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We have spoke largely on this Blog about the self observation, both in theory and practice, and it’s never enough to say. We would like to introduce, here, in this article a singular but very interesting practical approach to observe ourselves. It’s an ancient practice that our mentor introduced to the group I met in the ‘90th and, differently than many  other approaches, because of her direct, invasive nature. It Begins with the following statement: we have all the necessary daily strength (energy) to perform a practice of self observation, but we loose them in unnecessary inner and outer actions. Even if we make many practices during a day, we loose the necessary energy to be awake. So, some ancient schools and todays groups for self development give an interesting exercise we use to call “The Practice of 15 minutes”.
So, choose 15 minutes during a day where you’ll focus all your efforts to awaken, to observe yourself; every day at the same time- for example, from 12 to 12:15. These few minutes have to become for you the Awakening. If we are sincere in our intents, after  few days or weeks, we’ll develop a strong wish to remember ourselves, because during the rest of the day, we’ll have to impose to ourselves to do not anything to awaken. So, out of this time, we’ll evitate anything practical concerning the your Inner Work.
This kind of approach will produce in ourselves a sort of dissatisfaction, because we’ll have to limiting all our daily efforts to awaken in only those 15 minutes. This feeling of impatience will make us performing the self observation during the 15 minutes in a most intense way. It’s most difficult than it can seem, because the same effort to escape every kind of practice during the day will make us remember every time during the day what we haven’t to do- remember ourselves. It’s a similar effect produced by the imposition “don’t think about the monkeys”. So, we’ll use these feelings of impatience, frustration, dissatisfaction to increase and recharge the practice during these 15 minutes.
Trough a constancy, regularity and determination we must become inexorable towards our mechanical, habitual nature who has to “understand” that we will never stop.