There are three major dimensions of self-awareness.
One is your mind,
Your thoughts,
Images,
Stories,
And all the voices in your head.
The second is your body,
All your physical,
Bodily,
Or somatic sensations.
And the third are your emotions,
All your feelings,
The emotional life that you carry,
That some may also call your heart.
So the mind,
The body,
And the heart.
And while ultimately you create one being,
You are one.
And all these levels of the mind,
The body,
The heart,
Your thoughts,
Physical sensations,
And emotions create one experience,
It is also important to be able to distinguish those three,
To realize where your attention is,
Or where possibly your blind spot is,
And where you want to develop more awareness or more sensitivity towards yourself.
You can practice these three layers by observing them one after another.
And in fact,
You may be able to do this practice anywhere,
Either sitting still on a stool,
Laying down on your back,
Or even while walking.
To explore these three dimensions of your being,
Of your self-awareness,
It is easier at the beginning to close your eyes.
So close them and take a deep breath,
And move your attention inward.
While everything around you continues to happen,
Move your attention inside.
And first bring attention to your mind.
And like a witness,
Seeing,
Observing everything that is happening on your mind.
All the images and stories,
All the knowledge,
All the sounds and voices,
Just observe them without changing them whatsoever.
As if you were sitting in a movie cinema,
Unaffected by what is happening,
What is coming and going,
No matter how wild,
No matter how beautiful or crazy the movie may be.
Just say,
Huh,
Interesting.
Accept everything that you see in your mind,
That is happening on your mind.
And now move on with your attention into your body.
Sense your body from the inside,
From the inside,
So that just you and only you know how your body actually feels right now.
Which body parts can you feel?
Is your body cold?
Is it tickling?
Does it feel expanded?
Do you feel certain body parts?
Right now,
Does any body part say hello?
Your shoulder,
Your finger,
Your kneecap,
Be with your attention inside your body.
And now move on with your attention to your feelings,
Your emotions.
What do you feel right now?
How honest can you be right now?
Honest with yourself.
Are there any emotions,
Pleasant or unpleasant?
Maybe they are very subtle.
Maybe they are really loud.
Maybe there are two or three emotions,
Even contrasting ones,
Simultaneously.
And observe them from the same witnessing perspective.
Again,
As if you were watching a movie in a cinema.
Not commenting,
Not changing.
Perhaps all you may say is,
Huh,
Huh,
Interesting.
These three levels or dimensions of self and self-awareness,
The mind,
Your thoughts,
The body,
Your physical sensations,
And the heart,
Your emotions and feelings,
You can explore by shifting your attention from one to the other.
Staying a few moments,
A few seconds,
A few breaths with one,
And then moving on to the next.
Do a few rounds and stay as long as you wish in one of those dimensions.
They all together create you,
Your entirety of your self-awareness.
And yet,
By being able to give them dedicated attention each,
You expand your awareness of self.
You connect with yourself in a much more fine-tuned way.
