This is a powerful, comfortable easy way to change your consciousness.
Living authentically basically means being the real you in every circumstance and situation. This might mean, for example, behaving as if you were the only survivor left on the planet. If this was the case, you'd walk, talk, act, dress the way you want. You wouldn't brush your hair or teeth if you didn't feel like it (and you would if you did). You'd make no special consideration for behaviours that are aimed at winning attention or approval. Nothing happens unless it is authentically in tune with how you want to be.
It brings you into line with what you really are at the moment, a self. You no longer do things because they are routine, so it also creates spontaneity. You're checking continuously how you feel, and whether you really want it, so there's an element of witnessing.
Have you ever wondered why messed up hair became cool "fashion" for guys? Have you ever wondered why baggy jeans which hang down low became popular? It's because naturally authentic guys refused to do what didn't feel natural. They got up in the morning and thought - 'can't be bothered brushing my hair'. They went to get dressed and found a pair of old ripped jeans that were too big. Who cares? Just wear them They did this back in the days when the polished look was expected. They didn't do it because they wanted to rebel, they were just being authentic. Young kids noticed that the cool guy had messy hair, so they went and purposefully messed up their hair - idiots! If you want neat hair, then HAVE neat hair. If you really want to meditate then meditate. If deep down you're thinking "oh I better go and do an hour of sitting", then you should stop and do something that feels naturally fulfilling of your desires, even of that means going and eating a greasy burger.
The opposite of authentic is a TV presenter. He puts on a special inauthentic voice, polishes everything to the highest degree, smiles on cue (even if he doesn't feel like it), does all the expected mannerisms like tilting the head and reciting all the usual cliches and lines. He probably also meditates because he feels it's the right/cool/expected/proper thing to do. What a wanker. It's possible to be a TV presenter-style Buddhist too - acting against natural behaviour at every moment. Instead of squashing every natural impulse, you can now witness it AND act on it.
Authentic is cool without making even the slightest effort to be cool. The body actually physically cools. And it creates a massive change in your consciousness because the ego's primary role is to alter one's natural behaviour so as to win attention and approval from others. By acting in defiance of that directive, the ego is quietened.
