Print The majority of your daily life and actions consist of unconscious behavior. Only a small part is conscious! Think about driving a car or riding a bike. Much of it happens on autopilot, without being fully aware of what you’re doing. The same can happen in your daily life; your thoughts can suddenly be miles away without you noticing.
Why Get Off the Autopilot?
When you live unconsciously and on autopilot, many moments pass you by. There is also a greater chance that you fall into old patterns that don’t serve you and may influence your mood or life. By being aware of your thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations, you create the possibility of choosing your responses freely. This helps you avoid old thought patterns and allows you to enjoy a situation more fully.
Practicing Attention
With mindfulness, you learn to increase your awareness, so you can respond to a situation with conscious choice instead of automatic reactions. You can do this by continually noticing where your attention is and redirecting it. Being attentive means being awake and alert. This process takes practice and may involve some trial and error. You need to remind yourself constantly to stay awake and mindful. But you can’t do it wrong! The intention and the process are what matters. It’s not important if you succeed or how often your mind wanders. You’re making the choice to take a break from your routines and check if you’re present in the moment.
How Do I Do It?
Body Scan
A good way to practice attention is with your body through a body scan. This exercise involves exploring everything in your body. When you direct your attention there, you’re no longer in your head and fully present in the now. You can find more explanation and a body scan exercise here.
Routine Task
Another exercise is to perform a routine task mindfully that you do daily. Choose one routine action each day for a week that you will do very consciously and mindfully, like brushing your teeth. Take your time. Concentrate on what you’re doing as you do it. Feel what you’re doing, describe what you’re doing, see, and smell, so you’re fully in the moment!
Exploring Pleasurable Activities
This exercise helps you become consciously aware of what’s happening at a specific moment and what’s going on within you. Can you be conscious of a pleasurable event while it’s happening? Ask yourself the following questions to focus your attention on the details of the experience:
- What is happening that I find pleasant?
- What is my physical reaction? What sensations do I feel in my body? Where do I feel this?
- What is my emotional reaction? What feelings do I notice?
- What is my mental reaction? What thoughts do I have?
Mindful Eating
You can train your attention and awareness by mindfully eating the first bite of one meal each day. This may sound easy, but experience shows that sometimes you’re halfway through your meal before you realize that the first bite should have been eaten mindfully. That’s okay. You noticed it! At that moment, just put down your utensils and start again. You can read more about mindful eating here.
“Living on autopilot
means you aren’t actually engaged in the moment,
so you’re missing out on life”
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