New Conscious Awareness … of ME!
(With Coaching Tips for Conscious Living)
Article by Coach Alchemist Anne Merkel, Ph.D.
As I was driving out of town recently, anticipating an exciting business meeting several hours away, I realized that I hadn't really spoken to anybody yet that morning, except my cat and baby bunnies. My voice and brain were not yet connected for the day. I remembered many tips I'd received in the past about how to remedy this in order to have a better meeting upon my arrival. Lessons from public speaking, professional negotiating, mind stimulation training programs, and basic grounding techniques all endorsed certain voice warm-up exercises, so I decided to work on my voice as I drove.
I laughed as I started toning voice scales like I had heard so many times years ago when walking through the music school on campus. Here I was driving down the interstate making my own strange noises. I listened as I worked my voice from the lowest range up through a crack in the middle register into the higher octave where I really had to project and sit up straight in order to keep a true tone. Hmmm. Had I ever consciously focused on my voice range? Did I know that I had a “crack” in the mid range that actually created a bridge between two different sounding voices?
In my life I have briefly sung alto, soprano I, soprano II, and I regularly sing in the shower. Heck, I'm a flute player; I've never really focused on my voice. Well, I HAVE lived in this body for just a few years, so why am I just noticing such a fundamental part of myself now? The thought occurred to me that I've used my voice unconsciously, except maybe for times when it didn't serve me well and then I felt let down by it. Had I ever appreciated my voice? If I haven't really focused on it consciously, then I've never been grateful for its timbre, its availability to me, its usefulness, its strong and expressive qualities, its playfulness when my little impish “inner child” speaks through it, the major role it plays in my professional work as a facilitator, consultant, coach, the way it helps me tell others that I love them. I have this wonderful part of ME and I haven't even acknowledged it consciously for most of my life. Wow.
So, I wonder, how many other aspects of myself do I take for granted, use, require, expect to serve me, without so much as a simple recognition? I hate to admit what comes to mind.
In our busy lives we have so many details hitting us at all times that we sometimes seem to take certain fundamental things for granted by not really noticing they are there to serve us. In living more consciously we can begin to look for things previously overlooked, acknowledge them, and love and nurture them so they continue to serve us well.
Try the following exercise, or your own version thereof, and see if it helps you to become more conscious of your self, your life, and all that serves you.
Conscious Living Exercise:
- Slow down and become centered and present in the moment. (This can be in a quiet contemplative space, while meditating or praying, it can be while driving, waiting in line, being stuck in traffic, waiting ON HOLD during a telephone call.)
- Scan your body for something that helps you, supports your life, and is very vital to your every-day existence.
- Ask yourself these questions:
- How important is this to me?
- How does it serve me?
- Could I manage without it?
- Do I know how it functions and how to best maintain its health?
- Have I ever “thanked” it for being part of me?
- Is there something I can do for it to make it function better, more easily, more effectively?
- How can I “nurture” this aspect/ part of me so it feels loved and continues to work with me in “partnership” for as long as I need it?
- Be grateful for this often un-noticed but vital part of your life that helps you to be who you are!
If you try this exercise I think you will be amazed at how much more consciously aware you will be of your self, your body, the persona you project to others, how you can be even better than you already are. You will have insight into how to maintain the health and balance of your body, mind, spirit, using information accessed through yourself.
The next step is to apply the same exercise to the life situations surrounding you, including interactions with other people, job functions, tasks you regularly perform, among so many other aspects of your life. How might this help you become more conscious in your work and personal life settings? Can it enhance relationships with other people? Can it help you be more productive in your life work? I think so! Enjoy the process!
Conscious Living Coaching Tip:
In order to change old patterns and create greater consciousness in your life it is important to make a daily practice that starts to set the energetics in place for a shift in your awareness and then the creation of new, improved patterns and habits.
SUGGESTION: Create a daily ritual of taking five minutes and applying the exercise listed above. Acknowledge one aspect of yourself, your body, who you are. After one to two weeks of doing this, each day focusing on a different aspect or characteristic of yourself, you will be much more aware of WHO you are, HOW you function, and how to maintain and support efficiency in yourself as you live in this complex world.
