Maintaining present-moment awareness of both actions and internal states during routine activities presents a persistent challenge for most individuals. We have only to observe ourselves for a few minutes to see that, in even the simplest activity, we become distracted, reactive, and preoccupied. We arrive at this state not due to outside stressors but to our unconscious behavior. There are methods by which we can reduce this stress after the fact, but to understand the real cause of the problem, we must learn to approach things in a balanced and calm way by learning to be more aware during everyday activities. To achieve this, we must pay attention to the process of how we do things based on a fundamental understanding of how the mind and body work as a psychophysical whole. Human beings function automatically and mechanically at several levels. Comprehensive knowledge of our ability to become more aware requires an understanding of all these levels, how they function as a united whole, and how they can be raised to a more conscious stage. At the Dimon Institute, we call this “mindfulness in action.”

Mindfulness in action, as defined here, is not the same as the traditional view of mindfulness. Colloquially, mindfulness is associated with meditative practices aimed at achieving higher states of awareness — a concept long recognized in contemplative traditions. Defined as the practice of paying attention non-judgmentally to passing thoughts and feelings, mindfulness is a way of learning to pay attention to oneself and of being more aware in the present moment. Originating from ancient contemplative practices, it is now utilized more broadly as a means of reducing stress, improving attention, regulating emotions, and enhancing overall well-being.

But reducing stress, and heightening awareness by removing oneself from activity, are not the same as knowing how to be aware while we are actually doing things. This awareness cannot be achieved through meditation alone but requires practical knowledge about the body, how it works in activity, and how to raise the process of doing things to a more conscious level. An educational model of awareness that focuses on the practical study of awareness in daily life can help us achieve the balance required as we become more aware of ourselves.

The Habitual Nature of Action

As complex living organisms, we are aware, or conscious, much of the time. This awareness encompasses several factors, including information about our surroundings, which we perceive through our sense organs (smell, sight, hearing, taste, and touch), bodily sensations, awareness of our thoughts and feelings, and knowledge of events that are happening. Our conscious state also includes a sense of ourselves, knowledge of past and present events, and a sense of time and place. Given this general state of consciousness, we have the subjective sense that we are generally and consistently aware as we go about our daily activities — aware of our surroundings and the actions we are performing. However, our tendency to become completely engrossed in activities to the point that we lose track of time reveals a simple truth — we are not consistently or generally aware of ourselves. We may be conscious and awake, but our awareness is mostly of what is happening outside of us rather than of ourselves. Much of the time, we are aware precisely this way, to the extent that our outward focus overshadows our sense of ourselves – which recedes into the background and all but disappears during these moments.

When necessary, we can pay closer attention to what we are doing. Mindfulness, at the simplest level, refers to the act of paying attention to something, or to oneself, in a deliberate way, as when we are enjoying the taste of food or admiring a sunset. There is no difficulty in this because when we want to give something our full attention, we are, by definition, being mindful. When we are engaged in real-life activities — such as working on a project at work or trying to complete chores — it becomes much more challenging to be mindful in an ongoing way. Perhaps the most familiar manifestation of mindless, habitual behavior is the tension and discomfort we experience after sitting all day at a desk job.

Recognizing the harmful effects of prolonged work, the typical explanation for these uncomfortable symptoms is that we are under stress and need to practice relaxation or mindfulness to reduce it. However, we need only to observe ourselves for a few minutes to see that, even in the simplest activity, we become distracted, reactive, and preoccupied — a state that is due to our own unconscious behavior rather than outside stressors. Methods can reduce stress after the fact, but to truly understand the root cause of the problem, we must learn to approach tasks in a balanced and calm manner by learning to be more aware during everyday activities. This cannot be achieved simply by meditating for prescribed periods but requires attention to the process of how we do things based on a fundamental understanding of how the mind and body work as a psychophysical whole.

The Organization of Awareness

How can we become more aware of ourselves, or mindful, during activity? The first step is to heighten our kinesthetic awareness based on a concrete understanding of how the body is designed to function in action. When we perform activities, we never contract only the muscles necessary for that action but use the entire body as a whole. For instance, a child learning to grasp objects must first maintain the support of their head and trunk, which forms the postural foundation for using their arms. In other words, their specific movements are performed by a larger system organized around the support of the head and trunk. Understanding this larger system provides the basis for kinesthetically recognizing and preventing how we interfere with the body when we perform actions. If you are tightening your neck and twisting your body when sitting at a computer, you can learn to prevent this tension, which will, in turn, allow the body parts to reorganize so that the specific tensions will dissipate and the body as a whole will begin to function in a more balanced way.

