Why Conscious Living is your Greatest Lifehack

Whenever I mention Conscious living to someone in the context of what I’m into, I receive an innocuous “oooooh what’s that?” kinda reaction (particularly in this part of the word)- and almost every time I am tempted to respond back saying, its an inherent part of our lives that should have been emphasised from conception.

But no it definitely doesn’t involve leaving your life behind and isolating yourself on a mountain top to meditate! If anything, Conscious living is about becoming more aware of the quality of life you choose to live by purposefully selecting the nature of thoughts, behaviours and decision-making you indulge in.

Easier said than done though because we’ve become so accustomed to the ego-preserving, self-aggrandizing mode of existence which only leads to momentary satisfaction and long-term frustration.

Let me clarify this further with an example- Rebekha is a smart and attractive 25-year old who constantly finds herself in and out of relationships. In her world, she does everything a ‘nice’ girlfriend can possibly do but her dominating nature pushes her boyfriends away and before she knows it, she has a chain of Exes. The underlying reason behind Rebekha’s perpetual and unconscious habit of dominance is to do with her own insecurities and hence her Ego being at play by preserving ‘the master’ before someone else even tries to hurt her. There is only way Rebekha can get out of her self-inflicted situation — Awareness. Unless Rebekha is (or becomes) fully aware of her thoughts and feelings while diving deep into what’s causing her to display such traits, she will continue with the same pattern only to be stuck in a vicious cycle for the rest of her life.

As indicated above, the first pre-requisite for any kind of change to occur lies in first becoming conscious of the need for that change to take place.

On the other side of the spectrum, people living in ‘unconscious’ states are usually engaged in futile activities such as workplace politics, gossiping, envying others or playing victim, blaming the world for their own struggles and other destructive behaviours without even being aware of their actions in the first place or the consequences of such engagements in the long run. To them, it is only normal because they don’t know any other way of being. Should the same bunch, however, decide to raise their consciousness or awareness, they’ll essentially come to terms with their behavioural patterns and question themselves with a willingness to dive deeper into the reasons behind their actions.

Having a heightened sense of awareness helps you to occupy the driver’s seat in creating the life you want to, rather than reacting your way into views and suppositions you’re surrounded by from years of programming. We were born as conscious creators so instead of carrying on the same broken patterns from one generation to the next, we have the choice of freeing ourselves from such limitations and radically altering the experience of our journey on this planet.

Conscious living is such a vast ocean in itself and there is so much to it but to get you started off with some basics (not so basic when it comes to practice!) here are some attitudes you can adopt that have certainly helped me:

• Stay curious: Whether its a strong emotion you have about something or an emotional trigger, ask yourself where does it come from? What is stuck beneath the surface that isn’t as apparent? Start peeling off the layers and you’ll find your answer.
• Manage your thoughts: This may sound bizarre since most of are naturally given to believe that thoughts are uncontrollable, which is partly true but the good news is that you get to organise your thoughts depending on the kind of experiences you want. In other words, think or focus on the stuff you want to attract in your world. If you are perpetually thinking about all bosses being horrible, that is exactly what you will end up attracting. As the saying goes, energy flows where attention goes. Oh, and for the record- energy is all there is!
• Refrain from blame and judgements- Change begins within. I learnt this the hard way but trying to fight or change things in your external environment or even people in your life is an endless battle and a lost one. Remember, you only have control over your own self and the sooner you realise it, the more time and energy you will save.
• Shift your gears- When faced with failure on any front, take that as an opportunity for growth. We often get stuck in situations that don’t seem to be working which prolongs the process. The moment you surrender and know there’s a better plan en route, things will start to take shape. Another way I do this is also by asking myself ‘what’s right about this situation that I’m not getting? Just something as simple as shifting perception can make all the difference.
• Release the resentments- Don’t we all just love holding on to grudges and resentments for the little things people do or don’t do. Well, we only end up harming ourselves by doing so, because the pain and anger we accumulate lead to illnesses and other health problems. To illustrate this further: A study conducted at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1985 explored the scientific outcomes for forgiveness with a cohort of participants who had suffered from emotional abuse and other traumatic experiences. It was observed that the participants’ willingness to partake in the act of forgiveness led to improved emotional health and elimination of psychological depression. Like in most cases though, forgiveness too starts with your self:

“To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.” — Lewis B. Smedes

• Drop the Ego- The only thing that can prevent you from truly becoming aware of yourself is your Ego. As far as my view is concerned, thinking that you ‘know it all’ is the death of your evolution. Sadly, what was meant to be used as ‘self-preservation’ only in times of threat seems to have become our normal way of survival.
• Breatheee: I’ve grown up listening to my father always asking me to deep breathe, right from the age of two. I now, of course, understand the science behind it and for those of you who are left-brainers, taking long deep breaths incorporated with a daily meditation ritual releases happy chemicals such as Dopamine, Oxytocin, Serotonin, and Endorphin (DOSE) among other ‘feel-good chemicals’. Needless to say, this dramatically relieves tension and sends an immediate signal to the brain to calm the eff down. So when in stress, pause and take a few long deep breaths!
• Stay in Gratitude: No matter how difficult life may seem, there is always something for us to appreciate. All we need to do is just take notice. Rather than sit and complain about how inconveniently far your workplace is, think about your motive to get there every morning and perhaps even find interesting ways to kill your time in Delhi traffic. Whether it’s reading a book or listening to a podcast. This practice has definitely saved me from being cranky while on the road ha!

In all seriousness, it shouldn’t take halfway through our lives before we find ourselves in distress, only to resort to alternative ways of living when we can save the time and set our foundation strong from the very beginning.

Luckily we are now in the midst of a mass level global conscious awakening, exploring new paradigms, owing to nature’s own shifts that have occurred in the quantum realm. To be able to understand this too, one needs to be aware of the possibilities that exist beyond the obvious physical reality as perceived.

Once you choose the path of living more consciously you immediately gain the power to completely turn around your story and making that decision is the first step towards achieving true joy and fulfilment.

Reference:

The Science of Forgiveness https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-science-of-forgivenes_b_613138