The Magic of Mindful Self-Awareness Quotes

“mindful self-awareness”
― Matt Tenney, The Magic of Mindful Self-Awareness: How To Stop Overthinking, Clear Your Mind, and Be Happy (Almost) All the Time

“comparative thinking”
― Matt Tenney, The Magic of Mindful Self-Awareness: How To Stop Overthinking, Clear Your Mind, and Be Happy (Almost) All the Time

“No great idea or scientific breakthrough I’ve ever heard of happened while a person was actively thinking about a problem. They all happened when the person was doing something else and was not actively thinking about the problem.”
― Matt Tenney, The Magic of Mindful Self-Awareness: How To Stop Overthinking, Clear Your Mind, and Be Happy (Almost) All the Time

“Ultimately, concentration is not something you “do,” concentration is something that “happens” when you drop the bad habit of identifying with thinking.”
― Matt Tenney, The Magic of Mindful Self-Awareness: How To Stop Overthinking, Clear Your Mind, and Be Happy (Almost) All the Time

“Second, mental noting is very powerful for breaking free from identification with thinking.”
― Matt Tenney, The Magic of Mindful Self-Awareness: How To Stop Overthinking, Clear Your Mind, and Be Happy (Almost) All the Time

“A very skillful means for being curious is to maintain a questioning attitude of What’s happening now? during practice sessions.”
― Matt Tenney, The Magic of Mindful Self-Awareness: How To Stop Overthinking, Clear Your Mind, and Be Happy (Almost) All the Time

“In any moment that you’re mindfully self-aware, you make a positive impact on others just by being alive.”
― Matt Tenney, The Magic of Mindful Self-Awareness: How To Stop Overthinking, Clear Your Mind, and Be Happy (Almost) All the Time

“Also, because you’re not identified with the ego, your natural response is to leave each person and place a little better off than you found them, even if that means just being a peaceful, kind person when those around you are not at peace or not being kind.”
― Matt Tenney, The Magic of Mindful Self-Awareness: How To Stop Overthinking, Clear Your Mind, and Be Happy (Almost) All the Time

“Although I take my life goal very seriously, and devote all my work toward achieving it, I’m not attached to it at all. Whether I achieve it or not has no effect on my fulfillment in life.”
― Matt Tenney, The Magic of Mindful Self-Awareness: How To Stop Overthinking, Clear Your Mind, and Be Happy (Almost) All the Time

“Even more importantly, each time the brain has direct experience of being aware without being identified with the ego, it is less likely to be a reflection of the ego, which is never satisfied, inherently selfish, and always slightly afraid of dying. Instead, the brain and the personality it creates become a reflection of your true self.”
― Matt Tenney, The Magic of Mindful Self-Awareness: How To Stop Overthinking, Clear Your Mind, and Be Happy (Almost) All the Time

“However, the practice of mindful self-awareness will not cause you to become detached from life, and it will not cause you to lose your drive for achievement. In fact, if you practice mindful self-awareness correctly, you will feel more connected to life than ever before, and you will tap into incredible energy for achievement.”
― Matt Tenney, The Magic of Mindful Self-Awareness: How To Stop Overthinking, Clear Your Mind, and Be Happy (Almost) All the Time

“Chief Bakari, the most important time is always the present moment. That is the only time over which you have any control. “The most important person is always the person you are with in the present moment. You have no idea if you’ll ever interact with another person in the future. “The most important task is to help the person you are with to be happy. That, Chief Bakari, is ultimately the only pursuit in life that truly matters.”
― Matt Tenney, The Magic of Mindful Self-Awareness: How To Stop Overthinking, Clear Your Mind, and Be Happy (Almost) All the Time

“S - Stop interacting with the perceived cause of the emotion C - Control the breathing and name the emotion I - Investigate like you’re a scientist in your own body L - Look for the real cause of the emotion”
― Matt Tenney, The Magic of Mindful Self-Awareness: How To Stop Overthinking, Clear Your Mind, and Be Happy (Almost) All the Time

“Without mindful self-awareness, people can only do what they’ve been programmed to do. When you understand this simple truth, or you understand what might have directly led to the actions of another person contributing to an unpleasant emotion for you, whatever elements of the emotion that still remain at this point are replaced by the most pleasant emotion of all: compassion. Compassion is the aspiration to help relieve suffering. It is so pleasant that the first time you experience the shift from an unpleasant emotion to compassion, you may be overwhelmed with joy.”
― Matt Tenney, The Magic of Mindful Self-Awareness: How To Stop Overthinking, Clear Your Mind, and Be Happy (Almost) All the Time

“In any moment that people are identified with the ego, they are victims of how they’ve been programmed by their genetics and life experiences up to this moment in time.”
― Matt Tenney, The Magic of Mindful Self-Awareness: How To Stop Overthinking, Clear Your Mind, and Be Happy (Almost) All the Time

“Unfortunately, negative thoughts strengthen the physical response in the body. The amygdala, the part of the brain largely responsible for different fight-or-flight-related emotions, tells the body to release more hormones and neurotransmitters that are designed to prepare the body for self-defense. As the emotion gets stronger, we become less able to see thoughts objectively and the thoughts become stronger, more prevalent, and faster moving. Those thoughts then further fuel the emotional response in the body, which further fuels the thoughts, and so on. This is how emotions like anger and anxiety can quickly spiral out of control and become rage or a panic attack.”
― Matt Tenney, The Magic of Mindful Self-Awareness: How To Stop Overthinking, Clear Your Mind, and Be Happy (Almost) All the Time

