The Amazing Gift That Our Awareness Brings

There was a study done in the South with Hotel maids that Dr. Joe Dispenza refers to in his talks.  He is the one who has done so much work on the placebo effect and how our beliefs affect our reality.  In this study, the hotel maids were divided into two groups.  One group was given information and the other group was not.

Hotel maids get a lot of exercise all day long.  They are bending and stooping, scrubbing floors and flipping mattresses.  They haul heavy bundles, using their muscles and burning lots of calories.  Hotel maids typically burn more calories than they eat, and they often exceed the surgeon general's recommendation for exercise.  

The benefits of ample exercise are numerous.  The body becomes more trim, excess pounds melt away, waist lines get slimmer, and self esteem rises.  The first group of hotel maids in the study was given this information about the benefits that lots of exercise brings and they were told about the science behind these findings.  They were given the knowledge.  The second group was not told.  For them it was just business as usual.

After one month, just thirty days, the maids in the first group showed a marked increase in all of the benefits.  They lost weight, their waists were smaller and they felt better about themselves.  The second group, performing all of the same tasks as the first group, experienced no change.

Knowledge, and the awareness of it, is amazing.  The understanding of how exercise positively affects one's health, that knowledge, was the only difference between the two groups of hotel maids.  The more we understand something, the more we can  create a better experience and see positive results.

Back in 1930's, during the Great Depression, my husband's father was trying to get a job.  He got into a long line of men who were applying for a position as a metal spinner.  This kind of work requires upper body coordination and while he waited, he watched.  The stance, the pressure, the steadiness, all made the difference between a good outcome or a bad one.  By the time it was his turn he had a pretty good understanding of what was needed.  He did the trial, performed it well and got the job.  

If we watch carefully and pay attention to how something is done, we get better at it.  But if we don't give it our full attention and just muddle through fairly unconsciously, we won't see much improvement.  'The same old' approach yields 'the same old' results. Whereas, the more aware we are, using our five senses while being consciously present, actually staying in the present moment, the more knowledge we gain.  And as we better understand what we are doing, with purpose behind it, then we see good positive outcomes.

This process of engaging our awareness takes us out of what is familiar and into what is new.  And therein lies the mechanics for making desired changes in our lives.  We leave behind the same old familiar routines that made us feel stuck and embrace the new by gaining knowledge either through education or through our five senses.  Then by staying present or aware of the new knowledge, we make changes for the better.  And that is the amazing gift that our awareness brings to us.

© Josephine Laing 2016