The Power of Noticing

I was on a walk with a friend the other day when she told me about something she’s noticed lately. “I was talking to my Mom and I suddenly realized my shoulders were completely tense. Since then, I’ve realized that I’m always tense when I talk to my Mom. I can’t believe I never noticed it before!”

This made me think about how the power of noticing, which might be one of the most transformative yet understated capacities we possess as human beings. Because when we truly notice – not just observe superficially, but bring our full attention to our experience – we open the doorway to insight and change.

At its core, noticing is an act of presence. I’m sure you’ve already done it thousands of times yourself. When you notice, you find yourself in a tiny but important gap between your external experience and your internal reaction. In this space, we can witness our thoughts arising rather than being immediately swept away. It’s almost like we become the observer of ourselves. You might notice, for instance, how a challenging emotion manifests not just as Thought but as a physical feeling. Like my friend, you might feel your shoulders tighten, your heart rate increase. Or you might simply notice that your thinking is muddled or unclear.

In my own life, I’ve found that a measure of ease usually accompanies the act of noticing. Noticing frees your mind from its current reality and allows it to create anew.

When we bring deep noticing to the way Mind works, we often experience a profound shift. We see that life happens not to us but through us, from the inside-out. When we observe how our thoughts and feelings flow and change and how our perspective shifts from moment to moment, the recognition naturally loosens the grip of our habitual beliefs and reactions, allowing us to tap more directly into the deep well of creativity that is always waiting to provide new ideas and fresh perspectives. This may allow for a shift in the way we’ve been thinking about things…even if we’ve been thinking about them in a certain way for a long time.

Because she noticed the tension in her body during her conversations with her Mom, my friend gained an opportunity to take a peek at the thinking lurking behind the scenes. (Pro tip: there is always thinking lurking behind the scenes.) She feels a fresh curiosity about their conversations and – on some level – she’s open to a new dynamic. All because she noticed something. I’m looking forward to the insights she might share on our next walk.

In the meantime, I wonder what you might notice today. What does it tell you about what’s going on in your mind?

Happy noticing!

Nikki Platte Nieves