Welcome to the free Awakening Awareness course!
First things first: BOOKMARK this page!
You will come back to it again and again as the links to the entire course are included below.
This course consists of eight lessons. You are free to go at your own pace. Spend a day, a week or a month with each one--it's up to you!
However, it works best to have a schedule of some kind just so you'll remember to continue. I suggest picking a day of the week--Sunday, for example--as your day to begin the next lesson.
Also, I heartily encourage you to do this course with a mindfulness buddy! It's fun (and enlightening) to go through the course with someone else and share your thoughts, insights and laughter as you move along together.
You may go to the lessons at any time by visiting the links, but please read the introduction below before starting Lesson One!
Lesson One: Listen Up!
Lesson Two: Handling Sound Lesson Three: Body Parts
Lesson Four: Weather
Lesson Five: Percentages
Lesson Six: Size
Lesson Seven: People
Lesson Eight: You
Each lesson requires several days in order for you to have plenty of opportunities to practice that specific exercise. Don't be tempted to skip ahead--there are no bonus points for finishing early! Take your time.
I am delighted that you have chosen to explore this liberating and powerful path to everyday mindfulness. You will be amazed by how small details in your life will seem to “come alive” during the next few weeks. If you start feeling like a kid again, you’re on the right track!
You see, as children, we were very mindful. We were not consumed by worries about tomorrow or regrets about the past. We were right there, in the moment. The world was full of wondrous things, and everywhere we turned we found plenty to hold our attention and capture our imagination.
Here’s a hint: there are plenty of wondrous things in this world. In this course, you are going to learn how to apply that same childlike sense of wonder to the things that stress you or cause a strong reaction.
Now, maybe you think this wonder business isn’t important. Heck, you’re busy. You’re a grown-up. You have responsibilities. You don’t take the time to study the cloud formations or delight in the texture of a pussy willow like you once did. After all, you’ve got more important things to do, right?
Well, you DO have things to do, that’s true. And they are important in terms of living your life, paying the bills, and getting things accomplished.
But here’s the key concept in this course:
Paying attention is the single most important skill you will ever develop as a human being. It is the most essential ingredient in your quality of life.
Hands down. No contest. Nothing else comes close.
Why? Because if you’re not paying attention, you have no quality of life!
Oh sure, you might be physically present. You might go through the motions. You get things done. You have plenty of relationships.
But living your life on auto-pilot virtually guarantees that you will feel frustrated, exhausted and disconnected.
 Are you connecting?
Are your relationships meaningful?
Are you seeing the world with your eyes wide open, or is it simply the setting for your busy life?
Are you reacting emotionally without noticing the toll it is taking on your happiness and health?
And here’s my favorite question: Are you having FUN?
That’s key. You see, it is not possible to have fun unless you are fully present! All of your best memories exist because you were right there, paying attention. The memories that make you laugh today would not exist if you had been preoccupied with something else during that moment.
So, that’s the secret sauce: FUN.
You’ve heard about mindfulness. Maybe you believe it’s something that develops through years of meditation. People who are “good” at it practice it every day. And since you don’t see yourself—for whatever reason—making meditation a daily part of your life, you’ve sort of given up on developing mindfulness in any sort of intentional way.
Who has the time for mindfulness, anyway? Well, that would be YOU, my friend. You see, mindfulness doesn’t need to be another item on your long to-do list. Instead, you are about to see mindfulness as a fully-integrated part of your daily life. It will become a seamless part of your world as you learn how to pop into mindfulness mode many times throughout the day.
Oh, and it is absolutely guaranteed to give you more joy. More fun. More smiles. More memories.
In other words, mindfulness gives you more of the good stuff.
The trick is to make it an easy, enjoyable practice that feels more like a game than anything else you do. Better yet, it’s like a SECRET game, because you are going to catch yourself in the act of paying attention during even the most mundane activities.
There’s power in play. That’s how we learned as kids—and remember, that’s when we were naturally mindful! So, if you think this is going to be hard, you can relax.
It’s remarkably easy. You’ll be creating a new idea of yourself in a very specific way. You don’t need to think of yourself as a stressed person or a distracted person or an exhausted person—nor do you have to think of yourself as a calm person or a spiritual person or an enlightened person.
