What does it mean to be conscious?

If you go to look up the definition of consciousness, you will find this: “the state of being awake and aware of one’s surroundings” or, “the fact of awareness by the mind itself and of the world”. So when I speak on consciousness, I am speaking in terms of our capacity to become more aware of the inner and outer constructs that influence our being on a daily basis. The capacity to become more ALIVE. More AWAKE. This isn’t for everyone, and for those who prefer to stay ignorant to what controls our brains and bodies, this may not be for you.

What contributes to a lack of consciousness?

It’s no conspiracy, but rather a proven and very apparent fact, that we are living in a culture that is designed to keep us sick, unintelligent, operating well below our potential, and addicted to quick fix dopamine hits such as screens, sex, porn, bad food, and substances. Our culture normalizes and even encourages very damaging ways of living that feed directly into the exact things that tarnish our health. We are also now exposed to more neurotoxins than ever before on a daily basis, assaulting the mere functioning of our brain and bodies. In addition to these powerful, calculated external forces, we are also living in bodies that carry ancestral traumas, our own lived experiences, and overwhelming amounts of toxic stress. Consciousness means bringing attention to all of this and choosing to live a different way. Choosing to reject mainstream obsessions that are rooted in superficiality, vanity, and ego. Choosing to learn and self-educate about your brain and body and how to gain control over your internal world. Choosing to wake up to your life and live it with such intention. Choosing to re-route your life into one of holistic health and knowledge that will serve you for the rest of your days and protect you and your family immensely. Living a life unconsciously, or passively, simply means being okay with having your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors be somewhat of an autopilot. Unconsciously falling into a cycle of numbing stress, despondence, and settling. Essentially, lacking a unique sense of self, meaningful growth, and direction in life.

What does practicing consciousness look like?

Living a life of consciousness is twofold. It simply isn’t enough to be conscious of something, it is what you DO with that consciousness that has the power to transform your life. Sure, I might know that going to happy hours twice a week and obsessing over filtered selfies I post to my social media, isn’t GREAT for me, but here I am doing it again. I might know that not having a good sleep routine and binge-watching hours of tv or mindlessly scrolling social media before bed is terrible on my stress levels, brain, and body, but here I am laying here unwilling to force myself in another direction. This isn’t consciousness. This is addictive, unconsciously motivated behavior. Why are you doing those things to begin with? And what do you need to do to disengage from that behavior? Are you even able to recognize and understand that these things are playing a major role in your emotional turmoil, stress, or poor decision making? What are you WILLING to do to disengage from that behavior? THAT is consciousness. Consciousness is not just the mere presence of knowledge, it is the application of it that frees you and allows you to come alive—vibrant, healthy, and intentionally living each moment from a point of awareness that cannot be dulled.