thought awareness
Unless we are pretending, we don't control what we think or feel. We don't decide to think this thought of feel that emotion. They appear out of the blue.
Passing events and memories trigger a silent running commentary brought to life by feelings and emotions. They are a window into our subconscious assumptions and expectations built on the voices of people from our childhood. Here we peep through that window.
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What is the tiniest, most fleeting thought you can detect? |
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passing thoughts |
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Am I thinking something? |
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What are the words? |
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Are they in the first, second or third person (he/she, you, him/her)? |
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What are the emotions? |
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Where does the body feel this? And the face? What is the posture? |
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Has this thought got a voice that can be heard? |
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Where in the head is it? |
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Or does it come from outside? |
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What sets it off |
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What does it remind me of? |
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When did I first have this thought and the feelings that come with it |
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Who did I learn this from? |
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Is their voice still in this thought? |
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What were they trying to achieve? |
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Could they have used a more effective strategy? |
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Perhaps try to communicate sympathetically with the voice to explore this further. |
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What are the underlying beliefs and subconscious assumptions and underlying this thought? |
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Here are some questions to look for any revealed habitual expectations and pause to authenticate them before relying on them. And check for unnecessary self-sabotaging ideas. And notice the inner critics and optimistic voices and bring them into balance. Our Pollyannas vs our Hitlers. |
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How certain am I that this is true? |
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What is the evidence? |
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Is this realistic, too optimistic or too pessimistic? |
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Look for feedback from others to check if the situation is as it seems. |
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How accurate have I been in the past when I have taken this view? |
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Was the outcome satisfactory? |
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How accurate might this view be this time? |
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What is the probability of this happening? |
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What is the probability of this happening in the way I anticipate? |
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Is this is my problem or someone else’s? |
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What is the very worst that could happen? |
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What could I do to minimise the effects if it did happen? |
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What have I done in the past? |
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What has happened in the past? |
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What do I do that makes my worst fears come true? |
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Do I have contradictory expectations like expecting success and fearing failure at the same time? |
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Do I have unrealistic expectations like expecting perfection? |
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Most hopes and fears don't eventuate but they are ways to evaluate the future and speculate on possibilities. |
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cost-benefits |
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What are the advantages of having these expectations and beliefs? |
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And the disadvantages? |
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Do they get me where I want to be? |
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the alternatives |
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Are there other beliefs that would lead to a better outcome? |
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Is there a more powerful way of looking at things? |
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Experiment with alternative expectations or perhaps no expectations. |
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What could I do to improve this? |
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Have I been too vigilant or not vigilant enough? |
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have I been avoiding something? |
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What are the positives in this situation? |
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What opportunities does this open up? |
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What might come from this that would be advantageous? Let go and be open to positive as well as negative possibilities. Become open to opportunities for asking for and giving and getting what you really want. Find positive openings in each situation to build on. |
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What could I do that would lead to an opportunity. |
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What appears more important now that I have thought about this. |
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What goals and activities no longer seem worthwhile |
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How would I view a friend in a similar situation? |
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Even a cherished or common belief might be limiting. |
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On on hand we can explore our inner knowledge and intuition to learn to trust our judgment. On the other hand we can let go of the past and open ourselves to change - taking each moment as a journey into the unknown.
What are you thoughts at this moment? As an exercise, instead of noticing the thoughts as they come, stop and decide what you are going to think about next.
writing
Another way of examining free associations of ideas is to write thoughts that comes to mind without editing or paying attention to grammer, or spellnig. When we write something down we can experience it visually outside of ourself.
Write non stop all the time so writer's block and conscious thought don't get in the way. Repeat the words the task evokes if that is all there is until more come along all by themselves. Perhaps with the incentive of a timer set for, say, 10 minutes. With a little practice this flows quite easily. It is like channeling oneself.
There is often a feeling of a weight being lifted. All sorts of ideas and feelings including subconscious preoccupations and anxieties are now outside of the head where they can be examined. One can then stop to notice any understanding that arises. Or any shift in feelings or priorities. Then either discard them or put them aside to come back to later. Surprising insights may pop up.
Or keep a diary of thoughts as they come to mind. Or hum them or set them to music. The thoughts may be in pictures and other other images as well as words.
hearing voices
Some of us hear voices as if they are outside of us. For some this is pleasant, for others intrusive and distressing. They can be examined the same way as internal chatter. Just like internal words they are a window into our subconscious and are often valuable ideas.
These free associations alert us to what we think. The awareness therapy pages and the dream suggestions in the sleep pages also suggest ways to heighten awareness of thoughts that have not come to consciousness and the feelings that come with them.
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The International Community for Hearing Voices |
copyright (C) John Brasted 2008
updated 18. Dec. 2011
