A quick note: you may notice the newsletter now has a new name, Energy, Consciousness & The Self. The focus hasn’t changed, but the title now reflects more clearly the direction of the work I’m exploring here.
When I was studying sculpture at art college, I once found myself completely stuck. I had no idea what to make next, and my tutor could see that I was going round in circles. After listening for a moment, he gave me an assignment that sounded ridiculously simple, but also deathly boring:
“Make a sculpture based on a chair.”
A chair didn’t exactly feel like a thrilling subject for sculpture. Then he added a second instruction that completely changed the nature of the task.
“Forget everything you know about chairs.” That was the real challenge.
Whenever we encounter something familiar, our minds instantly activate everything we already know about it. We don’t really see the object anymore. Instead, we see our ideas about the object. A chair becomes comfortable or uncomfortable. A dining chair, an office chair, a bar stool, a garden chair. All of that meaning appears almost instantly.
My tutor wanted something different. He wanted me to look at the chair as if I had never seen one before. Instead of responding to the label “chair,” I had to see it as a structure of lines, shapes, angles and relationships.
At the time I didn’t have the language for what he was teaching. Looking back now, I realise that assignment was my first real lesson in awareness. It was a pure Zen moment.
What Awareness Actually Means
The word awareness appears everywhere in meditation, mindfulness and personal development. People talk about “raising awareness” or “living with awareness,” yet the word itself is rarely defined clearly.
In its simplest sense, awareness is the ability to recognise what is happening while it is happening. That might mean noticing a thought as it arises, recognising an emotional reaction in real time, sensing changes in the body, or observing details in the environment that normally pass unnoticed.
The difficulty is that the brain evolved primarily for efficiency. It constantly searches for patterns that allow it to interpret the world quickly. Labels and assumptions help us move through life without analysing every object or situation we encounter. The downside is that much of our experience becomes filtered through expectation and habit.
Training awareness changes this relationship. Instead of reacting automatically to thoughts and emotions, we begin to observe them as they arise. That small shift creates space within experience. Thoughts can be recognised as thoughts rather than immediate truths, and reactions become visible while they are forming.
I’ve written a new article exploring this idea in more depth.
Interesting Things Happening in The Abundant Self Programme
Something fascinating is happening inside the Abundant Self programme at the moment. We are now well into Phase Two of the process, and the insights people are experiencing are genuinely powerful.
In this stage we begin examining the stories people have constructed about themselves over the course of their lives. These are the narratives that shape identity: beliefs about who we are, what we are capable of, and what the world expects from us.
When people start observing those narratives closely, something surprising becomes visible. Many of the assumptions that once felt like solid truths turn out to be interpretations formed years ago and repeated so often that they became part of a person’s identity.
As awareness develops, these patterns become easier to see. Participants begin recognising the internal voices and habitual interpretations that have quietly influenced their decisions for years. Once those patterns become visible, their grip begins to loosen.
Watching these shifts happen in real time is incredibly exciting, because the moment someone sees the story clearly, they also realise that the story is not fixed.
Continuing the Energetic Protocol Work
I’ve also continued exploring the energetic protocols that I mentioned last week. These are experimental processes designed to help people who have been struggling with very deep psychological patterns.
The early results have been extremely encouraging. Some individuals working with these protocols have experienced significant relief from long-standing conditions such as CPTSD and catastrophic looping thoughts.
Two new people have now signed up to experience this work, and several others have expressed interest in exploring whether the protocols might help them. I’m continuing to observe the results carefully, but what we’re seeing so far is very promising.
Upcoming Training
Here are the next upcoming training events.
Buddho EnerSense Level 2
20th–21st March
Reiki Level 3A
10th–11th April
If you’re continuing your training journey with me, these workshops will take you deeper into meditation, energetic awareness and the development of perception within the Reiki system.
You can sign up for any courses here at my courses page.
Join the Abundant Mind Community
If these ideas resonate with you, you’re very welcome to join the Abundant Mind Facebook group. It’s a space where we explore topics such as awareness, meditation, personal development and the deeper aspects of consciousness.
👉 Join the group here: Abundant Mind
Student Feedback
🙏 Katrina Vincent
All the best,
Steve
