Being conscious is a topic on the lips of all modern, spiritual and mindful people these days. Often, when we start to wake up to the greater world around us, seeing the larger philosophical and spiritual thoughts of today and the past provokes a wide-eyed response. It means considering ideas and concepts about ourselves that we have never considered before. It often means we start to see cause and effect, meaning we think a certain way, take action in response and begin to see that there is a corresponding outcome. For better or worse.
When we begin to awaken, there can be a sense of accomplishment, like you’ve gained passage into a world of the elite mindful. It can feel like a privilege, generating feelings of (hard-earned) superiority over those whom you feel may not yet be on a similarly enlightened path.
My perception of consciousness is constantly unfolding. I discuss it in all my yoga classes as well as in my business and in my coaching. The ways in which we can wake up to ourselves is an endless topic. Recently, I heard Tara Brach define it this way: “Consciousness means that you have choice.” It was so simple, articulate and accurate. So I humbly use her teachings here.
Consciousness means we have choice. We have choice to get caught in our own self defeating inner chatter, we have choice in the way we speak to another person, we have choice of how loving or kind we are to others, and we have choice with how generous we are. We have choice with what thoughts about others we indulge in, and we have choice about whether we get sucked into the drama of those around us. We have a choice to allow the weather to determine our happiness. We have choice how to respond to ANY given situation that lands in front of us, regardless of how difficult it may seem. We have a choice to see ourselves as superior or inferior to another. We have a choice to use our pains as a rite of passage to justify our behavior. We have a choice to find ways to use our biggest challenges to move us to bigger and greater experiences.
Realizing that consciousness is about the ability to choose in any given moment, deciding who and how you want to be is the greatest gift of being human. It is also a most challenging and ever-present practice that remains with us until we die.
What way are you going to choose today? What moments are you going to choose to be present to? What reactive states are you ready to change? Who do you want to be in this lifetime? Now is the time to make those choices, not tomorrow, not next year, but today.
with love
Noelle
Being Conscious Means…