Instead, you are going to think of yourself as a person who PAYS ATTENTION. It’s that simple, and that profound. This is absolutely essential, because mindfulness is all, well, in your mind. You must operate under the belief that mindfulness is a quality you already have--you simply need to strengthen it, just as if you were strengthening your biceps, your voice or your ability to hold your breath.
The basic formula for this course is:
1) Notice your specific trigger.
2) Notice that you noticed.
3) Watch your reaction to the trigger.
4) Move on.
This creates an enormously important shift in your brain. You see, if you notice something, and then you notice yourself noticing it, you really ARE paying attention! Reinforcing this “noticing noticing” is a critical element in learning anything new, and in this course, we are going to really strengthen this ability by focusing on specific triggers. You’ll notice. You’ll notice yourself noticing. You’ll watch your reaction. And instead of spinning your stories or sinking into that comfy lounge chair of characteristic responses, you’re going to step back enough to really WATCH.
The truth is that you are absolutely fascinating. But instead of going along and doing your fascinating stuff, you will begin to be a spy so that you can see just how fascinating you are. There is so much to learn by watching your reactions! And believe me, it can be highly entertaining as well.
We get annoyed by the smallest things, and then we start disliking those things as though they were responsible for our irritation. Whew! This takes a lot of energy. In fact, there’s nothing more exhausting than getting annoyed by little things all day long.
Unfortunately, we end up feeling frustrated and exhausted by a whole bunch of seemingly trivial things that suck our energy and enthusiasm.
After a while, we don’t even see how our reactions to numerous triggers can have enormous impacts on our relationships, our health, and our sense of ourselves.
So, that’s what this course is all about—seeing those triggers and the knee-jerk responses so that we can learn how to transform our energy-sucking reactions into ones that actually uplift and invigorate us. We can learn to USE our annoyance as a powerful tool for greater mindfulness.
Now, I must warn you about something. You see, the biggest obstacle you will face in this course is the feeling that this is so easy that it probably isn’t working.
Isn’t that funny? We have this idea that doing anything worthwhile takes a whole lot of work.
We need to challenge ourselves to truly difficult tasks in order to improve, right? Shouldn’t this be really, really hard? And shouldn’t we be spending at least an hour a day on it?
No, no, and no.
Learning can be extremely enjoyable, and the more we like it, the more likely we are to want to continue to explore and discover new ways to incorporate what we learn.
Here’s a perfect example: wine tasting.
Wine tasting is a wildly popular activity around the world. People love to learn about wine. Why? Because they get to enjoy the process! They go to wine tastings, visit wineries, buy wine to take home and drink at their leisure and share with others. They try new wines when they go out to dinner.
It’s tasty. It’s interesting. It’s fun. And frankly, there’s a lot of mindfulness involved here. After all, you are really paying attention to the flavors, the aromas, and the colors of the wine you are tasting in that moment.
At least, for the first few tastes! ;-)
So, why can’t awakening awareness be more like wine tasting?
Well, the good news is that it IS. That’s what this course is all about.
You will get to taste what it’s like to flex your awareness in several different areas, and by the time you’re finished, you will clearly see yourself as someone who pays attention—think of it as being a WOW (Wow of Wonder) taster.
Plus, you will have a greater understanding of your own personal path to greater mindfulness. In other words, you will have your favorite vintages, your own secret WOW cellar of delights that you can turn to for everyday awareness. You’ll learn about what you like, how it fits into the activities you enjoy so you can tap into that extra little WOW advantage throughout the day.
You’re intelligent. But did you know that you are intelligent in at least eight different ways? Yep, it’s true. So, I designed this course to allow you to play with your triggers in each of the following areas:
**Linguistic intelligence (“word smart”)
**Spatial intelligence (“picture smart”)
**Musical intelligence (“sound smart”)
**Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligence (“body smart”) **Logical-Mathematical intelligence (“number smart”)
**Naturalistic intelligence (“nature smart”)
**Interpersonal intelligence (“people smart”)
**Intrapersonal intelligence (“self smart”) This framework allows us to explore the various areas in which we have created triggers for habitual responses. Each lesson will focus on a different kind of “smart” so that you can learn about the fascinating way you respond to cues.
