By Lauren Monroe
Not too long ago, I asked you to do something that should be simple but can be a nearly impossible challenge. I asked you to move beyond the distractions that occupy your mind on a daily basis: your job, your family, your financial situation, your iPhone. I asked you to take a moment each day for a month to sit in silence and be aware: of your environment, of your mental state, of your emotions.
Being in a state of awareness is observing and then letting go of any thought, sound, feeling or image that passes through your field of perception.
Awareness is an active state. It is actively inviting the world to pass through you. It is welcoming your thoughts and your emotions to come and go.
As you become adept at being in awareness, you have an opportunity to gain greater control over your power by choosing where you focus your attention.
The second step in activating your power is choosing where to focus your attention.
By allowing distractions to flow in and out of our awareness without becoming attached to them, we can begin to identify what we pay attention to as well as what we want to pay attention to. Where do you want to bring your attention?
Attention is an active state. It is actively choosing the emotions, mental states, people, and problems that we want to attend to.
Often, we move from one thought to the next or one task to the next without any sense of purpose. We’re steered not by our own desires or aspirations but by circumstances. The kids woke up late and now we’re rushing forward to get them to school. The boss is in a bad mood and now we’re fumbling through work in an effort to appease him. A Facebook banner popped up on our screen and now we’re scrolling endlessly through advertisements and political posts.
Distractions will always be there, but when we’re aware of the distractions, when we’re aware of our feelings, and our lack of time, we can move into a place of focusing our attention where it matters.
By pausing to recognize what I want to pay attention to, I empower myself and begin to craft my life to my own specifications rather than accepting whatever the world throws my way.
You are invited to a webinar workshop with Lauren Monroe and be guided through mindfulness attention practice on Monday, June 25, 2018 at 5pm PT.
Register in advance, click here for this webinar workshop. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.