The Power of Simply Noticing

Awareness is one of the simplest mindfulness practices, and one of the most powerful.

Most of the time our brains are trying to solve something, or fix something or someone (or ourselves).

And when we stop that endless DOING, we notice our thoughts even more acutely, which is when we can try and change them. We struggle to clear our mind and become instantly calm, thinking this is the way to inner peace and quiet.

But the opposite is actually the route to this contentment.

Because awareness begins with noticing. Think of it as non-doing.
Simply ask yourself:

What’s happening in my mind?
What’s happening in my body?
What emotions are here?
What am I aware of right now?

That might sound almost too simple. But the act of becoming aware can change your whole experience.

And it’s not easy. I’ve been teaching and practicing mindfulness since 2016 and I have many moments through my day when I have to remind myself to come back to this simple state of awareness.

It’s usually when my my has completely taken over and is in some kind of a spin about something I can’t control.

Most of us move through the day on autopilot. Especially when we’re busy, tired, under pressure, or trying to keep lots of things going at once.

You might be answering emails while thinking about what you haven’t done.

Saying yes before you’ve checked whether you have the time or energy.

Maybe you’re pushing through a task while your body is clearly asking you to pause.

You might be listening to an inner voice that sounds harsh, impatient or critical, without even noticing that it is there.

Awareness gives you a way to pause and see what is happening.

It’s about noticing those judgmental thoughts and allowing them. It gives you a different experience of those thoughts in that moment. You’ve separated yourself from your thoughts. You’ve created space. Space to notice and observe.

And this is what gives you more choice.

If you’re blindly following every thought that appears in your head, you are living on autopilot. Not in charge of yourself.

This technique gives you back that agency. Which isn’t to say that you can control things, it’s more about letting it be and seeing things change as a result.

Moving from doing to being

When you work for yourself, it is very easy to live in doing mode.

There’s always something else to think about. Something to reply to, to plan, to promote or improve.

Doing mode is useful. We need it, of course. It helps us take action and move things forward.

But when we live there all the time, we can become disconnected from ourselves. We lose touch with what we need, how we feel, what’s driving us, and whether the actions we’re taking are actually aligned.

Awareness invites us into being.

Being does not mean doing nothing forever. It means intentionally experiencing yourself as you are, without immediately turning yourself into another project.

This is where radical acceptance comes in (another challenging but freeing practice).

You might notice a busy mind.
You might notice resistance.
You might notice tiredness.
You might notice frustration, sadness, impatience, or calm.

Whatever is here is already here.

Awareness simply says: can I notice this?

Why awareness creates choice

When you are not aware of what is happening, your patterns run the show.

You react before you realise you’re reacting.
Or say yes before you know you wanted to say no.

You avoid something before you understand what feels difficult about it.

Maybe you criticise yourself without noticing the impact that voice is having. Or you keep going because that is what you always do.

But when you become aware, something changes. There’s a tiny space between the experience and the response.

In that space, you can ask:

Is this thought helpful?
Is this inner voice kind or harmful?
What is my body telling me?
What do I need right now?
What do I want?
What choice would support me?

This is why awareness can make you feel more in charge of your life.

You’re no longer living entirely from autopilot.

It gives you the opportunity to see more clearly.
To respond more consciously.
And choose your next step with more care.

A simple awareness practice

You can try this for ten minutes, or even just two.

Sit somewhere comfortable.

Let yourself arrive.

You do not need to guide the experience too much. You are simply practising noticing.

Notice the body.
Notice the breath.
Notice the mind.
Notice the emotions.
Notice sounds around you.
Notice any impulse to fix, change, judge or understand.

Then see if you can let everything be here as it is.

You might silently say:

This is what is here right now.
I can be with this.
I don’t have to fix this moment.

The practice is not to make your mind quiet. The practice is to become aware of whatever’s happening.

If your mind is busy, notice the busy mind.
If your body feels tense, notice the tension.
If you feel calm, notice the calm.
If you feel distracted, notice the distraction.

Everything becomes part of the practice.

How to use awareness in your day

Awareness becomes most useful when you bring it into ordinary moments.

Before you reply to a difficult message, pause and notice what is happening in your body.

Before you say yes to something, ask yourself whether you actually have the capacity.

When you hear your inner critic, notice the tone. Is it helping you, or is it making you smaller?

When you feel stuck, ask what is happening underneath the avoidance.

When you feel pressure to keep going, ask what your body needs.

These moments don’t need to be dramatic. They’re small pauses that help you come back to yourself.

And over time, those small pauses change how you work, how you make decisions, how you relate to yourself, and how you move through your life.

A reminder

Awareness is not about overthinking yourself.

It’s about seeing what’s already happening with more honesty and less judgement.

When you’re aware, you have more choice.

You can notice the thought without believing it.
You can feel the emotion without being completely led by it.
You can hear the inner critic without handing it the microphone.
You can sense what your body needs before you push too far.
You can choose your behaviour rather than repeating an old pattern.

Awareness is simple, but it is not small.

It ripples through everything you do.

And it begins with one quiet moment of noticing.

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