IMPORTANT: You have skills in every single area. Yes, even the ones that make you shake your head. And, interestingly enough, some of your most emotional and consistent responses are likely to be tied to triggers in one or two particular areas. Which ones? Well, that’s what you’re about to find out.
The first few lessons are simple but crucial—you must begin to recognize selected triggers in order to USE them, so we are going to focus on fine-tuning our awareness. In the beginning, it’s not so much the TRIGGER that matters—it’s improving your ability to notice it.
Gradually and very systematically, you will be given opportunities to watch your response to a variety of specific triggers and eventually, you will be choosing your own cues to notice and observe. This is a critical step because once you learn how to recognize your hot spots, you’ll have the ability to transform your reactions to them.
What does this have to do with wonder? Everything. Watching your reaction allows you to see the conditioned responses that have been developing over months and years. It’s a bit like going on an expedition through a jungle until you reach the magic stone. You’ll need some tools to help you navigate, and so you will be given some specific strategies for finding your way.
Bottom line: You will learn how to turn any automatic negative response into an opportunity for wonder. It’s an interesting process, and one that allows you to be a lighthearted investigator on a mission to rediscover wonder.
You’ll find it. And when you do, you’ll start seeing the world in a whole new way.
So, that’s the basic premise. Are you ready to get started?
Before we begin with your first real lesson, it’s important that you begin to recognize potential WOW moments.
How? Simple. By paying attention, of course! ;-) Listening FOR a sound requires a different level of attention than simply listening to a sound. Watching FOR a cue requires a different level of attention than simply seeing a cue. We're going to practice that.
So, for the next few of days, here’s what you will be watching and listening for: The word “Wow”—whether you say it yourself, overhear it, or read it, simply note it. Now, there’s no need to analyze these Wows. You don’t need to assess their worthiness. This isn’t a Wow-judging assignment! It’s simply a Wow-noticing assignment.
This is an important distinction, because mindfulness is nonjudgmental awareness. We’re going to practice that right off by noticing Wows without judging them.
So, let’s say you’re flipping through the channels on television and you hear the word Wow from a guest on a show or even a reporter. Maybe they are talking about the latest Lindsay Lohan gossip or a new movie or a new scientific discovery. Watch your reaction to that. You might be thinking, “Oh, not her again!” or “Oh, good, I am looking forward to that movie” or “Hey, that’s a huge breakthrough.” Just watch.
Notice it. Notice that you noticed it. Watch your reaction. Move on.
Wow is fun to say. It’s easy to hear. It conveys interest, wonder, or surprise.
If you find you just don’t say it much, that’s an important thing to notice.
If you find that it doesn’t seem to come up much in your life, that’s another thing to notice.
If English is not your first language or is not spoken frequently where you are, consider a comparable exclamation to use for this exercise.
You don’t need to count the Wows around you—simply be aware of them.
Television, radio and movies are fair game. Pay attention to those Wows.
If you want to try a bonus exercise, here’s one: Go to a crowded place such as coffee shop, market, plaza, gym or bar and simply listen to the conversations around you—surreptitiously, of course!
Wow tends to rise above the rest of the conversation. While Wow is not a direct indicator of fun, it is itself a sign of paying attention to the moment. Noticing Wows gives you a sense of the interest and engagement of those around you and this is an important piece of information.
For now, just watch for Wows during the next four days, and I’ll be back with your first real lesson then. (Don’t worry—it will be MUCH shorter than this one! This is the intro—important stuff, but the rest of the course will focus on the what, not the why.)
Oh, and guess which kind of “smart” we’re using for this particular exercise? Linguistic. Words. Paying attention to a particular word/letter formation/spoken sound. But because we’re using our ears and the sound of Wow is our trigger, we’re also tapping into our musical intelligence. The more we connect our areas of intelligence, the more they get to know each other. ;-) That’s a good thing.
What will YOU notice?
Remember to come back here to access your next lesson--because you bookmarked this page, right? Right? ;-)
Happy Wowing!
Warmly,
Maya Frost
Real-World Mindfulness Training™
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