Yes, exactly these kinds of things! CodeJob- you really nailed so much of what I was fumbling to approach. There's this
zone, I feel it in meditation & during my yoga practice too. It's like a point when you just feel fully connected & disconnected at the same time, floaty but solid, empty-minded but fulfilled. I love when I hit that point in my stride during a long walk when I feel like I'll never stop, that I'll Forest Gump my way across the state because I just can't imagine not staying in this state of motion.
And like you pointed out Double, the trick is in staying there... which is, I guess, what I'm coming to find out myself now that *I* am more aware of being aware. (This is turning into a bad al-anon joke now, lol)
I love the ideas of using affirmations to count steps, the thought of this state means we are in touch with our authentic selves, keeping touch with nature & prayer during the walks/as part of awareness.
We talk about awareness in my meditation class too, but not specifically in terms of recovery. A couple of weeks ago our teacher proposed that, "Awareness is like the sun - whatever it shines on, grows & thrives. So if your awareness is always focused on your mistakes & shortcomings & failures, you're constantly feeding those things & helping them to grow. " He reminds us that at first we have to consciously choose to move that little flashlight beam of awareness to something else, that we'll have to practice & practice & practice before it becomes our new normal. That neurologically, the brain will rewire new paths & fire new synaptic rhythms if we keep bringing our awareness back to our goals with all that practice. He keeps reminding us that our identities are nothing more than our "ideas of our entities" & that since ideas/thoughts/labels change, we need to sit with ourselves sometimes & evaluate whether we are trying to force ourselves to stay stuck in old definitions or letting fear stop us from accepting new ones.