How aware and mindful are you of your thoughts and feelings? Are you tapped into what your mind is focusing on? When we become more aware of what we’re thinking and how we’re feeling, we can become more aware of what our mind is focusing on and where our attention is going.

Our thoughts, our focus and our attention are a source of our inner power. If we are not deliberate on where we focus our attention, our mind will automatically do it for us. When we want to achieve something more in our life, we need to give it our full attention and keep our focus on it so we can create it. We create our life by what we choose to give our attention to. We create our feelings from our thoughts.

Most of the times we are not aware what our thoughts are, because our thoughts mostly come from our unconscious. We have more than 60,000 thoughts a day. They are repetitive in nature and run in the background on auto-pilot. Studies have shown that 80% of our thoughts are negative and come from conventional thinking that stemmed from our need for safety, protection, and connection. This created a problem-focused thinking mindset that, at its root, is about our survival and is grounded in fear to stimulate our defensive response. This thinking, being centuries old, has dominated our mind and conditioned our brain to have certain patterns of thought.

Although we also have been taught to be positive, our mind has been deeply engrained to switch to negative patterns when something threatens us. Things like stress, obstacles, setbacks, and fears are triggers. The way we have been conditioned and our societal influences all play on that same psyche. This is why it is critical for us to become more mindful of our thoughts so we can tap into them and only allow in thoughts that we want and not those that are not serving us. In fact, we now know from neuroscience that we can change and retrain our brain to help us create new thinking patterns that can unlock a power we have that we may not even be aware we had. So how does one do that?

There are many ways you can practice retraining your brain, but start by becoming more aware of your thoughts. Here is a simple yet powerful mindful technique you can practice to help you A.I.R out what is not serving you. This technique is especially helpful when you feel something bothering you, or if you are feeling anxious, stressed or are struggling with some issues. Start by asking yourself what am I thinking and what am I feeling? Then answer that question by using this 3-step technique to AIR it out so you can empower yourself with a new way to think: 

[ A ] – Acknowledge and Accept – Acknowledge your thoughts and feelings and accept them for what they are

When we become more mindful of our energy, we get more in touch with the thoughts and feelings that are behind that energy. We all feel energy and know when we experience high and low energy. However, the first goal is to become more aware how our energy is our power source. If it’s low, we can’t achieve much. When it’s high it ignites us!

When fear, doubt or negativity become the focus, they take over your energy. Acknowledge your throughts and feelings and the energy level they are generating. Accept them for what they are and realize you have the power to shift them. You can become more aware of what you are thinking also by the language and words you use. Listen to your inner self-talk and the words you use with others and acknowledge if those words are empowering you or disempowring you. Listen to the conversation you’re having. Is that conversation giving you energy or taking away energy from you? Be more cognizant of what you’re thinking, feeling and saying. If you find yourself not feeling energized, it’s time to interject and interrupt!

[ I ] – Interject and Interrupt – Interject and Interrupt the thoughts that are not serving you. 

Our mind works on auto pilot and on habitual patterns. When we are not aware of the pattern of our mind, it could take us to places we may not necessarily want to go to, and it could also make us feel in ways that don’t feel good. It is our emotions that create our energy. So when you feel low energy, know you need to listen, intervene and hack into your mind to interrupt those lower emotions. This is a power we have that we can master to keep elevating our thinking. When you’re feeling low energy or feeling negative, it means your focus is on the wrong things. Your mind is cycling through thoughts or feelings that are not helping you. You have the power to break that cycle moment by moment. So take charge of your energy by interrupting and intervening anytime your energy is not serving you. Learn to say “stop” or “not now” so you can stop the cycle in that moment. Sometimes if your feelings or fears are out of control, interfere as if you’re waking yourself up. Do something, anything to interrupt it. At that point your thoughts are stuck in an addictive pattern that you need to break.

[ R ] – Reframe and Replace – Reframe and replace the thoughts that are not serving you

You’ve probably heard the saying, “where focus goes, energy flows.” To keep your energy always focused on what you want, think always about possibilities and opportunities. Rewire your mind to and remind yourself of always stay on track. Use affirmations to train and redirect your mind to focus on what you want vs. where your thoughts automatically may take you.

Affirmations are a simple way to help you replace unwanted thoughts with new ways of thinking. They help you refocus your mind and get you back in touch with your power. Our mind is like a powerful computer. We can program it to do what we want so it is not running on unwanted programs that get highjacked by negativity, and get downloaded from old sources and other influences.

In summary

When we become more mindfully aware of our thoughts, we become more aware of our power to “change” our mind. Remember our mind is made up of habits and patterns. We can change those patterns by learning how to become more aware of our thoughts and by understanding that this is a skill we can practice and master.

So today, for now, moment by moment, and whenever you can, tap into your mind and become more aware. Make it a goal to always AIR out what is not serving you. Acknowledge, Interrupt and Replace your thoughts so you can take back control of where you want your thoughts to go instead of where they automatically go! Always stay mindful that you have that power to choose your thoughts. Keep practicing it and then pay attention to what shows up!