10 hot tips for experiencing the
Thread of Awareness in Chaos

Experiences are something you do, not just read about. So do the experiments, don't just read them over and think you got the idea. What we are talking about here is like eating. Or like sex. You can't satisfy either hunger by reading about it or thinking about it.

The experiments work best if you do them when you are alone. Some time alone is important once and awhile. For example, many people can't "get" the 3D Random Dot Stereograms when others are watching. Given a few minutes alone, they see the 3D images easily. Many of the experiences require the conscious mind to relax, even get lost for awhile - like daydreaming. This is difficult when socializing.

Do the outdoor experiments somewhere nice, in wilderness if you can manage. In a park, at least. Not in your basement or on a major highway. Walking is great exercise, if you move right along. Inexpensive (well, the shoes are expensive), takes you to interesting places, very healthy, and boring. The Thread of Awareness Exercises will add interest and spice to a healthy but dull activity. If you walk with other people, all you need to do is get ahead or drop behind to be by yourself. I prefer to get far enough ahead I can't see or speak to the people following. Talkers are slow walkers. If you are exercising properly, you will be breathing, not gabbing.

Many experiments use a repeated phrase. The words of the phrase are not simply sounds. They have real meaning and the object is to experience the meaning of the word when you form it. If the word is joy, for example, use the word to focus your mind on the FEELING of joy. THINK the phrase. Unless the experiment calls for verbalizing out loud. Not that it matters if people think you are nuts, it's just that breathing is important in most of the outdoor exercises. Talking messes up breathing rhythms. And people will think you are nuts.

Some of the best experiments involve physical exercise. There are reasons for this. Exercise is good for you, is one reason. There are physiological and psychological reasons, too. Gaining ground on the Thread of Awareness means involving as much of your communication web as possible. Sitting down reading or looking at something reduces the overall flow of information, energy, elements and juices.

Repetition is the key to building any ability; playing music, running, thinking, whatever. Most of the experiments become more effective the more you do them. Some, like Richard's Three Step Exercise are basic warm-up exercises and expand into lots of related exercises.

Experiment with the experiments. I provide recipes of some of my own favorite dishes but you may not have the same ingredients available so use what you have, go with the flow, be inventive. Explore.

The objective of the experiments is to enable you to experience the thread of awareness. This isn't easy since you are using awareness to observe itself and imagination can go wild. One important part of this process is paying close attention to your inner feelings - when you do the experiments, you will respond to them. Try to keep a part of your mind focused on observing how your thinking process responds. One way to do this is to create an Observer to keep watch.

Keep a digital notebook or journal of your experiences. It helps focus on your progress and writing things down does wonders for clarifying experience as well as enhancing memory.

Be kind to yourself. Treat your "Child Within" as a cherished, loved, part of you - it is part of you, dumb as it seems to be from time to time.

Special, extra tip

While learning these exercises, don't take anything too seriously. Keep a sense of humor. Whatever you discover will be wrong to some degree, this is a basic - even a necessary - quality of life. The objective is to reduce the errors of expectations by improving your ability to perceive, remember and respond.  In the end, there you are.