You're Already Training Your Attention
Photo by Clem Onojeghuo on Unsplash
A lot of books and articles describe how mindfulness practice changes the brain.
What they don't always mention is that any actions you repeatedly make will change your brain.
If you practice the violin consistently, you'll develop the brain of a violinist.
If you learn a new language, the grey matter in your brain could become denser.
Everyone is training their attention, but most of the time we’re unintentionally increasing our internal friction.
Mindful awareness practice changes the brain in ways that lead to better emotional regulation.
By never exercising selective attention, we reinforce the impulse to move towards comfort and certainty and steer away from discomfort and confusion.
When we start to pay closer attention to our perceptions in real-time, however, we begin to ask some potentially liberating questions.
Is it possible to briefly observe some physical and emotional discomforts before I try to get rid of them?
How does my relationship to ambiguity and confusion show up in my habitual behaviors related to distraction, panic, and numbing out?
Do I ever feel at home in my life as it is right now, or does it seem like I'm always waiting for better versions of whatever is happening?
Repeatedly pausing to investigate discomforts can disrupt the automatic ways we relate to them without noticing.
Residing entirely in autopilot mode strengthens the capacity for feeling perpetually homesick for better circumstances.
Investigating your perceptions in real-time trains your attention so that your baseline contentment becomes less dependent on comfort and certainty.
So don't just try to change your brain.
Exercise your attention to develop the brain of a person who feels more at home in the messiness of real life.
This article originally appeared on LinkedIn.
