Mindfulness & Attention

A Special Application forest

Attention is one of the most fascinating and mysterious aspects of our existence as human beings. We go through most of our life without paying much attention to attention. If you’re reading these words right now then you’re paying attention. But what does that mean? The challenge we are faced with is to try to understand how our attention works and to improve our own attention skills. This is not an easy task. But with persistence and practice we can make significant changes in the way we use our attention. We can improve concentration, our intimate relationships, our spiritual practice, and our overall mental health. What’s at stake is nothing less than our experience of life itself.

Working with your Attention

April 6- May 5, 2009

A long-distance learning program.

Much of our psychological and emotional distress is associated with an exaggerated degree of self-focused attention. Strengthening your attention skills can help to improve your mental health and enhance your enjoyment of life.

Through daily exercises, based on Japanese methods of psychology, this program provides practical benefits while blending the spiritual and psychological with the tasks of daily life.

Includes audio program, calendar of exercises, access to course advisor, printed and on-line reading materials and more.

Learn about our long-distance learning program, Working with your Attention.

Basic Principles:

That which you pay attention to grows
Psychological suffering is generally associated with a heightened degree of self-focused attention
When you wish to shift your attention, lead with the body, not the mind
Different tasks/situations require different attention skills (e.g. single pointed attention vs. broad attention)
Your experience of life is not based on your life, but on what you pay attention to (excerpted from Gregg Krech’s audio program Life is a Matter of Attention)

“Anxiety is misdirected attention.”
Shoma Morita, M.D.

“Perhaps there is no property in which men are more distinguished from each other, than in various degrees in which they possess the faculty of observation. The great herd of mankind pass their lives in listless inattention and indifference as to what is going on around them, while those who are destined to distinction have a lynx-eyed vigilance that nothing can escape.”
American jurist William Wirt

One morning, a blood vessel in Jill Bolte Taylor's brain exploded. As a brain scientist, she realized she had a ringside seat to her own stroke. She watched as her brain functions shut down one by one: motion, speech, memory, self-awareness ... In her case, although the stroke damaged the left side of her brain, her recovery unleashed a torrent of creative energy from her right. Her presentation is a powerful lesson in how we use our attention and the importance and profound value of creatvity and the present moment.

The ToDo Institute Membership

Become a ToDo member!
For only $30, Basic Membership includes:

Subscription to Thirty Thousand Days: A Journal for Purposeful Living
Complete access to TDI’s Internet Library of Japanese Psychology (more than 150 articles)
A free eBook copy of A Finger Pointing to the Moon
20% discount on all Long Distance Programs
10% discount on all books and tapes
5% discount on all TDI training programs

Articles From the ToDo Institute’s Resource Library

Japanese Psychology and Purposeful Living

Anxiety as Misdirected Attention: A Case Study

...I learned two very important lessons. First, never make assumptions that because something is long-standing it is therefore complex and intractable. Secondly, working simply is the best way to start (and in this case finish).
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Powers of Observation

...[O]bservation is a major key to success. The observation of the passing scene is proof against boredom; every day brings new sensations, new things to enjoy and to think about. And by providing constant mental and emotional stimulation, observation lets people know what it means to be truly alive -- to live life to its full potential. Whatever other successes one may have, the leading of a vibrant and fulfilling life is the highest success.
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Exploring the Link Between Gratitude and Attention

By Gregg Krech
[T]o cultivate gratitude, we need to develop a new habit of attention.... Through self-reflection, we can come to see everything we have, and are, as gifts. And through self-reflection we begin to train our attention to notice what we haven’t noticed.
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When it Comes to Attention, “I” am the Enemy

But it is the tragedy of psychology that it is still preoccupied with self-preoccupation. Too often it teaches us to do what we already do too well -- pay attention to ourselves. In the course of exploring our pain, our worries, our feelings and our dreams we forego the development of our more needed skill -- to notice and engage the world around us. Without practice, our muscles atrophy. So the next time you find yourself self-absorbed, take a walk. Look around you. The world is an interesting place. It might even give you something to do. If the stars are out, close your eyes. Listen. You might just hear them twinkle. That is how they get your attention.
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