Awareness

Different types of meditation train one’s awareness in various ways.

Find the practice that best fits you and your current needs. When you practice Meditation, you train your awareness to be calm and present, no matter the circumstance you are in.

What is Awareness?

Our awareness is essentially our perception guided by our attention and attitude. We can bring our focus or perception to ourselves, or others, becoming aware of even objects, sounds or our own thoughts.

Unlike self-consciousness, the excessive focus on how other precieve you, self-awareness is an understanding of yourself. We take a non-judgmental approach to this perception of who or what we are focusing on.

Attention and Attitude

Now that we understand what awareness is, we can further break down our understanding. In any given moment, our awareness is guided by our attention or ___. Often, we have an emotion or feeling associated with our thoughts or our attitudes. Putting these together can help us be more present to our thoughts, feelings, and emotions. This will be key in our meditation as we become aware of thoughts that we may have.

Types of Awareness in Meditation

All different types of meditation require our focus on our awareness. Read more about the types of meditation and ways you can focus your awareness.

• Breath Meditation: Notice your inhales and exhales, the temperature and speed. See if you can make your exhales longer than your inhales. See if you can breathe deeply into your belly or to the base of the spine.

• 5-Sense Meditation: Notice the sounds, smells, and any textures or sensations you may be feeling, including cloths, temperatures, or pressures of the air. Guide yourself back to your breath, which will be your anchor point.

• Mantra Meditation: Repeat a word or phrase, concentrating on the single word, mantra, or affirmation for the length of your meditation. This word or phrase can also be a prayer or intention.

Take a moment to notice your presence and essence, guide your awareness to this current moment while you use the foundations of your posture.