Feeling Supported

The benefits of mindfulness practice don't appear instantly. They spring up on you.

Mar 22, 2026

∙ Paid

Noticing ordinary phenomena directly is a natural capacity that gets stronger with practice. If you wait for dramatic changes in your attention skills, you might overlook the quieter ways your efforts are supporting you. Instead, notice the small, subtle improvements—these are what truly help you feel more alive.

When you start a running program, you track small signs of progress: step count, stride length, pace, and heart rate recovery. Weekly mileage offers tangible evidence that you’re improving, even on days you have to drag yourself out the door.

So, how will you know when your awareness is becoming phenomenal?

Noticing becomes more effortless

At first, direct noticing involves a lot of thinking and second-guessing. That’s because it’s deceptively simple. Observing sensations is simple, but recognizing the value of attentional shifts takes time.

As you sneak mindful awareness into your daily life, something interesting happens. It feels like you’re forgetting to do something important. It seems like you should be worrying about something. That’s actually a good sign. When a single repetition of noticing feels too simple to accomplish anything important, you’re exactly where you need to be. Keep collecting chunks of sensory data while forgoing the constant evaluation of your investment.

When it feels too simple, let it. Savor the effortlessness rather than overthinking it.

Remember how clumsy it felt to learn every skill you now take for granted—typing, driving, supporting a friend in pain. Let it feel clumsy. Whenever you overthink, second-guess, or trip over yourself, get back up. Put your fingers back on those home row keys and let simple moves quietly accumulate into empowering capacities.

More counts than you think

When we start noticing differently on purpose, we assume almost nothing qualifies.

That’s not true. Everything you notice counts.

Anything you can see, hear, or feel—directly, in the present—counts. Even watching images flicker on your mental screen or hearing your mind spit out sentences counts. If you’re observing for a few seconds without diving into interpretation and evaluation, it counts.

Noticing takes almost no time. Telling yourself a story takes time. Making decisions takes time.

Noticing directly? That usually lasts about as long as a single breath.

The more you practice, the more you’ll realize that you’re surrounded by options all the time.

Noticing becomes more frequent

Remembering to notice begins with forgetting.

You’ll remember that you forgot to notice. You’ll forget that you remembered. You’ll notice several times a day for a week, then completely lose track of the intention for days.

That’s fine. The next time you remember that you forgot—right at that moment—stop and notice something. Anything. A sight, a sound, a sensation, or a feeling.

Notice what forgetting felt like. Notice what remembering feels like.

That’s all it takes to get back in the game.

Before long, you’ll remember more often. The world will start reminding you that it’s just sitting there waiting for you to notice.

Better technique, better results

When in doubt, return to the basic technique of distinguishing sensations from situations.

Getting better means noticing more frequently that your imagination has captured your attention—and choosing, in those moments, to look around or listen instead.

Getting better means toggling off autopilot more frequently and with less effort.

Getting better means letting go of the idea that you need to wait for the perfect conditions. You don’t need to be perfectly calm, or for the world to be quieter, or for life to settle down.

Can you forego the seduction of ideal or better moments for a handful of seconds right now?

Try.

Try again.

Keep trying.

A willingness to keep trying is the entire game.

Feeling more alive isn’t something you acquire instantly. It’s something that seeps in—gradually, quietly—when you stop chasing it and start noticing instead.