Classroom Material: Essential Steps for Awakening
- MedicineWomanSpeaks
- Jul 23
- 3 min read
MWL Jul. 22, 2025
Whether you are a beginner, intermediate, or advanced student on the path of spiritual awakening, the foundational steps remain crucial and must be practiced with consistency and persistence. Awakening consciousness is not an instantaneous event but a gradual unfolding that requires dedicated attention to the present moment and inner awareness. These beginning steps—cultivating breath awareness, observing thoughts without attachment, grounding yourself in The Here and the Now exercise, engaging in mental tantra, and practicing metaphysical exercises to the corresponding months zodiac sign—create a structured framework for awakening. They serve as essential tools to quiet the mind, deepen self-understanding and Self-Discovery while expanding your connection to higher states of consciousness.
1. Aware of Breath
Breath awareness is the cornerstone of many spiritual and meditative traditions. By focusing on your breath—and simple practices like feeling the flow of air through the nostrils—you anchor yourself in the present moment. This simple yet powerful practice calms the mind and body, reduces mental chatter, and opens the door to deeper states of awareness. Beginners should approach this with gentle patience, noticing when the mind wanders and softly returning attention to the breath without judgment.
Click to read a previous article I wrote on breath and an exceptional video to get you breathing correctly.
2. Aware of Thoughts
Observing thoughts as passing phenomena rather than identifying with them is a key step in awakening. This practice involves opening the door, acknowledging, accepting and cultivating a non-judgmental awareness of mental activity, recognizing thoughts as transient and not necessarily reflective of your true self. This detachment helps dissolve mental patterns that cloud consciousness and fosters clarity and inner peace.
"The whole universe system is held together through love,
harmony and cooperation. If you use your thoughts according
to these principles you can transcend anything that gets in your way."
3. The Here and the Now Exercise
Rooting yourself in the present moment is fundamental to awakening. This exercise emphasizes sensory awareness—such as noticing sounds, bodily sensations and the environment—helps break the habitual identification with past regrets or future anxieties. This presence cultivates a shift from reactive living to conscious being, which is the essence of awakening.
4. Mental Tantra
Mental tantra involves using focused intention, visualization, and mental practices to transform consciousness. Like physical tantra, mental tantra works with subtle energies and the mind’s creative power and will to awaken latent spiritual potential. Redirecting your thoughts and attuning them along with your words and actions to uprightness, is key to practicing mental tantra.
Upright thoughts
Upright words
Upright actions
5. Metaphysical Zodiac Sign Exercises
These exercises are also important for deepening the awakening process by aligning spiritual work with inherent qualities of cosmic energy. They help awaken and activate the chakras, endocrine glands and innate powers. We will cover more on these exercises in future Classroom Material articles.
Remember:
Consistency and Patience: Awakening is a gradual process. Daily practice, even if brief, is more effective than sporadic intense sessions. I cannot stress enough the importance of consistency and persistence. These exercises are to be done every day, just like brushing one’s teeth, eating and sleeping.
Non-Judgmental Attitude: Accept whatever arises during your practice without rejection or self-criticism. This openness fosters deeper insight.
These are the essential steps I learned from my Bodhisattva teacher and mentor—an enlightened being who has chosen to delay their own final Nirvana (complete liberation) in order to remain in the cycle of rebirth and help others achieve enlightenment—and the person who opened the inner doors to my initiation journey.
By mastering these basic and essential steps, one can effectively move deeper into accepting, acknowledging, and transforming thoughts, emotions, and feelings, ultimately allowing us to add our unique magic and contribution of peace to the world.
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