Awareness: The First Step To Heal Or Change

Awareness is, first of all, an awakening. It means opening your eyes from within to make the unconscious clear and, therefore, to initiate a necessary personal revolution. Only then will we be able to heal, get away from what hurts us and move towards what we deserve.

There are many philosophers and sociologists who define today’s society as a sleeping entity. We live concentrated on our “I”, but it is an “I” that is “drugged” by others, through the threads of consumerism, of external interests that have exploited this eternal dissatisfaction due to which we are always anxious about try to get more than what we already have.

Maybe that’s right. Perhaps we are in a society like that of the Matrix : always immersed in a state of indefinable apathy. An inner atmosphere in which we satiate emotional voids through the pleasure of food, alleviate loneliness with ephemeral relationships and limit ourselves to being invaded by boredom through the momentary catharsis of our mobile or computer games. Maybe so.

Maybe many of us see it this way. However, there is an increasingly evident fact: there are many who try to give an authentic meaning to their existence. To this end, they do not hesitate to cultivate reading, to initiate therapies, to be interested in the visions of different philosophical perspectives with which to understand, with which to find “enlightenment”, to disconnect from the ordinary and reach the extraordinary.

We propose that you reflect on this theme, we propose that you WAKE UP.

Awareness: a necessary step in our personal growth

In psychotherapy, one of the basic aspects of the treatment process is undoubtedly the achievement of an awareness of the real problems that cause the malaise. When you go to the psychologist, in general, the external sources of your disturbance and unhappiness are already clear. “My boyfriend doesn’t understand me”, “my parents stress me out”, “my boss underestimates me”, “I don’t have a job and society seems to have forgotten about me”, etc.

Nevertheless, a good professional will have to accompany the individual who is venting towards a new inner awakening, with which the latter will be able to acquire a much fuller and more authentic control of his life. Now, this process isn’t easy at all.

It takes some time to reach the so-called awareness  (awareness), so defined in Gestalt Therapy, and translated as satori  in the Japanese language. The term satori  indicates a process of deep understanding that requires the elimination of old and oxidized layers to free ourselves from all the blocks that prevent the emergence of our authentic essence, still dormant.

Awareness was also a central topic in Piaget’s theories. He defined it as a delicate and complex process whereby people pass from an instrumental knowledge of their reality to a more intimate, abstract and meaningful conceptualization of things. Today this vision is still very much alive; at its roots there is the idea of ​​”awakening”, of “understanding”, and it is composed, according to Lao Tse, of four phases: sleep, wakefulness, self-awareness and objective consciousness.

As you can see, it is an inward journey very similar to the one dealt with by Plato in the myth of the cave. It means passing from the universe of sensations, self-deception and shadows to a much higher, free and authentic sphere. Now we will explain how to do it.

The relief of waking up or rebuilding

In the previous paragraph we mentioned Piaget. In his genetic psychology texts, he shows a concept that can be very useful to us: that of the cognitive unconscious. Although this term may remind you of Freudian theories, the father of genetic epistemology offers a very interesting starting point to think about: awareness is not exactly an awakening, nor is it an enlightenment.

The point is not only to make the unconscious conscious, but to give it a new construction. For example, we can become aware of our barriers: our inability to set limits or to say “no”. Well, making this dimension conscious will not help us if we do not have a purpose, that is to initiate a change, to rebuild that part of our “I” to heal, to have more control over our reality after exiting the cave of shadows and unhappiness.

We will now see how to generate this awakening or rebuilding process.

The three stages of awareness

This process may seem simple, but it is only in appearance: in reality, it requires above all a total sincerity towards ourselves.

• The first step to awakening is to open our eyes to the most intimate and profound part of us. We are talking about the emotional world. Ask yourself what you are feeling right now, explore your sensations and your feelings and also address your body, your headaches, your stomach ache … Translate all these symptoms into words (fear, anguish, restlessness, insecurity, etc. .).

• The second step is to observe what is happening around you. Look at your present and look at the obvious, what you often deny. “My partner is cold”, “I have friends who care about me”, “I am investing time and effort in things that are not important”, etc.

• The third step is the most difficult of all. Now you know what you are feeling and what is happening around you. It is time to face your defensive barriers, your prejudices, your attitudes, those who, mistakenly, tell you that it is better to endure than to change, that it is better to look away, remain calm and be silent for fear that things are upset.

Face it yourself. You are your own worst enemies, so it won’t do any good to become aware of your weaknesses if you don’t dare to turn them into strengths. Be responsible, gather courage and heal; in a word, change.

Images courtesy of Nuck Asher, Art New Age