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Doing a regular activity automatically can make it more challenging to become aware.

Try using your non dominant hand for an activity such as brushing your hair or doing your teeth.  What do you become aware of as you do this regular activity with the other hand?

Is it easier than you thought?  Is it more difficult?

By becoming aware of a normal activity, how can you develop your freedom?

Maybe you would like to become ambidextrous?  This would help your creativity and also enable the brain to build new neural pathways.

In this day and age when so many people are worried about losing their memories, being ambidextrous can help you to keep your memory, along with other exercises and a healthy lifestyle, thus giving you more freedom.

Being aware expands your freedom.

When you become aware, you have the freedom to see what is around you as well as the opportunities that await you.

Becoming aware can be learnt.  There are so many different aspects and exercises for developing awareness.

Let us start with a simple breathing exercise.

Sit comfortably and breathe normally.

Become aware of your breathing.  Is it shallow or deep or somewhere in between?

Spend a minute or two being aware of your breathing.

Now try breathing a little more shallowly and be aware of the changes you feel.  If it is uncomfortable, then return to your normal breathing immediately, otherwise try it for about a minute.

Next try breathing more deeply and be aware of the changes you feel.  Again, if you feel uncomfortable in any way, return to your normal breathing immediately, otherwise try it for about a minute.

Now, if you are able to, get up and walk around the room for a minute or two.

Become aware of how your breathing changes.

When we exert ourselves physically or emotionally, our breathing changes.

Now that you are aware of your breathing, begin to notice how it changes when your feelings run high.  What happens to your breathing?

If you are conversing with someone and a difficult topic is brought up, what happens to your breathing?

By becoming aware of how your breathing changes gives you the freedom to see what is going on and make appropriate choices for your actions and responses.

Becoming aware of the changes in your breathing which happen unconsciously when circumstances change can be really useful in developing your freedom of choice.

Being aware of how the other person is feeling is a great help in relationships.

In personal relationships how often are you aware of how your partner or loved one is feeling?

Do you take time to learn to be aware?

Do you ask your loved one to let them know how they are feeling so that you can check if you are correctly aware?

It is possible to develop awareness.  There are exercises to help you to become aware of how others are feeling.

Relationships whether they are romantic, business or friendship all benefit from you being correctly aware of how the other person is feeling.

Unwittingly you may say something that is interpreted wrongly and upsets the other person.  If you are aware, you can correct the mistake speedily by clarifying your awareness of the situation.

If you are not aware, this could lead to further and deeper problems with the relationship.

Misunderstandings are easy and by being aware, it is also easy to correct and clarify to ensure that both sides understand the same message.

It is wonderful to be aware and to use your awareness to ensure smooth relationships in all departments.

Being aware also helps to enhance relationships.

Being aware of how others are speaking can help conversations to be constructive rather than destructive.

Next time you are talking to someone, ask a provocative question and then be aware of any changes in the tone of their voice when they respond.

By becoming aware when the tone changes in the voice, you can then take steps to either change tack or explore deeper so as to get the conversation back on an even keel.

It is much easier to have a difficult conversation with someone if both sides can remain constructive.

If you are talking on the phone, the voice is all you have to work with, hence awareness becomes even more important.

Exploring and clarifying can help to diffuse difficult situations when you hear the tones of the other person becoming angry or frustrated, but first you have to be aware of the change in the tone of the voice before you can take action!

Do you find yourself exploding sometimes – out of nowhere you suddenly erupt with angry tones and language when talking to someone?

When do you become aware that you are angry?

By being aware of your anger rising within you, it is possible to express your anger in a manageable way rather than exploding like a volcano.

It is a fascinating exercise to be aware of how you are feeling and watch for changes.  If you know you are going to have a difficult conversation, prepare for it beforehand by making a note of possible trigger words or phrases that will make your anger rise speedily.

Now that you are aware of the words, you will know, when you hear them, to take a deep breath and approach your anger in a measured way that is likely to bring a constructive rather than a possibly rude response.

