How to Practice Your Awareness Skills

I just heard the victim of a mugging say of her attacker, “He appeared out of nowhere!”

Have the predators started using wizarding spells now?

Probably not. More likely, the victim wasn’t paying attention.

I’m not playing the blame game. Unquestionably, the bad guy was at fault, as they always are in street crimes. But staying aware of your surroundings, what we call situational awareness, may offer better self-defense than any weapon. After all, the best fight is the one you avoid.

Situational awareness is part intuition, part observation. Like all skills, it needs to be practiced regularly. Here are some drills.

When you enter a building, identify all the exits and imagine the routes you would use to reach them in an emergency.

Count the number of people around you while seated in a restaurant, coffee shop, bus or train car.

Walking through a crowd, keep your head up and pretend you’re there to meet someone. Look at the people around you and try to figure out what they do for a living, their mood, and what they’re getting ready to do. Are they shopping? Headed for a restaurant? Unwillingly tagging along with a spouse?

If you’re out walking, count how many of the parked cars you pass are occupied. Are any vehicles double-parked? Who’s in them and why do you suppose they’re there?

Here’s the big one. Don’t unnecessarily distract yourself. Wearing headphones while walking, jogging or biking takes one of your senses out of action and eliminates any possibility of hearing danger approach. Texting while walking is as dangerous as texting and driving.

You may not always be able to avoid trouble but seeing it approach gives you the chance to cast a self-defense spell or two of your own.


Want to shape up your safety lifestyle in 2015? My book, Escaping the O-Zone will give you some great tips. Find it here on Amazon or wherever eBooks are sold.

http://www.amazon.com/Escaping-Zone-Intuition-Situational-Awareness-ebook/dp/B00P4D560W/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1416508204&sr=1-1&keywords=doug+cummings