Circumstances for learning this attention exercise
feeling restless
struggling to make a decision
walking the dog
Mindfulness practice confuses people.
Understandably.
Most other skills we learn involve figuring something out. Developing mindful awareness skills involves suspending the impulse to analyze, evaluate, or solve.
It’s not an intellectual pursuit. The understanding is experiential and visceral.
However, although practicing mindfulness can seem passive from the outside, a lot is happening internally.
Have you heard of the 5-4-3-2-1 method?
It’s a grounding technique recommended to people struggling with stress and anxiety.
The technique involves redirecting your attention to identify five things you can see, four things you can touch, three things you can hear, two things you can smell, and one thing you can taste.
It’s not a strategy for zoning out. It’s not indifference practice. It engages your curiosity to lure your attention away from your imagination and into the world around you. Instead of relying on an internal narrative, the sensory categories give you tangible places to anchor your awareness.
Some common assumptions about the exercise get in the way of experiencing its usefulness.
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