How do we watch movies consciously?

Watching a movie is an excellent way to unwind and relax after a long day at work. However, what if we could watch movies and also learn about ourselves in the process? Conscious movie-watching can help us access our inner wisdom and learn more about our emotions and reactions. In this blog post, we will discuss how to watch movies consciously and increase our awareness of our physical reactions and emotions.

Connection Between Conscious Awareness and Inner Wisdom

Conscious awareness helps us to access our inner wisdom. Inner wisdom requires deep understanding rather than simple knowledge. When we watch a movie with conscious awareness, we increase our capacity to access our inner wisdom. Watching with our whole body and not just our minds is crucial to this process. Body awareness helps us to access our inner wisdom through a felt sense. Our breath is an important vehicle to increasing awareness, as it remains locked into our authentic experience even when our mind becomes disconnected. By increasing our awareness, we regain fresh, uncontaminated, whole sight.

"Knowledge informs us, wisdom transforms us."

Gaining Awareness of Our Physical Reactions

As we watch a movie with conscious awareness, we become aware of our physical reactions and emotions. Our breath and other body-language signs can reveal buried experiences and show us our biases. By noticing our physical sensations, we learn how to tolerate unwanted emotions without needing to suppress them, numb out, act out, or release them in other unhealthy ways. By experiencing our emotions as just another energy in our body, they can run their course without resistance. As a result, we desensitize ourselves to undesired emotions and become more centered and clear in our responses.

Somatic Experiencing, developed by Peter Levine

Focusing, developed by Eugene Gendlin

Imagine that one of your recurrent undesired emotions centers on situations in which it appears you are failing to achieve a certain set goal. As you watch a film in which a character faces a similar situation, you might just notice some anxiety combined with increased tension in your stomach or faster breath as you identify with the character. As you are able to be more centered and clear, your responses will become more and more appropriate. You will be less likely to respond in an unconscious reactive mode, or to not respond at all due to suppressed feelings. Instead of avoiding the feared challenge, you can develop the courage to face it because your anxiety no longer overwhelms or paralyzes you. You will “feel the fear and do it anyway”. Eventually, the fear will dissipate, and you will feel strong enough to take on the challenges that previously prevented you from achieving your goal. This will make you more successful in life.

Increasing and Learning About Desired Emotions

A similar approach can help us increase and learn about our desired emotions. By becoming sensitized to desired emotions, we can experience positive emotions more intensely as we watch a movie. This helps us understand how to increase the frequency and intensity of these feelings in our real life. Watching a movie with conscious awareness can make our movie experience even more enjoyable. By becoming more aware of our physical reactions and emotions, we can learn more about ourselves and increase our capacity for inner wisdom.

Conclusion

Conscious movie-watching can help us access our inner wisdom and learn more about our emotions and reactions. By watching with our whole body and becoming aware of our physical sensations and emotions, we can desensitize ourselves to undesired emotions and become more centered and clear in our responses. Additionally, we can increase and learn about our desired emotions and understand how to experience positive emotions more intensely in our real life. Next time you watch a movie, try watching it with conscious awareness and see how it can transform your movie-watching experience.