What You Give Your Attention To
There are so many things over which we have no control, but our attention is one of our most valuable and overlooked assets. In a world that wants to grab our attention and direct it every which way, the ability to reorient ourselves to the experiences, values, and mission that matters most in our hearts is a discipline that takes much time and courage.
To train in what you are giving your inattention and what you are giving your attention, first, in the present moment, now in this moment, in this body, exactly as it is, CHOOSE what receives your attention. Is it the vase of flowers in front of you? Is it your breath? Is it the heart connection you feel all the time to someone you love?
In this moment, and gently, CHOOSE to take your attention away from old villains, old stories, anything that creates constriction in your body. Re-MEMBER in your body the feelingn of your personal, global intention. Feel how this allows your attention to RELAX back slightly into relationship with all that supports you in THIS MOMENT NOW towards your deepest desires. LET GO. A little bit. A lot. Or completely. Feel the support that is around you, either in manifested forms or in the universal energetic field from the past and the future.
If you are in doubt, move in a way that makes you LAUGH. Fart. Burb. Chortle. Shimmy. HUMOR DISRUPTS DOUBT. Laughter and spontaneous movement support openings. Openings allow clarity to return.
If you are in anger, say to your heart, “There has been so much anger on this planet. I, too, have known anger in my body. Anger is passing through me yet again.” Allow your attention to shift from the identity or inescapability of anger to the transitory and universal experience of anger. You are not your thoughts. You are not your feelings.
The same practice works with fear but with an added noticing and giving your attention to where in the body you can feel some measure of safety right now in the HereandNow.
Once there is a little more space, you can begin to recall: "I feel wonderful in my body when my attention goes to...." Even if your attention cannot go there right now, you can recall what experiences, especially simple experiences, make you feel good in your body.
Just a gentle recalling in the mind is enough to reconnect mind and heart into citta (heartmind), into some safety, into possibility, into the space of the present moment and even, maybe, into your bigger vision of what’s possible in the future. Maybe there is even gratitude. It is okay. You can just be in gratitude. You can trust. It is okay. Gratitude is your home. Gratitude can be trusted. True, naturally arising, non-bullied thank-fullness is your natural state of being.
