How to find more freedom and choice in everyday life
One of the wonderful things about being human is the way we can learn complex tasks and procedures which, overtime, become second nature to us. We don’t have to think about them.
Driving is a really good example.
If you are a driver, you may remember those early days of having to concentrate so hard because every step of the process demanded attention. Now, here you are, on your way to work, thinking about the day ahead; you pull up in the carpark and have absolutely no idea of how you got there. Or, how many times have you eaten a meal and not tasted one mouthful properly? I can remember a time in my teaching career many years ago when I thought multitasking was actually a good idea. I was running a lunchtime club, engaging with students whilst eating my sandwich and trying to answer what I deemed urgent emails. End result? Indigestion and a sense of deep dissatisfaction! I wasn't doing anything "properly" or wholeheartedly. Now, no one’s questioning the fact that this kind of automatic pilot can sometimes help us to get on with the details of our busy lives. But at what price?
So what’s wrong with automatic pilot? 
Quite simply, you are not present in your life as it’s happening. You’re missing out. I'm not suggesting that you start to drive like a novice, noticing the details of each gear change. That journey to work (or wherever) can be a useful time to gather your thoughts and prepare yourself for what's to come. The problem arises when we’re completely unaware of what we’re doing. Autopilot can literally take us to places we never chose to visit in the first place. More than once I’ve found myself heading in the wrong direction or even down the wrong motorway! In the same way, we can be on automatic pilot with our opinions, reactions to people, situations – the list goes on. These automated thought patterns get more and more entrenched as time goes on. Our reactions are then triggered far too easily. We can find ourselves flooded with troubling emotions that seem to come from nowhere. We may even notice really unpleasant physical symptoms - tension, bracing, sometimes pain. For some people, this kind of habitual reacting leads to them feeling stuck and unhappy; it can even spiral down into depression.
Switch off and wake up
When you practise mindful awareness regularly, through both formal meditation and informally, you create the space for more choice. Becoming more attentive to what’s going on in the mind and body allows you the opportunity to turn off that well worn highway in the brain that takes you down the same old route. Instead, you might notice those habitual thoughts, that tightness in the chest or gut, for example, and take a moment to pause. That moment allows you to respond not react, freeing you up to new possibilities.
