Indeed, there are important differences here between consciousness and self-consciousness, and between overanalyzing and being in the moment. I may have oversimplified in some parts of this article since I think many animals aren't saintly in lacking any potential for alienation in the form of fear.

When we're living in the moment (or in the Now, as Tolle says), are we really conscious of what we're doing? Are people conscious when we're not self-aware in the background of our experience? We're aware in that we perceive what's happening, but raw perception without concepts, language, or theoretical understanding is pretty thin. We'd have the skills of know-how but no model to orient the self to its world.

Anyway, conceptual simplifications certainly exacerbate alienation, by setting up the phenomenon-noumenon dichotomy.