How do I know myself as Consciousness?

[J_A_S_G]

Originally Posted by Maisy

I think paying attention to (identifying with) the "talking" in our heads is so habitual and the "normal" way to be, so ingrained in us from years and years of doing it/being it that the "simple" thing is just to keep doing it.

Here's my experience from meditation. I was never aware of the absolutely colossal and continuous amount of fragmented and chaotic thinking bubbling up from the subconscious until I started paying attention to breath. By directly attending breath I indirectly became more and more aware of the thought process, from the first wispy fragments bubbling up from the subconscious, to the patterns they begin to form and eventually a fully formed thought train exploding into consciousness, with all the values and meanings of past experience dredged up from memory, ripe for judgement and reaction.

In effect the process takes advantage of neuroplasticity, laying down new pathways that begin to incorporate that heightened awareness into daily habit and not just while sitting in meditation.

Long story short, basically what you said in closing - To take the attention off the thought stream, one has to be aware one's attention is on it.