“I experience tears of joy, compassion, or inspiration almost every day, sometimes several times a day. Sometimes just looking at my son or daughter triggers these lovely emotions and tears. Sometimes it’s witnessing the excellence or creativity of other people. Sometimes it’s the beauty of nature.”
― Matt Tenney, The Magic of Mindful Self-Awareness: How To Stop Overthinking, Clear Your Mind, and Be Happy (Almost) All the Time

“For many people, if they become really angry, that anger can last for days, or even years in the form of resentment. This is the result of not being able to let go of thoughts.”
― Matt Tenney, The Magic of Mindful Self-Awareness: How To Stop Overthinking, Clear Your Mind, and Be Happy (Almost) All the Time

“Imagine a dog that is snarling and barking aggressively at a perceived threat nearby. Within minutes of the threat disappearing from sight and smell, the dog goes back to being happy and playful as if nothing happened. This is because dogs are almost certainly not thinking about what happened five minutes ago. If they have any thoughts at all, they drop them very quickly. They are not burdened by thoughts of past and future.”
― Matt Tenney, The Magic of Mindful Self-Awareness: How To Stop Overthinking, Clear Your Mind, and Be Happy (Almost) All the Time

“But the moment you identify with the desire to get rid of the itch, you will start to suffer. There will be tension in the mind and body that won’t go away until you get rid of the itch.”
― Matt Tenney, The Magic of Mindful Self-Awareness: How To Stop Overthinking, Clear Your Mind, and Be Happy (Almost) All the Time

“You probably spend most of your time living as though your true self is the human body and the thoughts created by your brain. This sense of “me” is often referred to as the ego. Identification with the ego as being the true self is the root cause of suffering.”
― Matt Tenney, The Magic of Mindful Self-Awareness: How To Stop Overthinking, Clear Your Mind, and Be Happy (Almost) All the Time

“Also, because you’ve reinforced the habit of being free from desires by seeing them objectively with mindful self-awareness, you’ll be less likely to suffer the next time something unpleasant happens. You’ll be one step closer to freedom from all suffering.”
― Matt Tenney, The Magic of Mindful Self-Awareness: How To Stop Overthinking, Clear Your Mind, and Be Happy (Almost) All the Time

“Additionally, because you strengthened the habit of being present with and enjoying what you’re doing now, it’s less likely that you’ll be bothered if you don’t get the ice cream. Moreover, if you do get the ice cream, you’ll enjoy it even more because you’ll be less likely to be thinking about other things while you eat it.”
― Matt Tenney, The Magic of Mindful Self-Awareness: How To Stop Overthinking, Clear Your Mind, and Be Happy (Almost) All the Time

“Also, because you’ve reinforced the habit of seeking happiness by gratifying your desires, the ice cream will not satisfy you for long. Soon after eating the ice cream, you’ll experience a void that yearns to be filled. This will lead to a desire for something else. If you identify with that desire, you’ll be caught in suffering once again.”
― Matt Tenney, The Magic of Mindful Self-Awareness: How To Stop Overthinking, Clear Your Mind, and Be Happy (Almost) All the Time

“Imagine you’re engaged in some activity that you enjoy, like walking in the woods, when the thought of having ice cream arises. Because you really like ice cream, the desire to have it immediately arises, which is natural. However, the moment you identify with the desire to have the ice cream, you will start to suffer.”
― Matt Tenney, The Magic of Mindful Self-Awareness: How To Stop Overthinking, Clear Your Mind, and Be Happy (Almost) All the Time

“To be free from suffering, you need to change your relationship with the desires that arise within you.”
― Matt Tenney, The Magic of Mindful Self-Awareness: How To Stop Overthinking, Clear Your Mind, and Be Happy (Almost) All the Time

“To be clear, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t have desires. It’s perfectly fine to want things to be a certain way and to have goals. What I am saying is that if you identify with and attach to a desire or a goal in a given moment, you will suffer in that moment.”
― Matt Tenney, The Magic of Mindful Self-Awareness: How To Stop Overthinking, Clear Your Mind, and Be Happy (Almost) All the Time

“To be free from suffering, you just need to let go of the desire to have something other than what’s currently happening.”
― Matt Tenney, The Magic of Mindful Self-Awareness: How To Stop Overthinking, Clear Your Mind, and Be Happy (Almost) All the Time

“Here’s a more realistic example. Imagine a father of five young children who has been dealing with whining, crying, and screaming kids all day. When this father finally gets a break from taking care of the children, he goes out to the garage to sit in his car and enjoy ten minutes of silence. The experience of sitting in a quiet car that isn’t moving would probably seem pretty close to heaven relative to the chaos of the rest of the day. Imagine then, the next day, that same father is late for work, and he gets stuck in a traffic jam. The cars aren’t moving at all. He really wants to get to work, so he gets very anxious and even angry. His anxiety and frustration continue to grow as long as he’s focused on wanting to get to work.”
― Matt Tenney, The Magic of Mindful Self-Awareness: How To Stop Overthinking, Clear Your Mind, and Be Happy (Almost) All the Time

“If you don’t want what’s happening to you in the present moment to happen, you suffer.”
― Matt Tenney, The Magic of Mindful Self-Awareness: How To Stop Overthinking, Clear Your Mind, and Be Happy (Almost) All the Time