. All this while trying to live my life and having some fun. That's hard. 

[KaRzual]

22 minutes ago, Kalo said:

Staying Conscious of God for me is far from hard, it's actually permanent and ''by itself'', following the Final and Last Absolute-Transcendental Divine-Spiritual encounter I had with the Supreme God, the Highest of the Highest, the Allmighty. You simply cannot go back to being unconscious of God once you become totally Conscious of Him. The moment I ¨saw¨God and became Totally Conscious of His existence, it stayed to this very second.

My Conscious-knowing of God has becomed so strong now that it's not even dependent on it's Primary ground\experience. It's grounded on itself, it's a pure absolute Truth where the individual is in actuality permanently and 24/7 constantly conscious of a real Transcendental Absolute Divine Being, aka God.

It's actually a Conscious-Aware-Knowing not dependent on anything but itself. It is it's own evidence, ground, actuality, and truth.

And how did you achieve that grounding/knowing? 

[Eternal Unity]

It is very hard. It's the hardest thing I ever did. Stilll do. It's 24/7 work with no immediate pay. 

Why is it that difficullt? So you'll appreciate retrospectively The Path when you finally awake and see there is still miles to go. To cultivate gratitude. If it were easy, you'd take it for granted.

Greg

[KaRzual]

@Eternal Unity Thanks for your reply Greg. I was just wondering if i'm that prone to monkey mind and being lost in thoughts and concepts or it is a more popular state. It is hard and i see fruits of my labor arleady. I can't wait to see more of them! 

[sholomar]

Leo has a video about this one... it's about breaking addictions. Monkey mind is an addiction. If you pay really close attention you can feel the cravings that come along with the urge to be in monkey mind, or your habitual emotional state, habits, etc.

Self mastery has been a slow process for me, because I always go back to the old habits which slows growth. Basically like Leo said when he first tried to start giving up junk food, he just sat there, did nothing, and let the craving be there... he didn't distract himself with TV, he just sat there with the craving.

Plus the mind can only process so many inputs at once.. it's not a very good multi-tasker, so when too many things come up on the plate, or especially too many stressors, the body will lose it's ability to remain conscious unless extensively trained by you, and then the old habits, emotions,and monkey mind flare up.

Consciousness to a degree is just a form of mindfulness... there's a book called the Open Focus Brain that might be able to help train you to stay mindful and in a relaxed state.  The more you do it, the easier it becomes. They say it takes 60 days to create a habit. I find I have to almost make new habit creation a part time job, which is fine otherwise I spend way too much time in front of a screen. Chuckle.

Nothing that was worth anything in life ever had an immediate payoff. Eudaimonia.

Edited May 29, 2021 by sholomar

[KaRzual]

10 hours ago, sholomar said:

Leo has a video about this one... it's about breaking addictions. Monkey mind is an addiction. If you pay really close attention you can feel the cravings that come along with the urge to be in monkey mind, or your habitual emotional state, habits, etc.

Self mastery has been a slow process for me, because I always go back to the old habits which slows growth. Basically like Leo said when he first tried to start giving up junk food, he just sat there, did nothing, and let the craving be there... he didn't distract himself with TV, he just sat there with the craving.

Plus the mind can only process so many inputs at once.. it's not a very good multi-tasker, so when too many things come up on the plate, or especially too many stressors, the body will lose it's ability to remain conscious unless extensively trained by you, and then the old habits, emotions,and monkey mind flare up.

Consciousness to a degree is just a form of mindfulness... there's a book called the Open Focus Brain that might be able to help train you to stay mindful and in a relaxed state.  The more you do it, the easier it becomes. They say it takes 60 days to create a habit. I find I have to almost make new habit creation a part time job, which is fine otherwise I spend way too much time in front of a screen. Chuckle.

Nothing that was worth anything in life ever had an immediate payoff. Eudaimonia.

Okay i get it. By not eating junk food you eat healthy ones. But what about monkey mind? You replace that with what? I found in my personal experience that paying attention to my emotions and how i feel is a gamechanger. 

[Blackhawk]

"Being conscious is hard" must be one of the funniest jokes ever.

You can never not be conscious. Not even if you kill yourself.

[Roy]

It's a constant struggle, but like anything it gets easier over time with practice.

You have to appreciate we are at the forefront of living creatures on Earth, trying to transcend our survival and not be consumed by our animal-ness ego. This is a relatively rare thing if you haven't noticed and it turns out its extremely difficult, but totally worth it.

[sholomar]

1 hour ago, KaRzual said:

Okay i get it. By not eating junk food you eat healthy ones. But what about monkey mind? You replace that with what? I found in my personal experience that paying attention to my emotions and how i feel is a gamechanger. 

I replace monkey mind with "being" .... after reading the below link it describes it much better than I can so...

https://www.openfocusattentiontraining.com/2017/02/28/mindfulness-and-open-focus-two-approaches-to-attention-training/

 

Edited May 29, 2021 by sholomar