“If, then, I were asked for the most important advice I could give; that which I considered to be the most useful to the men of our century, I should simply say: in the name of God, stop a moment, cease your work, look around you.”
Leo Tolstoy
Circumstances for learning this attention exercise
sitting on a park bench
looking out a window
taking breaks from the news
Formal mindfulness practice—what we typically call meditation—works with ordinary perceptions to strengthen essential attention skills.
You could think of it as a laboratory, a gym, or an art studio.
It's like a laboratory because we control the conditions within our control, pay closer attention than usual, and set the stage for discovering something we might not have observed before. Objectivity is difficult, but we can do our best to be objective.
It's like a gym in that we're strengthening our ability to decide where to direct our attention, increasing our capacity to observe nuance, and becoming more flexible in responding to what we notice. Distractions are inevitable, and a significant part of what we're doing is learning to weaken their pull over time.
Some people focus on their devices while working out. Some explore fitness magazines and workout apps. Some get tanglbed up in comparing their bodies with others who are working out.
In this analogy, we're doing our best to emulate those who can focus on the exercise at hand, even in the presence of technology, instructional resources, and other people. Of course, this is easier said than done.
Mindfulness meditation can also be like an artist's studio. We try to set aside our expectations, practice not evaluating the art we're engaging in, and try to get absorbed in the process instead. We set the stage for surprise, discovery, and delight.
Whichever analogy appeals to you the most, we bring some playful, curious effort so that when we walk out of the lab, the fitness center, or the studio, we may feel more alive and inhabit our lives more fully.
Exercise
This exercise explores mindful seeing, so it might be fun to have something other than your computer in front of you if you can. Can you turn your chair to the right or left? Is there a window, painting, or photograph you can look at? Once you get the basic idea, this is a great one to try outdoors.
Listen to this episode with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Now More Than Never to listen to this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.
