Choiceless Awareness: How to Practice Choiceless Awareness

Choiceless awareness is knowing everything that happens around you by focusing on the present moment. You can achieve this awareness as part of mindfulness meditation.

With choiceless awareness, a person perceives the present state around them without judgment. Some consider it a natural state of mind. There’s no specific way to achieve this full awareness, but those practicing meditation can realize choiceless awareness.

While choiceless awareness is a part of meditation, other fields—including philosophy, psychology, spirituality, therapy, sociology, and neurosciences—also use the term.

This choiceless awareness comes with many benefits, including a better sense of self-knowledge, wakefulness, and awareness of your body. Choiceless awareness can help you:

1. 1. Build a stronger sense of self: When you practice choiceless awareness, you can look inward at their values and emotions. This gives you a better idea of yourself and how you fit into the world around you.
2. 2. Expand your field of awareness: Choiceless awareness allows you to observe what you may not usually notice, allowing you to also better connect and understand those around you.
3. 3. Reduce anxiety and stress: Meditation can help you reduce stress and anxiety, and choiceless awareness is a simple method you can incorporate into your life.
4. 4. Strengthen your attention span: This type of meditation technique forces you to stop and focus on the here and now, away from phones and forms of media that can hurt your ability to focus. According to studies, participating in meditation can keep your mind from wandering.

It can take you multiple times to get used to choiceless awareness meditation. But the more often you meditate, the more natural it will feel. Here’s how to get into choiceless awareness meditation:

1. 1. Set the stage. Choose a comfortable place to sit and meditate. You can meditate anywhere, but a quiet area in a safe environment can help you focus. Many people choose to sit on a yoga mat; others create a restful atmosphere with candles or soft lighting. Find what setup enables you to achieve the right mind space.
2. 2. Set a timer. Set an alarm on your phone or clock for how long you want your session to last.
3. 3. Close your eyes and breathe. Next, close your eyes and keep them closed. Breathe naturally. Try to calm your mind as much as possible.
4. 4. Focus on the present. Continue breathing naturally with your eyes closed. Focus on your senses and what you can hear. Perhaps you hear a car outside, students walking in a hallway, or a fan humming. Focus on each sound, then let it go. Feel your body sensations as you meditate, such as the rumble or train tracks or your feet rooted to the ground. Allow yourself to sink into this state of awareness.
5. 5. Let your mind wander. Don’t try to control your next thoughts. During meditation, your mind may wander to different sounds or images that relate (or don’t) to the moment. Accept these wandering thoughts before letting them go. Put aside any preconceptions or judgments in your mind.
6. 6. Make mindfulness practice a part of daily life. Meditation practice can benefit you physically and mentally. By making mindfulness practice a daily part of your life, you can achieve a more zen state of being.

Find something comfortable to sit or lie on, grab a MasterClass Annual Membership, and dial into the present moment with Jon Kabat-Zinn, the father of the Western mindfulness movement. From formal meditation exercises to examinations of the science behind mindfulness, Jon will prepare you for the most important practice of them all: life itself.