In a number of my previous posts I have mentioned and touched on Expanded Awareness, and each time I do I keep saying I’ll be posting more about Expanded Awareness at some point in the future, well that point is now.
Before I get into the details I must say that Expanded Awareness is something that is best experienced firsthand, I will try and describe the process of entering a state of Expanded Awareness (this will be in ‘Expanded Awareness Part 2’) and the experience as best I can but as I say it’s something that is best experienced for yourself.
Please excuse the plug for my friend and mentor’s courses that are going on this summer in the South of England, “Into The Heart of Earth”, during these courses Ben guides you through the process of Expanded Awareness and allows you to experience it and work with it both physically and spiritually. His contact details are on the above link give him a call if you have the slightest interest.
What is Expanded Awareness?
Assuming for no disabilities we all have five senses, seeing, hearing, smelling, feeling, and tasting. The various organs that are responsible for these senses send information to the brain, the brain filters and processes this information resulting in the awareness that we have of the physical world around us.
It is important that you note that the brain filters the information that it receives from the various sensory organs. What you actually ‘see’ is only a fraction of what the eyes actually take in; in fact it’s only a very small fraction. The same applies to the other four senses as well. A prime example of this is the person who moves into a new home next to a busy road, the first couple of weeks the noise of the traffic is a conscious hum but after a while the brain filters this hum out to the point where the person doesn’t hear the traffic at all.
Also when we concentrate on something our brain filters out information that is not related to the subject of concentration. Have you ever been engrossed in a book and not heard your name being called, we’ve all done it.
The process of Expanded Awareness is to remove these filters that the brain applies to the sensory information it receives, so that we can perceive more of the physical world around, so we can see more, hear more, smell more, taste more and feel more. We literally increase our awareness of what is going on around us, we Expand our Awareness.
What Are the Perceived Benefits?
Expanding Awareness is more than an increased perception of the physical world, it is a subtle shift in consciousness and the way we use that consciousness to experience the world around us.
1. Expanded Inner Awareness
The way we see the world around us is to a greater extent governed by our consciousness. There is a saying ‘as above, so below’ or ‘as within, so without’. Expanding our awareness of the outer world, the physical world around us, also expands our awareness of our inner world or inner self, the person we are inside.
So the first benefit of Expanded Awareness is an expanded inner awareness of what is going on in our inner world, that world that only we know about, a greater understanding and appreciation of the inner self, the true you.
2. Inner Peace and Calm
The process of Expanded Awareness is a form of meditation. Any process, routine or exercise that changes the brain wave patterns from beta to alpha is a form of meditation. Expanded Awareness does just that, it is a quick and very effective way to enter a meditative state, and as such brings with it a deeply relaxing feeling and an instant sense of peace and calm.
I will add here that just because it’s a form of meditation is doesn’t mean that it’s practiced sitting cross legged on a yoga mat, although it can be. Once in a state of Expanded Awareness I would recommend moving around while staying in this state, the way you perceive the familiar world around will be totally changed.
3. Being Present
In this modern world there is so much to think about that sometime you just feel as if your brain will explode, thoughts about what went on yesterday, what will happen tomorrow, where you have to be and when, what’s for dinner and so the list goes on. Once you enter Expanded Awareness all these thoughts just fade away, as you become more Present more in the Now. This really is part and parcel of being in a meditative state, but even so it’s still worth mentioning as an individual benefit.
4. An Increased Ability to Absorb and Retain Information
When in a state of Expanded Awareness you’ll find that you have none of the usual chatter going on inside your head, everything is quiet. This means that the information that is presented to you is absorbed as presented it is not being dilute or distorted by your own thoughts. You also become aware of the other or complementary ways that this information is being present, subtle changes in the tone or volume of the speaker’s voice, slight body movements or subtle body language, there is also an increase sense of the energy that the information is delivered with, all of which increases your ability to absorb and retain what is being told to you.
There really is less vying for your attention, you are not being pushed and pulled because you are aware of it already.
5. Increased Connection
For me personally Expanded Awareness increases my connection with Nature, with the natural world around me, be it the woods, in the open countryside or in the middle of the city. Once you become fully aware of everything that is around you find that you start to develop a deeper more meaningful connection with it, and this includes the people that you interact with.
This increased connection is also a two-way street, not only do you develop a deeper connection with your surrounds but your surroundings develop a deeper connection with you and this does apply to people too. I have found that in a state of Expanded Awareness that I become part of Nature and Nature accepts me as being a part of it. In this state I have had an Owl land next to me in the tree I was climbing, I’ve had Squirrels and Mice scamper across me, I’ve had Foxes walk past me. All as if they were perfect natural occurrences, all as if I was just another part of The Woods.
6. Beauty
As I said at the beginning of this post Expanded Awareness increases your perception of what is around you, you see more, hear more, feel more, smell more, taste more. You experience things completely differently. Colours become more vibrant and alive, sounds become more vivid and clear, smells become more intense and somehow sweeter. The world takes on a completely different ‘look’ and feel. The only way that I can describe it is that the world becomes more beautiful. You start to sense beauty in places that you would never imagine, you start to sense things that you previously missed. It really is a completely new way to experience life, a beautiful new way.
This is by no means an exhaustive list of the benefits of Expanded Awareness, and each person’s perception of the world is different, what you experience may be the same as what I have described here, it may be similar or you may have a completely different perception of the world in Expanded Awareness. Whatever your experience, once you start introducing Expanded Awareness into your everyday life, practicing at every opportunity, then you’ll soon be amazed at everything that you’ve been missing out on, this I truly believe.
How Do You Expand Your Awareness?
Well I’m afraid that you may have to wait for my next post (which is here) for me to explain this to you, as I’m contemplating recording a mini guide to Expanding Awareness, almost like a guided meditation and it may take me a couple of days to sort out the technology to accomplish this. But rest assured I haven’t finished on the subject of Expanded Awareness… not yet. 
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