An awareness exercise (or process) is something you do once (or several times) to experience something specific in your own consciousness. Its purpose may be to discover something hidden, gain a new perspective, or enter an altered state through which you can experience something different than your normal day-to-day awareness.

An awareness practice is an exercise that you decide to take on as a personal challenge, repeating it over and over again in order to strengthen a part of yourself. It is a structure for success, a way of gaining a particular skill or mastery of some area of Self. Physical practices are easy to identify, such as playing the same piece of music on the piano until it is memorized and easy to play, practicing a golf swing until you can control the ball’s trajectory, or going to the gym regularly in order to get fit, build strength, or lose weight. Examples of inner practices include strengthening your will or your ability to make decisions, increasing the power and focus of your attention, or attainment of inner peace.

By strengthening your inner muscles, you can gain personal mastery in any area of your life, including your beliefs, attitude, motivation, or ability to get things done. Greater inner strength improves your relationships with others, broadens your mind, improves your ability to handle change, and tunes you into your higher self and God. Practices continue forever, even after mastery. The great cello master Pablo Casals was in his eighties when he was asked why he continued to practice three or four hours a day, even though he was considered the best cellist in the world. He answered, “Because I believe I can still get a little better.” Buddhist monks call their meditation a “practice” for the same reasons that doctors refer to their work with patients as a medical practice. Practice doesn’t make perfect, as the old adage claims. There is no such state as “perfect.” Practice opens the way for new possibilities to emerge.

You can’t think your way or feel your way into a skill. Skills are gained through study and practice. Although visualization of successful performance can help athletes achieve top performance when combined with the actual physical movements, visualization alone cannot produce a top athlete.

Visit the Workshop and Coaching sections of this website to learn about the powerful workshops we offer which provide customized training, guidance, and “best practices” for your specific needs.

These exercises in consciousness can be used as experiments to explore your own consciousness, or as practices to strengthen your inner muscles and to master your own life.

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