Raising Awareness and the "gap"

[calicles]

I've been working on raising my awareness for the last couple of months as I see this as one of the pillars of improvement.
A few weeks ago and for a couple hours, I suddenly entered a state of what I'll call heightened awareness. Basically I saw the gap between stimulus and response. Steve talks about this in a couple of his articles.
To give an example, I was shopping, and one item I intended to buy was out of stock. I realized that this was going to affect me before actually feeling the negative emotions associated with the event.
This was extremelly empowering. I was able to cut down on negative thoughts even before they started and it gave me a feeling of great control. I also felt very excited and joyful about the whole thing.
However for some reason I felt that this state might not last, and though it seemed to persist until I went to bed, the following day it was gone. I haven't fully recovered it since.
I believe that if I could be in such a state most of the time, it would ease my development by an order of magnitude.

I'd like to hear from people with similar experiences and ideas on how to recapture this blissful state.

[Adam Sargant]

Hi Calicles

That sounds wonderful... there are techniques of develop similar yet more perseverant states, though I'm not sure it's "techniques" as such you are asking for, and most of the ones I know of (such as the mythogenic self) involve having another individual involved as a facilitator.

NLP, as the study of subjective experience, gives us tools to model such experiences and to develop ways of eliciting them. I have an abiding interest in the application of NLP to spiritual development and would love to have the opportunity to ask you some questions (along modeling principles) about this experience if you would be willing. And hey, you might discover something useful about it for yourself in the process

[calicles]

Adam,
I'll be happy to answer your questions. Fire away!

[Adam Sargant]

OK... ... at risk of hijacking the thread... when you take yourself into the time you experience this heightened awareness... what do you notice that is important to you?

[calicles]

I think what sticks out is the feeling of control and clarity I got in that state. Going beyond my brain just running random thoughts on it's own for reasons half unknown and instead understanding what's going on and choosing what I want going on.

[Adam]

The best way that I've found to get into that state of mind is simply to practice. Don't get stressed out if it doesn't work, or if you forget, since you're only practicing at it... but practice makes habit, and if you refine the methods that you use to practice, you'll have a pretty good habit out of it when you're done.

NLP, etc., are all very good 'generic' methods to practice finding the 'gap,' but really, nothing beats finding your own method. You can start with the generic methods, but refine them and actually study what parts really work for you and don't be afraid to discard the parts that don't work.

[Adam Sargant]

Originally Posted by calicles

I think what sticks out is the feeling of control and clarity I got in that state. Going beyond my brain just running random thoughts on it's own for reasons half unknown and instead understanding what's going on and choosing what I want going on.

Cool... you've already answered my second question (what does it mean for you to have that feeling of control and clarity?)...

to clarify...

having the feeling of control and clarity means going beyond your brain just running random thoughts on it's own for reasons half unknown and instead understanding what's going on and choosing what you want going on?

So then... can you expand on the relationship between control and clarity, between understanding and choosing, for me?

[sept]

calicles,

I find my self in the state of heightened awareness that you describe off & on and after every yoga class I take. Feels like I'm in a meditative state but with full awareness and control.

If you haven't tried yoga, I would suggest it. Since I've started attending a class regularly (3 months ago), I find myself in that state of high awareness randomly throughout the week even if I have not attended class that day.

It is one of the most amazing experiences I have ever felt.