Matters of the Mind: How to achieve conscious cognition

This is Part 2 of the article on conscious cognition, released last week.

“The strength and beauty of the journey of conscious cognition is that it never ends or ends. The process continues, strengthening one to pieces, calming and healing and at the same time kindling new fires. “

Last week, I shared with you my experience, both personally and professionally, dealing with crisis, stress or even daily life combining spirituality and cognitive theory. I call the process “conscious cognition” because it better explains the practice and the purpose. As promised, in this part, I will share with you some steps to achieve and use conscious cognition.

The first and most important step is to create stress awareness through Focus. Often we float away too lightly mentally to head in a meaningful direction, like a paper boat in the current, and then blame the strong winds. Digging deeper, developing strength in focus, stillness, and silence can give us a much needed moment to redirect and restore. The challenge here is that we must focus our attention on nothing.

Focusing on rhythmic breathing, or a distant visual stimulus, some auditory input or sounds, on the sensation of our thumb on our ring finger or on the movements of our belly that rise with each inhalation and fall as we exhale. Use any sensory modality that resonates or is comfortable. Bringing our attention to a state of sustained concentration is not easy when the mind is disturbed. This will help slow down the incessant mental chatter that flashes and rebounds through our bodies, impacting almost every organ in its path.

Another advantage of the process is awareness of our words, tonality, speed, beliefs and rigidities in our thoughts. This is the best way to get an idea of ​​our own personalities, our irrational thoughts and, honestly, what we bring to every situation in our life, in the form of insights.

With continuous effort, we can achieve what I call a “thought void”: an empty space, a void, a mere pause, characterized by the hunger to be filled with the closest thoughts available. This means that without sustained effort and concentration, the powerful thought void will be filled with habitual talk, leading to the same consequences. Being able to maintain this void devoid of mental activity for a period of time, so that we can experience awareness and presence, is awareness.

Being aware of our cognition, aware of our inner voice, when we are able to identify and challenge the irrationalities and cognitive errors that lead us to replace negative and non-constructive thought patterns with acceptable, rational, constructive and solution-based thinking , leads to better health. , happiness and growth.

In addition, it is important to find an enriching place within yourself (your mind, heart, or belly) to increase your strengths. The belief is that conscious cognition not only helps us “be present” in spirit and mind, change or reject what does not work, but also adds vigor to our strengths, enhancing the substance of our being, making us focus on vitality. and what is, not for lack of, or what could be.