Feeling overwhelmed and anxious? Like you are wading through mud or can’t keep your head above water? As if you are constantly drawing problems to yourself? It might be the perfect time to begin to look upon yourself as the ‘Witness’. Stepping back and seeing yourself from the outside. Watching yourself interacting, seeing your world from the Witness consciousness.

This has long been practiced in Buddhism, removing yourself from perceived sensory aspects of your experience. I have talked many times about the filters that are applied from our learned experience in the world, our genetics, traditions and cultures, our perceptions of life through our gender or socioeconomic status, the environment we grew up in, all create way we view ourselves in the world. By becoming a Witness to the Self, we are able to step back and see ourselves from the outside.

We are the watchers. Seeing our reactions, seeing what makes us happy or sad, and from the vantage point of the witness, we can begin to change the scenarios. Our mind is an amazing thing, and we may think that we are at it’s whim, but we are much more powerful than that. We can begin to train our minds, by changing the scenes we see from our divine self.

In the modality of NLP -nuerolinguistic programming, we are taught to connect with scenarios and memories we’ve had in our lives, and re code the brain to accept new scenarios that take us where we want to go. By first becoming the witness and seeing how you have adapted to your life through the filters of learned experience, we are then able to structure the coding to benefit us all.

We do not need to find an outside source to assist us to become the witness, we have all we need within us. Simply, come to a state of stillness and calm, maybe go out into nature, or to a park, or even a quiet room where you will not be disturbed, and begin to focus on the breath. Have the intention to see yourself as the witness consciousness. In your mind’s eye, you may then see or feel yourself as outside of your body, looking in. Notice the way you are separate from yourself, as it may differ with everyone. Then begin to imagine a situation no matter how small that you would like to change about yourself. It may be a memory of how you reacted in a way that made you feel hurt or angry. Begin to change the outcome of the memory. Begin to witness yourself as achieving your goals, as accomplishing your desires, of more harmonious outcomes.

This is a very powerful technique, as to step outside of the self, is to remove the physical effect of the emotions, and the aspects of self that make the judgements. You can see the situation from a higher perspective, see other ways to deal with your own perception, to change the filter so to speak, and learn to live from the Witness self. This sage self that is not attached to a way of being, not trying to maintain tight control on a situation but is fluid, accepting, Open to all possibilities. connected to the divine consciousness and hence the oneness of all. To see ourselves as a unified whole, with all of creation.

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