In this article we will talk about one of our current abilities - the ability to contact. The topic of contact is multifaceted and extensive. Therefore, I decided to write a kind of “series” about this ability. So, episode one - “OBSERVATION” Firstly, the ability to contact exists in two vectors - contact with internal reality and contact with external reality. Also, this ability is also our need. Now we will talk about the inner side of contact, that is, the ability to contact oneself. In the modern information space we often hear - love yourself, accept yourself, take care of yourself. Installations that will not disturb anyone. However, often we are unable to see at all, much less accept those sides of ourselves that are unpleasant to us. The fact is that our vision and understanding of internal mental space can be greatly distorted. The distortion arises due to the fact that we are quite poor at recognizing our negative, in our understanding, sides - anger, envy, contempt, arrogance, greed, etc. Since childhood, we have heard: “It’s not good to envy”, “You can’t be angry”, “The weak are afraid”, “It’s not nice to be greedy” and the list can go on ad infinitum. It’s hard to argue with the fact that we like ourselves more when we are kind, generous, and strong. And the people around us benefit when we are like this. Merits and virtues make us more humane, more humane, or something. It's like that. But the trick is that until we get to know our “dark side”, until we see all the variety of manifestations in ourselves, including “negative” ones, we risk living in an illusion, without having built full contact with ourselves. First of all, you need to legalize the “negative” sides for yourself - they are inherent in all people to one degree or another. I put the word “negative” in quotation marks because it is a conventional designation. It indicates our assessment, our attitude towards this or that manifestation of the psyche. We paint some of our manifestations in dark colors in the process of assimilating social requirements and norms. Since often in the process of upbringing the formation of norms of behavior is associated with speculation on the needs of the child, the “dark sides” are remembered as an obstacle or threat to the satisfaction of important life needs. As a result, some of our manifestations fade into the shadows, are suppressed, repressed, and over time we cease to see and recognize them. Integrity is lost. There is no full contact with yourself. Managing your condition with such a half-blind perception of yourself becomes not very possible. Therefore, I suggest starting with observation. The first thing you can do is allow yourself to see all your manifestations - non-judgmentally, just see. Observe your emotions, states, thoughts, reactions, impulses, motives, meanings, actions. Start basing your observation on three aspects: - thoughts - emotions - bodily reactions. It is important to recognize them, name them and observe how they unfold for you. Like those akyns, they sing songs not according to pre-prepared texts, but sing about what they see, choosing words as they sing. Observation and non-judgmental statement of what you have noticed is the first step towards contact with yourself.