Conscious coliving

A place where a group of people practices conscious living

consciouscolivingawidaman

In the heart of Awid Aman’s philosophy lies the practice of living consciously. When creating this coliving experience, the idea was to make something different that would leave an impact on our surroundings, the planet, and also us as beings.

In the past few years, people started to realize that life in big cities can be overwhelming, very consumption-oriented, and very unhealthy – for us, and the planet. With that, topics of living consciously started to interest people, but the practice of living consciously can be hard when a person is alone in this mission.

That is one of the big reasons Awid Aman was born, to help connect people with the community that will act as a support system and inspires them to grow. 

So, if you’re on a journey to start living consciously, keep reading to see how the Awid Aman experience can help you embrace it.

What does living consciously mean?

So – how do we define this concept, what does living consciously mean?

Living consciously means being aware of yourself, your surroundings, and your impact. This means that behind every step and decision you take will be an intention.

The words you choose will have a meaning, the food you eat will be for a reason, and the people you surround yourself with will have an impact. Every action you take will be purposeful.

Being in the fast-paced world that we are in, practicing conscious living can be a challenge and it might seem like it takes a lot of sacrifices. The truth is that we’re sacrificing our freedom by letting our habits and the world around us decide for ourselves.

Taking back control of our lives might take effort and require rebuilding past habits, but once we succeed, we’ll finally be capable of living life with our purpose and leaving an impact that we care about.

The practice of living consciously means to deeply resonate with yourself and the things around you - to give as much as you take, and to use every breath and moment you have with purpose because that is what the gift of life is about.

What steps can you take to practice a more conscious way of lifestyle?

The steps you should take to practice a conscious lifestyle are building habits and slowly disconnecting from the old ones.

  • For learning patience and being in tune with yourself, practicing meditation and yoga can be amazing.
  • For being more in connection with the food you eat, you should find ecological food resources instead of buying from a supermarket, and make an eating schedule that will help you not skip meals, but also not overeat.
  • For developing impactful connections, you should distance yourself from superficial relationships and make connections with people that inspire you and motivate you.
  • To eliminate toxic entertainment habits like too much social media or unpurposeful tv shows, find hobbies that resonate with you and have a positive impact on your surroundings
  • Spend as much time as you can in nature and find ways to appreciate it and nourish it.
  • Buy only what you need and repurpose what you already have.
  • Don’t waste food, water, or any other resource.

Practice meditation and yoga

Meditation and yoga can teach you to be present in the moment and reconnect with your mind and body. We receive so many stimuli from the world every second that we’re basically never alone with our thoughts.

The modern world has rewired our brains to be addicted to outside stimuli, so being alone in silence can unlock a new experience within oneself.

Yoga is a perfect activity for connecting with your body because it requires a lot of patience and the practice of listening to your body and muscles. When practicing yoga, your mind is concentrating on every movement you take to achieve positioning, breathe, and stay focused.

With time, you will learn what your body needs and become more self-aware.

Meditation also works like this, only focusing on your thoughts and your breath. It teaches you to sit peacefully at the moment and take it in. It helps you energize naturally and awakens your senses.

Change your eating habits

A relationship with food is something that most of us don’t learn enough about when growing up, and it is super important.

healthy eating habits

A healthy relationship with food means being conscious about things like:

  • Time spent creating, preparing, and eating food
  • Having a balanced nutrition
  • Having an eating schedule
  • Appreciating having the access to food

Constantly buying food from supermarkets, it’s easy to forget how much time it took for the vegetables and fruit to grow, for the animal to live, grow, and provide meat, as well as give eggs, milk, and other products.

Living in the cities also gets quite busy so we tend not to waste time on food by eating while working, or watching a TV show. In reality, it’s super important to take at the moment while you eat and to appreciate the food and every bite you take. A lot of time and energy is spent in the process from the food production to the meal on our tables, and we should learn how to appreciate it.

