Emotional Awareness

by Kathy Mason, Authentic Awareness® Training

Stressful situations are a fact of life, but the way you deal with them is a choice. You can learn to lessen the toll stress takes on you physically, mentally, and emotionally through awareness. A quick 'time out' in the heat of any anxiety-filled moment can help to prevent the need for 'damage repair' afterwards. Here is a simple and easy way to release the tensions you feel from overwork, traffic jams, personal and business relationships and all of the demands of your everyday life.

You will quickly feel calmer by bringing your attention into your belly. This immediately shifts you to alert stillness. Now, while maintaining your attention in this area, gently pull your belly in as far as it will go without force (it may only be l/4"). Then, feel it relax outward as far as it will go with a slow, steady release. Repeat the process several times or until you feel calmer-it can even be for five or ten minutes if time allows. Remember, this is about keeping your attention on feeling the movement. This 'awareness in action' stops the racing mind and restores mental clarity while increasing your energy. Afterwards, you can reexamine the challenging circumstance from this calm perspective and you will often notice that solutions or inner guidance arise to support you.

Doing this practice a couple of times an hour when you don't need it will train you to access it easily during a crisis. The more you do it, the easier it becomes. When you start to live in this state of inner stillness, you will be more confident and find it easier to let go of the past and stop worrying about the future. You can practice while walking in nature, waiting on line, waiting for a traffic light, just before tackling difficult tasks or making important decisions.

©2005, Kathy Mason, Authentic Awareness®Trainig . Tel.760-931-8848