The next step is to identify what happens when you return to activity. Imagine you are now sitting in a more balanced way and resume typing. Once you begin, you will go back to your habitual way of twisting your body, which will come into play in response to the idea of typing. However, the changes in your bodily system provide a background against which it is now possible to detect when habitual tensions come into play. The improved kinesthetic condition enables the recognition and prevention of this habitual activity, allowing for the action to be performed in a more balanced way and at a more conscious level.

Recognizing how action takes place at an automatic or subconscious level forms the foundation for a new kind of awareness in action. When we perform everyday actions, we usually focus on what we do at the expense of how we do it. In this sense, action occurs at a purely habitual level, making it virtually impossible to identify or control what we are doing in any meaningful way. When we balance the musculoskeletal system based on knowledge of how it works, we become kinesthetically aware in a new way, making it possible to replace our automatic way of doing things with conscious awareness and control. To succeed in this, we must learn not only to improve our bodily condition but also to expand our awareness so that, even while we are doing something, we maintain an awareness of ourselves. When you do this, you will begin to become more aware of yourself and experience a greater sense of ease and support in whatever you are doing. Establishing an awareness of ourselves forms the basis of a new and more conscious stage in performing actions.

A New Science of Awareness

One of the benefits of becoming kinesthetically aware in activity is that we can learn to maintain greater awareness of ourselves during daily activities. Instead of losing ourselves in what we are doing, we can establish a clearer sense of bodily support and awareness as the background for whatever else we are doing. Instead of reacting harmfully to the stresses of work and performing actions with an excess of tension, we can maintain a state of poise and perform actions with greater ease. Restoring balance to the system is also associated with a lightening of the mood, a calmer mental state, and increased mental clarity. Without realizing it, many of us are in a state of unrelenting muscular and nervous tension, accompanied by a corresponding mental state of worry and preoccupation. We become dominated by habitual states of worry that prevent us from thinking clearly and acting calmly. When in this state, it is nearly impossible to approach tasks calmly and form a rational plan of action to complete the tasks. When we establish a healthy condition associated with the balanced functioning of the upright support system, the mind becomes quiet — the nervous system calms down, the mental fog lifts, and we can see things more clearly and approach problems more logically. We wake up from our preoccupied and distracted state and become more aware and alert. We can let go of issues that are bothering us because we can see what has to be done and how to do it.

To become aware in this way requires a new kind of understanding of the relationship between mind and body. Because we tend to think of habits and activities as primarily physical, we are often unaware that the mind is intimately involved in actions, operating at a largely subconscious level. When we study our actions, we raise this subconscious activity to a more conscious level. This makes it possible to see how we react harmfully to stimuli and interfere with bodily support, breathing, and other basic functions without realizing we are doing so and how actions that appear to be fully conscious are, in fact, stereotyped and automatic. When we do this, we learn to become conscious of our body and actions in a new way, developing the ability to maintain greater balance and control in whatever we do. In short, an understanding of the practical elements of how we function in action is crucial to a complete understanding of mindfulness, which must begin with the study of the organism in action as a psychophysical whole. Unlike purely meditative practices, which are typically practiced in solitude and aimed at quieting the mind, the elements discussed here can be applied during everyday activities, forming a truly educational approach to addressing stress and promoting mindfulness. To achieve a more conscious level of awareness, we must understand how to establish a more balanced state based on knowledge of the organism as it is designed to function in action.

The ability to be mindful based on knowledge of the mind and body as a unified system constitutes a new science of awareness. Our actions are unconscious and automatic in a way that has not been recognized in education or psychology, which do not study everyday action as a proper subject of investigation. Nevertheless, the mind evolved in the context of activity, and in this sense, it cannot be fully understood except in the context of motor action. Thus, the study of the body in action forms a critical foundation for understanding what it means to be mindful; without this, we have an incomplete understanding of the potential to become conscious and of the problems that must be addressed to achieve it. It opens up an entire field of self-knowledge, a scientifically based study of body and mind with far-reaching implications for the study of behavior and consciousness.

For more information on kinesthetic awareness in action, see Sensorimotor Awareness: A Kinesthetic Guide to the Body in Action.

For more information on our model, see Being and Consciousness: An Integrated Model of Awareness.