Recently, the word mindfulness has become very common and is often mentioned off-hand. A large number of psychological and psychotherapeutic approaches suggest that their special feature is the development of awareness in people. At the same time, it does not say what exactly is meant by this quality, what observable signs are in question. There is awareness of speech, there is awareness of movement, there is awareness of thinking, there is awareness of one’s life as a whole – what is it about? The claims of various spiritual gurus or psychological schools: “We are developing mindfulness!” are nothing more than an advertising trick. Everyone develops mindfulness: parents when they teach a child to put a spoon in his mouth, and teachers who teach a first-grader to write line by line, and an instructor who teaches how to use new technologies. “We develop awareness” sounds the same as “We give knowledge!”. Everything gives knowledge. All normal teachers develop mindfulness – only in different areas and directions, and this is an endless path. Awareness develops constantly throughout life, it is a constant process that does not have any end point. The development of awareness is always the development of awareness in some part of human life, in the activity where this awareness is in demand. There is not and cannot be a single training that helps develop mindfulness. There may be trainings that draw the attention of participants to different moments of mindfulness more than others, but it is simply impossible to cover all the moments of mindfulness in one training. As in the development of any skill, the development of mindfulness has its own levels and its own directions. The development of basic-level mindfulness is facilitated by all practices that help you control your emotions, primarily a calm presence, the habit of being relaxed, and meditation practices that successfully combine these. If a person lives in the present day, is aware only of their immediate or immediate needs and desires, then this is low-level awareness. If a person looks at life more broadly than through the prism of his desires, takes into account not only himself, but also other people, plans his future, knows how to load his head with the right thoughts, and his soul with the right feelings, then his level of awareness is already much higher. Awareness can be developed, awareness cannot be developed. This paradox says that the development of mindfulness is not a single definite process with a definite conclusion, but a branching endless path, the next stages of which are open only to those who have already passed a part of it. Socrates’ phrase: “The more I know, the more I understand how little I know” is fully applicable to awareness: the more a person begins to live consciously, the more he begins to understand how much more unconscious there is in his life. Nevertheless, it is not difficult to distinguish a person with any developed awareness from a person who lives unconsciously. The external signs of mindfulness are an attentive look, the absence of excessively abrupt, impulsive movements, and composure in a relaxed body. In communication, awareness manifests itself in the ability to clearly formulate your thesis, control your emotions, and be able to repeat what the other person is saying. In business, there is a to-do list of the day, well-thought-out goals for the year, etc. A person who is aware of his life can always answer the questions: “Who am I? Where am I from? What am I doing? Where am I going?” (both in small things and in a big life perspective). Conscious people see what they are doing, hear what they are saying, and how they talk to each other. The more aware a person is of their actions and behavior, the clearer a person’s vision of the patterns and tools they use, their understanding of their motives and goals, their problems and their capabilities. It is possible and necessary to develop awareness, but you should also develop your awareness consciously, considering the directions of future work. The main directions of mindfulness development For those who would like to develop their awareness, it is important first of all to determine the direction of this work. It is impossible and unnecessary to be aware of everything, but awareness in important matters is important. At the same time, the development of mindfulness in many ways resembles physical development, where there is general physical training and the development of special skills. We can give you some tips here to help you develop general awareness. To develop general awareness, work out a calm presence, free yourself (if it was) from sudden impulsivity and antics. Never jerk your head sharply – in moments of sharp turns, consciousness becomes difficult or turns off, awareness disappears. Mindfulness of speech: practice A total Yes. You will begin to hear others, and most importantly, yourself. Mindfulness of behavior: learn to simultaneously direct one vector of your attention outward to the surrounding life, and the second vector to yourself, while noting how you feel at each moment of time. Awareness of movements. What you did impulsively, abruptly, quickly – start doing slowly and smoothly, seeing and feeling movement, turns, tension and relaxation. Only after that, build up the speed. Awareness of activity. Learn how to break down complex actions into simple, elementary operations, and practice doing each component in the best possible way: beautifully and on time. Awareness of actions. Before you do anything, learn to consider it from different perspectives of perception: whether it is true what you want, how much it corresponds to the interests of others, and so on. Awareness of their values. Decide on what you really care about, what your goals and values are. Awareness of your work and life in general. Start each day by making a to-do list for the day. When thinking through a day, focus on the tasks of the week and month. The tasks of the week and month should match your goals for the year. Accordingly, think over your goals for a year, three and five, write these goals into the vision of your whole life. Awareness of thinking. Constantly formulate facts in words about what is happening inside and around you, and look for new facts, formulations, and points of view. Recognizing the presence of emotions as a fact, think about the facts and conclusions from them, not about emotions. Source: Psychologos