Introducing Interactive Awareness

Your thoughts & emotions can make you or break you. It doesn’t matter in what area of your life you are working. If you are following my formula for successful living, you will come to know Interactive Awareness as the overarching umbrella for waking up…Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

In an earlier article you worked with mental biofeedback, also known as body scanning. Now that you have experience with cell manager communication, you are ready for your next “containment”, that of emotional and thought management. You will also meet up with the emotional crayons that color your experiences.

These are powerful mind and body tools that allow you to manage disorderly eating and addictions, right in the moment, as well as in every other nook and cranny of your life. Remind yourself that your problems are not singular entities. They have many facets, all needing management. Learning to work interactive awareness will move right you out of automatic pilot and into the moment where new choices are always available in your subconscious filing system.

There are many benefits to working with mind tools. For example, the skill of interactive awareness allows you to practice the art of detachment from the presenting moment and emotions. In detachment you are no longer participating in the moment, but you are coming to it as an observer. As an observer, you are able to look very closely at what is unfolding, just as if you were the producer/director of this very moment in time. You are no longer the actor who is participating in the momentary event.

It is key to understand that your subconscious mind responds very differently to this mental/physiological shift. For a start, stress chemicals are turned down as the physiology waits for emotional direction. From the position of producer/director, it is much easier to take off your self-judging eyeglasses. You can choose to see this moment in time through clearer, more beneficial lenses. The producer/director’s job is to see all the details, so changes can be made and the production will be successful.

And just like the producer/director you cannot change things you cannot see. As you observe closely without judging, your own subconscious mind will send up the necessary details. Once you learn to work with interactive self-hypnosis, you will find that these very details hold powerful creative ideas for taking you towards your goals. Learning to live in the moment is very beneficial, and just like anything else the more your practice, the higher your level of mind and body functioning.

MIND EXERCISE

Adults tend to learn mind management tools best with small spoonfuls. Begin by choosing a chair for your interactive awareness work. You might like to try out a few chairs. Be certain that it is comfortable and located in a place where you can have quiet and privacy. As you sit in each chair, close your eyes gently and take in a big yawn breath allowing your body to sink into the surface of the chair. How does it feel to you? Your subconscious mind will let you know if it’s a good choice. You might think about having one chair at home, and another at work. You may even choose somewhere outside of your home and workplace. Some people have a particular park bench, or even their car. I know one man who parks his car in a beautiful spot and then gets in the back seat. So open your mind and look around for what suits you best.

The actual physical practice of interactive awareness is very simple, but the inner happenings are very complex. You are actually changing your internal body chemistry, thereby altering your heart function, blood pressure, hormonal and neurological system balance, immune system function, not to mention the memory storage of your own subconscious mind. In the actual moments of practicing, you are etching new mind programs, teaching your mind and body how to work together in new ways. Some of these new ways will be placed in an automatic pilot program, keeping your body in balance or homeostasis. There is no right or wrong way to do the practice. Each time you practice, the experience will be different because you are involved in a living process.

I’m going to ask you to read through this material in small chunks and then close your eyes, doing the small exercise right now. Later on you can re-read this as you work to build your skills. Just as you did when practicing mental biofeedback, make yourself comfortable in your chair, sitting up straight, head nicely positioned on your neck, and feet flat on the floor. You might like to take in a big yawn breath, letting it out slowly as you learned earlier. This is always a good beginning for interactive awareness practice. You are centering, or settling in.

Now it’s time to slow the brain waves a bit more. Remember that the faster the brain waves, the faster the thoughts, the more stress chemicals produced. There are many great ways to slow the brain waves. I call these deepening tools. I’ll give you some here, and as you continue through the book you will obtain more of them. You already learned a few in the earlier chapter. Calling in the numbers is one of these. In fact, practice that again now. With your eyes closed, tilt them up about twenty-degrees, just as if you were sitting in the second row of a movie theater, focusing your attention on your mind screen. Start with the number four, having it come in slowly towards you, remembering that imaging is different than seeing with your eyes opened. Follow the arrival of the four with the three coming in gently, and work with the following numbers.

I like to use other senses as well for deepening. Take a moment, locating the sound of silence. It has a particular resonance. Even if there is noise all around you, silence is there in-between the noises. This is a particularly powerful tool for mothers with young children, as well as for those working in a noisy environment. Once you have located the silence, stay with it for a few minutes. Your mind will wander, so gently bring it back to the silence. Think of silence as an object. Each time you bring your wandering attention back, allow your body to go deeper into the chair where you are sitting.

You can also deepen by doing a body scan. Start at the top of your head and work your way down, noticing what body parts have something to say. As you go downwards, invite your body to go deeper into the chair, as if magnets were pulling you down. Remember you are not looking to become unconscious. Your goal is to quiet your mind and body. Then you will move to position of observer of thoughts, emotions and connected body sensations.

Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht is a Clinical Hypnotherapist, President & Program Designer for Sarasota Medical & Sports Hypnosis Institute located in Sarasota, FL & online at http://www.hypnosis-audio.com & http://www.sugar-addiction.comShe is the author of Sugar....the Hidden Eating Disorder & How to Lick It, Beyond Disorderly Eating...The Truth About Sugar, Bingeing & How to Stop, as well as The MindBody Fitness Boot Camp... Lifestyle Change Made Easy. She has also written & produced +350 audio CD's & mp3's. The websites include moderated discussion groups, ezines, library & a host of other educational tools for learning Interactive Self-Hypnosis. Visit the online Boot Camp & work directly with the author. Download a free mp3 each month.