Current Musings: Attention and Intention

Lately, I’ve been thinking about attention—how we use our bodies to create a field for both attention and intention.

In today’s world, distraction is everywhere. The way we multitask often works to our disadvantage, pulling us in multiple directions so that we’re never fully present in either place. I notice how easily I get distracted, and I realize that the quality of my attention is directly tied to whether I am centered in my body and emotionally aligned. Cultivating this presence is an ongoing practice.

In the Alexander Technique, we learn to give ourselves energetic direction. But in our daily lives, it can be as simple as turning off your phone or leaving it in the car when you’re in a class or with a friend. Everything around us—news, consumer culture, social media—competes for our attention.

Chris Hayes, in his book The Siren’s Call, shares a powerful moment: He was reading a bedtime story to his daughter when the phone rang. In that instant, he asked himself, Twenty years from now, what will matter more—the story I read to my daughter or the phone call I took?

To create a safe and grounded container for ourselves, we must learn the difference between holding our energy—honoring the power of who we are—and unconsciously dispersing it. A simple technique is to breathe into the edges of your body, rather than letting your energy dissipate outward. Breathe into your feet, connect to the earth, and allow yourself to receive its energy.

Know when you are checking out. Recognize what it means to leave your body. Distraction is, in many ways, a form of dissociation. In a world that constantly pulls us toward fragmentation, learning to stay present is one of the most valuable practices we can cultivate.

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