Day 37 of 100 Days of Hope
The Gift of Attention: How the “Loop of Awareness” Helps You Reconnect with You
Every day, countless things tug at your attention — your children’s schedules, responsibilities, relationships, emails, and demands. It’s easy to lose track of you along the way. What if I told you there’s a simple, soulful way to return to the heart of who you are — to nurture yourself and connect more deeply with others?
I want to introduce you to a practice Katie Hendricks calls the Loop of Awareness. It’s a tool for grounding, for restoring choice, and for opening to a more fluid, loving engagement with your life — one that empowers you to shine instead of fade into the background.
What Is the Loop of Awareness?
The Loop of Awareness is a cycle of attention:
Notice yourself (your inner experience)
Notice someone or something else
Come back and notice yourself again
In this way, your awareness circulates — from inside to outside to inside again. You don’t remain stuck in reaction or overwhelm; instead, you regain access to your capacity to choose. This is not a rigid exercise or a checklist — it's a gentle, rhythmic dance of attention.
From the Hendricks Institute’s resource:
“Loop of Awareness is a practice, which involves placing your attention on one experience of something inside yourself, then placing your attention on one quality you notice of someone or something outside, then continuing to oscillate your attention in and out.” Hendricks Institute
This oscillation helps free your attention from being hijacked by a single event, thought, or emotion. It expands what you can notice and how you can respond.
Why It Matters — Especially for Moms in Transition
You replenish your energy. When moms give and give, often the flow goes one way — outward. Over time, that drains your inner reservoir. Katie Hendricks reminds us that many helping professions burn out because people forget to go in first and reconnect with themselves.
You reconnect to your own wisdom. When your attention is spread thin, you lose access to that still center inside. This loop returns you to your own experience and therefore restores your clarity and strength.
You deepen connection with others. Flipping your attention outward nurtures love, empathy, curiosity. The back-and-forth becomes a bridge between your interior world and your relationships.
You reclaim choice. Instead of reacting from autopilot, you begin to notice that you always have options in how to respond. This awareness is transformational.
In Katie’s words (shared in the Hendricks community):
“I believe that the very process of looking can make a difference.” Foundation for Conscious Living
“The felt experience of our attention generates presence.” Foundation for Conscious Living
Your attention is a nutrient. Just like food or water, its quality matters.
How to Practice the Loop of Awareness
Here’s a simple way to try it. (You can call it a “starter loop.”)
Pause and settle. Take a breath. Turn your attention inward. Notice something — any sensation, thought, feeling. (Even: “I don’t know what’s here.”)
Shift outward. Direct your attention to someone or something around you. Notice a detail: the light, the sound, the posture, the expression.
Bring it back. Turn inward again. Notice what’s alive inside now.
Repeat. In and out. In and out.
Do this gently, without judgment. There’s no “right” number of loops. Sometimes 2 is enough. Sometimes 10. You might go slow or faster. The invitation is curiosity, not performance.
If you like, you can quietly add: “What’s true for me now?” as an inner question during the inward phases. Or offer an appreciation — “I see you, dear self.”
You might feel a little shaky, emotional, or unsure at first. That’s okay. The loop is precisely what helps you settle and integrate.
What You Might Notice Over Time
More spaciousness between stimulus and reaction
A deeper sense of safety inside your own body
Ability to catch tension, stress, or old stories as they arise
More authentic, grounded communication with others
Renewed aliveness, creative energy, and clarity
Invitation from My Heart ❤️
I invite you — beautiful, brave, evolving midlife mom — to try the Loop of Awareness this week. Just a few breaths. A few swings of attention. Keep it gentle. Keep it kind. Keep it simple.
Let it become a small ritual for you: your sweet return-to-self practice in the middle of your day. Notice how the outer world shifts when your inner world is held and honored.
You deserve this. You are this.
Your presence, your value, your inner radiance — all of it matters.
If you try it, I’d love to hear what you notice.
Much love,
Julie Burningham (The Hope Coach)