It has been shown that breath attention reduces activity of the brains Default Mode Network (“DMN”), which is associated with the wandering mind (self-referencing, futurising, anxiety and others..)
It has also been shown that in long term practitioners, this extends beyond just the practice itself.
So, what we have is a positive benefit that is associated with practices such as breath attention, but one key problem…
We need to learn to cultivate “attention.”
I have talked a lot about attention in the past, as a grounds for connection and the main building block for broader awareness.
So, to begin with, we need to establish the training grounds for cultivation of attention, with the expectation that we might not yet see the full benefits of the practice (that comes after we get good at the attention part!). There are two ways to “train” it that I prefer:
1. Seated practice – elimination of all distractions, here we can focus on the breath
2. Daily cue – this is setting a reminder throughout the day (a cue of some sort – say your phone, or when you go to the bathroom) to check in with the breath.
Over time, our ability to hold attention increases and we start to notice more distinct benefits. At the beginning, we have more or less a clunky sitting practice and an almost impossible task of remembering to check in with the breath over the day!
However, if this is the process, we all start at the beginning.
