Mind-Body skill of Developing Awareness
Developing awareness is really the foundational step to having a mind-body connection. If we cannot have awareness, likely our environment will cause us agitation, and we may struggle to accept the reality we are facing.
Awareness needs to happen two ways:
First finding awareness within yourself, also known as the concept of interoception.
Interoception is picking up on cues that are happening inside yourself. This can happen daily when you sense that you are hungry or thirsty, and you need to eat or drink something. Also, interoception can happen in more complex ways when you identify emotions you are feeling, and use your intuition when making a decision.
The second aspect of awareness is called neuroception (Dana, 2018). This is being aware of your environment, and being able to identify how your environment is influencing you in the present moment. An example of experiencing neuroception would be going outside and realizing that the temperature became colder, and that you need to put on a jacket to protect from the cold. Your environment informed your body that an action needed to be taken (Dana, 2018). Also, neuroception helps us identify emotional and physical safety in our environment.
A great skill for developing awareness is a mindfulness skill from Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), called Observe, Describe, and Participate (Linehan, 2014). This skill can be practiced intentionally with an every day object or habit you do, such as brushing your teeth or making coffee. The purpose of this skill is to slow down your behaviors enough, where your mind is able to have the increased capacity to pay attention to the nuances of what you are doing. These small practices will help rewire your brain to have deeper awareness of what you are doing in the present moment, which in turn can help you become more present in your relationships and work.
Let us use making coffee in the morning as a way to practice Observe, Describe, and Participate.
Naming what we Observe is using your senses to observe your activity: the coffee is brown, the water looks clear in the coffee pot, and noticing the smell of the coffee. Next, Describe what you have observed. We can describe the sound of the water being heated and filtered by the coffee, and go into more detail with the smell of the coffee, such as strong, crisp etc… The next step of Participating with the coffee, such as pouring the coffee into your favorite cup. Maybe putting milk, creamer, cinnamon, or sweetener in the cup. Participating in drinking the coffee from the cup, and feeling the sensation of warmth in your mouth. As we participate in drinking and enjoying the coffee, we can ask ourselves “how do we feel” when we do this activity. We can begin to tap into our emotions, such as feeling peaceful experiencing this as our morning ritual, feeling more awake and energized from the caffeine in the coffee.
As you can notice, the process is slowly becoming more detailed with the level of engagement and awareness you have for the activity. This is helping your mind go deeper, and to tune out other distractions, helping you become aware of the details in order to increase presence.
Hope you can apply this skill to your morning routine of making coffee, or another breakfast drink or food you prepare. Remember we are always focusing on practice, and not perfection. Awareness takes time to develop, and in our busy lives it is easier said than done.
Sources: Dana, D. (2018). The Polyvagal Theory in Therapy. New York , NY: WW Norton and Company
Linehan, M. (2014). DBT Skills Training Handouts and Worksheets (Second Edition). New York, NY: The Guildford Press