Hello and welcome to Mind to Soul, a journey of discovery where thoughts meets transformation. I'm honored to be here with you on our very first episode. Well, part two of our very first episode. My name is Ola Boer. I am a psychotherapist and a psychiatry provider. I'm also a life coach, a mind coach, and I'm also very in tuned. With everything that is psychiatry and psychotherapy and that that is important to live a completely aware and full life to begin this journey. We'll start with something that lies at the heart of all growth. Healing, which is self-awareness. This part two will be specifically to show you the origin of self-awareness, the importance of self-awareness, and how self-awareness is just beyond what we think, what we like, what we dislike in psychology. Self-awareness is the capacity to observe our own internal state, our thoughts, our emotions, and our behavior. It's almost like stepping outside of yourself to notice what's happening within you. I always say to be self-aware, you should be able to remove yourself from your perception of your thoughts. You should be able to step aside, reevaluate yourself from the perception of your thoughts. It's almost like stepping outside of our body and noticing what's happening within us. Developmental psychologist Philip Cher, describes self as awareness as existing on a spectrum. Very interesting. It goes from basic bodily awareness in infant to reflective self-awareness in adulthood. So we go from being aware of ourselves. As in fact, our fingers, you know, being aware of the fact that we can pick things up to being reflective in our self-awareness as an adult, where we can examine our motives, biases, and patterns from an neuroscience. Perspective, self-awareness is heavily linked to the prefrontal cortex, especially in the media prefrontal and anterior singular cortex. This area has helped us reflect, regulate our emotions, and even predict the outcome of our actions. Neuroimaging studies show that people with higher traits self-awareness, demonstrate strong activations in those regions during. Introspective task, meaning you can actually grow your self-awareness strength. It needs you to be committed to practicing it every day, every time, every moment you can. You need to be able to practice self-awareness in simple times. The more we practice noticing ourself, the more robust this neuropathways become. Just like lifting weight, strengthens the muscle reflection strengthens the brain circles of self-awareness. Think about a time where you reacted automatically to a situation. Let's do self-reflection. Think about a time where you were in a conversation and you just blotted out something. Right. And then you think to yourself, why did I just say that? This has happened to me a lot of times, so I can relate to making statements without really understanding why. And then you question yourself later, why did I, why did I even say that? Where did I come from? That moment of reflection is self-awareness and action. Social psychologist, Shelly Deval and Robert wlan. Self-awareness theory suggests that when we turn attention inward, we compare our behaviors to internal standard. If there is a mismatch, the awareness is motivated to change. Without reflection, we stay on autopilot. Another useful model is the jar window created by psychologists. Joseph have loft. Gram, it illustrates that part of our selves are open and known while others remain hidden. And the other part that is remains hidden that we are gonna be challenging throughout this podcast, believe me, there are parts of us that are still eating to ourself. Self-awareness is about shrinking those blind spot and expanding what is conscious. So how do we strengthen self-awareness? Here are evidence-based practices, mindful check-ins. A simple pause asking what I'm feeling right now. Where is my body? What do I feel in my body? Activates the prefrontal cortex and comes the amygdala, our threat center. Through journaling in cognitive behavioral therapy developed by Aaron Beck, journaling helps identify automatic thoughts over time, critical internal voices and distorted belief. By writing them down, we create distance between observer and thoughts making changes possible. For me, there was a time where I equate business with success. Many days were packed, my calendar was full. I didn't realize that constant business was a way of avoiding my own vulnerabilities. When I finally slowed down and practiced self-awareness through journaling and mindfulness, I noticed how often I run from uncomfortable emotion. Here is my invitation for you this week. Take one. Science back, a step towards self-awareness. Maybe a two minute mindfulness. Check, a quick channel, or asking a friend to be honest with you, someone you can be vulnerable with. Remember, self-awareness isn't about judging yourself. It's about approaching your inner world with curiosity. It's not about perfectionism, but progress. Because each step towards awareness, reshapes the brain, rewires our importance and brings us closer to authentic transformation. Be kind to yoursel until next time.