What’s Awareness Got to Do With It?

Awareness: knowledge or perception of a situation or fact

The situation is you walk in the door at the end of the day (or you’re overwhelmed, frustrated, anxious, scared, nervous, lonely, sad, angry, bored, etc,) and you automatically head for the fridge. You’re told just being aware of the behavior can begin to change it so you pay attention and notice it. Now what, how does the change actually happen?

Recently in a conversation with a client I said, when you become aware of a thought or action it opens up the space for you to make a choice and each time you make a conscious choice you are rebuilding trust in your own intuition. She stopped me and said that is SO helpful. Understanding the purpose of awareness helps me to see what I’m doing here in this work.

“Awareness allows you the opportunity to make a choice. Making a choice in the moment is how you rebuild trust in your own intuition.”

But it’s tricky, knowing that awareness allows you to make a different choice doesn’t mean that you’ll actually be able to make a different choice. It takes intentional practice to develop the ability to take a step back, to give yourself the space to make a choice that aligns with your vision of yourself, and your goals.

It goes something like this: you walk in the door (or are triggered in some way), head to the fridge, pull out last night’s pizza and start in. You probably aren’t even aware you’re doing it because mindless eating is a way of distracting ourselves from stressors or unpleasant feelings. Or you may give yourself active permission to eat because you had a shitty day, or you’re overwhelmed and deserve a break, but afterwards you beat yourself up for it. Because you’re here, reading this, you begin to notice the pattern, but you’re still eating the pizza. That’s the first step. Maybe that happens one more time, or 10 more times, or maybe even 50, and then it clicks: I don’t want to be doing this, I don’t need to do this and this time you close the refrigerator — that is the space to make a different choice. Maybe instead you change your clothes, step outside for a minute and take a breath. You’ve made a conscious choice in the moment and it is powerful!

Each time you’re able to make a choice in the moment you are rebuilding your trust in yourself. It’s not necessarily a straight line to breaking the pattern, but each time you do it you are building trust and confidence in your ability to change. You’re taking another step on the path towards your goal.

Intuitive Eating can be an elusive process but once the small steps toward your desired goals begin to add up you can feel the personal power being an Intuitive Eater offers.

Awareness is your way in and now you know what to do with it.

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