What are you paying attention to?

I recently had a student ask me, “Are you doing all the things you’re supposed to be doing?” I had to answer, “No. Just the things I’m paying attention to right now.” ;) Luckily, the practice of yoga is a lot about learning to pay attention.

I often describe yoga practice as being different from exercise because of the level of paying attention/mindfulness we develop in the practice. Don’t get me wrong, there are many exercisers who are very mindful in their exercise – but yoga encourages a special emphasis on turning inward, paying attention to where you are in the present moment. The idea is that once we focus our attention on something, we can be more purposeful about our actions and thoughts.

Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras talk about the power of paying attention. “1.32 tat pratisedha artham eka tattva abhyasah: To prevent or deal with the nine obstacles and their four consequences (described in the previous two sutras), the recommendation is to make the mind one-pointed, training it how to focus on a single principle or object.” The ideas is that if the mind is focused, then it is less likely to get caught up or lost in delusions. Patanjali stated that the fundamental cause of suffering happens when we falsely identify our consciousness with the many levels of conditioning. (More detail HERE.)

A mundane example of this might be paying attention to what we eat. I’ve been spending a lot of attention on this the last few weeks. Many of you know that I’ve been participating in some self-research with Zoe Science & Nutrition (see more about my whole process HERE). One component of this program has been logging my food. If you’ve ever done this, there’s a funny side effect of tracking the diet – sometimes I will choose not to eat something because I know it will have an adverse effect, or even that it’s too much trouble to log into the account. Simply paying attention affects my actions!

I recognize that I probably will never be able to pay attention to all the things forever. It makes me wonder how I might direct my attention to the things that are most important to me. What simple things can I do to remind myself to pay attention and prioritize what I value?

Yoga has some ideas. Centering oneself is a great way to step out of the momentum of worry or trying to figure things out. Centering practices are different for everyone. Maybe it’s meditation, or just focusing on the breath for a few minutes. It could be going for a walk or stepping into the grass barefoot. It might be prayer or gratitude practices. Even practicing yoga in a group class or taking time for a massage can center the mind. The essence of the practice is to step outside the constant thinking, worrying, or ruminating to focus the mind. Think about what works for you, what could you do everyday (maybe even multiple times a day) to strengthen your focus?