Trying to improve my awareness and presence?

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

Hi all,

I’m trying to improve my magnetism - awareness and presence of my entire body and the environment. So basically getting my awareness out of my head and really feeling the people around me. My goal out of this is to be more open especially with girls that I am interested in.

I keep hearing that yoga is great for this. Does anyone have any easy exercises I can practice to help with this? Especially breathing and posture related that I can do when I’m waiting for a train or walking somewhere.

Thanks :slight_smile:

#2

Hello Magnatolia,

You worded the first step of the process I am all for and about very beautifully:

I’m trying to improve my magnetism - awareness and presence of my entire body and the environment. So basically getting my awareness out of my head and really feeling the people around me.

Well there is only one way to do this truly, and that’s by just being more aware of yourself and your surroundings. You can do exercises, but eventually they will have you do the same thing. Whether I bend my body or not, if I am unaware I am unaware, if I am aware, I am aware. So it makes little to no difference [I]what[/I] I am doing, as long as I am reminding myself to be present. You do not need to perform any posture on the train station to expand your awareness. You simply remind yourself to become more aware.

What can help though, when you feel you are caught up in your head and thoughts too much, is indeed breath-awareness. By becoming aware of the breath entering your body and exiting your body, feeling your belly rise and fall, this can bring your attention back to the present moment, to the body and your immediate environment. It can help you to slow down your mind and be free from it more and more. Then this presence of Self Awareness will deepen and you will experience a very powerful stability that transcends all forms.

Developing this presence of awareness will help you with [I]everything[/I] in life, including the girls ;).

For more info I would like to refer you to my website called Free Awareness. It is dedicated to freeing your awareness specifically. Very much like you yourself stated in your question. The link is in my signature (below this post). I, among others there, can help and guide you in more detail. Feel free to repeat your question there.

But people here can help you as well. It just struck me that your words were so similar to what I am sharing there, for example, Presence and Awareness are the two words I favour most. So maybe we are a good match to help you find your answers in more detail.

Presence & Awareness,
Bentinho Massaro

#3

So, say again what result you are going for?
Your first paragraph leaves ambiguous if you’re currently tighter than you want to be on the receiving end of awareness or on the giving end – if your goal is to be more (or more accurately) present to the world around you.
Not that these are completely different – I think they support each other – but if you can say that you need to get your awareness out of your head it could be that your receptive awareness is doing OK.

#4

Magnatolia,

Here are just a couple phrases from the yoga sutras that might help:

 1.2. Yoga is the inhibition of the modifications of the mind.

1.3. Then the Seer is established in his own essential and fundamental nature.

1.12. Their suppression (is brought about) by persistent practice and non-attachment.
1.13. Abhyasa is the effort for being firmly established in that state (of Citta-Vrtti-Nirodha).
1.14. It (Abhyasa) becomes firmly-grounded on being continued for a long time, without interruption and with reverent devotion.

Nothing turns a girl on more than that.

peace,
siva

#5

Hi Magnatolia,

Alternate nostril breathing surely improves awareness. It calms
the senses and you feel that you are just the witness to the
happenings around. Well all pranayam in general and alternate
nostril breathing (anulom vilom) in particular serves this purpose.

Basically the noise of senses is like the dust on an otherwise
clean glass window. The vision will be hindered if the dust
is there. So once senses are calmed, awareness comes on
its own.

Regards,
Deepak