The earlier we become aware of our emotions, the more we can choose how we express them.

If you are going to an event which you know will be enjoyable, be aware of when you feel particularly happy.

As you get better at becoming aware of feelings, you will have more choices on how to use the feelings for the best result.

Are you aware of how you are feeling right now?  Pause for a moment and become aware of any feelings that are with you at this moment in time.

Whether these feelings are positive or negative, just acknowledge that at this moment in time, they are with you.

It is difficult to acknowledge good feelings or change negative feelings if you are not aware of what you are feeling in the first place!

There are a multitude of feelings and it is helpful when thinking of habit change to be aware of your feelings.

Do you feel you can succeed with changing a habit of your choice?  If not, what would have to happen in order for you to feel that you could succeed with letting go of a habit you no longer want?

When feelings are positive, it is much easier to change.  There is inspiration and an air of wanting to form new and healthier habits.  There is more energy and determination to succeed.

If feelings are negative, then it is harder to change our habits.  If you do have negative feelings, what could you do to have positive feelings?

Do you want to become a positive person?  That may seem a stupid question, but deep in the unconscious, perhaps there is a reason, a past experience or something else that prefers to see the negative in everything as it makes them feel safe.

The unconscious is very powerful.  It is only by looking at our fears and working through them that we gain more energy, positivity and a happier disposition.  This results in good feelings and an ability to change habits for ever.

Being aware of yourself is a vital ingredient for changing habits as well as for personal and spiritual development.

By looking in a mirror we can see ourselves, but do you ever look deeper than a fleeting glance?  Next time you have a minute to spare, go and look yourself in the eye.  What do you become aware of about yourself?

Would you like to make changes?  What kind of changes would you like to make?

By being aware of yourself, you have the knowledge to choose the changes you would like to make.

How often do you hear yourself speaking?  Have a conversation with a friend and ask if you can use a tape recorder.  If you prefer to tape yourself without speaking to someone else, either talk on a topic of your choice for a minute or read something on a topic that interests you.

Take a piece of paper and a pen and listen to yourself.  What do you become aware of first?  Make a note of it and the other things you become aware of the first time you listen to the tape.

How was your tone?  What feelings were you aware of in your expression?  What else were you aware of in your voice?

By being aware of how we sound can help us to hear what we portray to other people.  This is how others hear us – are you happy with your voice, or are there changes you would like to make?

Is your awareness of the bigger picture or is it the detail that makes you aware of something in your surroundings?

When you look outside in the morning do you become aware of the general vista or are you drawn to a particular aspect in your surroundings?

Being able to be aware of both the bigger picture as well as the detail allows you to absorb much more of what is going on in your surroundings.

When you are in your sitting room, take a moment to be aware of your surroundings.  Note whether it is the overall aspect or the smaller details that you become aware of first.

Tomorrow when you are in your sitting room, consciously make an effort to be aware of your surroundings the opposite way round.  If you saw the bigger picture yesterday, look for the detail today and vice versa.

Do this exercise when you visit somewhere you have been before and notice how much more you are now aware.  You will be amazed at things that have always been there, but of which you have never been aware . . . . until now!

By becoming aware of your surroundings, both the overall vista as well as the detail, it will help you to develop your awareness.

The better your awareness the easier and speedier it is to enable habit change.

In order to change a habit, you have to be aware of when it is taking place.  Often habits are so ingrained that we carry them out automatically without any awareness.

When we become aware of our habit, we then have a choice to stop or to change to something we would like to become a new habit.

How aware are you?  In which aspects are you aware?

If you ask two people to describe an accident, you are likely to get two completely different descriptions.  You may even wonder if the two people are telling you about the same accident.

Each person was giving details of what they were aware, hence awareness can be broad or narrow, focused or general and so on.

In order to change habits, it is necessary to be aware of the habit.  For instance, if you bite your nails, you may do it without realising.  Only when you become aware that you are biting nails, do you have the choice as to whether you continue, or whether you stop.

Think of a habit you would like to change and start to become aware of when the habit occurs.