Also, a very important thing is to listen to your body and needs and consume food in the amount that is good for you, as well as choose healthy foods for a balanced diet.

Making time valuable

We often take time for granted but it’s a crucial part of the gift of life.

Instead of wasting your time on your phone or sipping the third coffee for the day just because, you should find inspiration around you and use that time to do something valuable. That can be having a meaningful conversation, creating art, gardening, working on a cause, learning something new, etc.

Being aware of the moment you’re in is an important part of being aware of yourself and your purpose.

Recycle and repurpose

Recycling and repurposing are the least we can do to give back to nature. Of course, the first step to take is not to overconsume and buy what you don’t need, but really have a purpose with every purchase.

Once you do buy, try recycling and repurposing all that you can. Instead of buying new jars for sugar and salt, use the ones you bought with yogurt or pasta sauce. Instead of throwing away an old T-shirt, make it into a cleaning cloth.

It’s easy, but it means a lot.

Appreciate the nature

Living in the cities made many people unaware of what nature truly is. Even when going out of town, many people go to suburbs that are only less crowded, but not much more natural than the cities.

connecting with nature

Visiting places that nurture real raw nature can help you really see it, appreciate it, and get the urge to protect it.

Many natural landscapes are taken by towns and cities so it’s very important to understand the importance of nature preservation and take action.

Make valuable connections

Valuable connections are crucial to sticking with a healthy life path. Having friends that share your passions and understand you will keep you growing. Being surrounded by superficial relationships can exhaust and make your choices more difficult.

Valuable connections are people from who we learn, who inspire us, and with whom the conversations lead to personal growth.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that we should grow apart from every person that does not share our values. It just means that we should prioritize relationships and friendly activities with purpose.

A strong community support system will help you on your journey.

Conscious coliving

Conscious co-living is the activity of a group of people that practice conscious living together, and conscious coliving is a place where a group of people practices conscious living, usually digital nomads, artists, and other people who prefer this way of lifestyle.

Conscious co-living is exactly what we mean when we think of a strong community support system. A coliving as a place is meant to connect people that practice or intend to practice conscious living so they can learn from each other, be each other's support, and find meaningful connections.

People that decide to take some of these steps almost always have their own way of approaching it - a hobby or a job that supports the concept, or simply a partnership or a habit that does the same. By connecting, people can share valuable resources and help each other.

In these communities, people share ideas, skills, recipes, knowledge, art, and philosophies and that makes them grow.

At Awid Aman, we want to do exactly that. We want to create a community and connect purposeful and conscious creators, artists, and entrepreneurs that can share their ways of being aware, in the moment, and helping the planet.

Here is how we do it:

Awid Aman's previous experience

Until now, Awid Aman has hosted 5 groups in two beautiful Canary islands - La Palma and La Gomera.

For each group, we selected activities where we practiced conscious living together. For example, the house was meat-free because the meat industry very negatively impacts the environment. People consume way more meat than they naturally need, so we wanted to make the house meat-free and see how it goes.

Some people that came were already vegan or vegetarian, but some were not. And the first step of practicing conscious living is taking control of your life and trying to leave your old habits - like eating meat - behind you. Of course, you could always go out of the house and eat meat, but being conscious meant knowing when and how you do it and having a purpose behind it.

eco permaculture garden

To showcase healthy organic food, we organized a trip to a local eco permaculture garden where colivers had the opportunity to try organic produce. We also showed how to make compost so we don’t waste food.

We encouraged group yoga sessions and meditation, especially in nature.

Another important factor was the connection between the colivers and making valuable relationships. We did this by organizing activities that boost group morale, make the group more intimate and connected, and help you open up to others.

Why you should start thinking about practicing conscious living

Living consciously will help you accept yourself and the beauty inside you. It will also help you realize the beauty of the world around you. Your body and mind will start feeling more aware, more present, and more in tune with the world.

Our planet is a living organism and living consciously means hearing it breathe and doing your part to make it alive.