Continuing the lessons adapted from Mindfulness: 25 Ways to live in the present moment through art we now turn our attention to attention. Christophe André, eminent French psychiatrist and author of this best-selling book, examines a painting by 15th century artist, Hieronymous Bosch.
Our capacity for attention underpins our mental efficiency and our well being. Attention is the core of mindfulness practice. Sit down, focus on your breath and notice how your mind moves elsewhere. Return your attention back to your breath once, ten times, hundreds of times. Hundreds of steps taught you to walk. Every day, hundreds of steps maintain your ability to walk. The same is true of your capacity for attention.
If you live in a scattered state, simply reacting to anything and everything your attention gets used to jumping from one thing to another, one worry to another, one distraction to another. This fragmented mode of attention fuels states of anxiety and depression. Now, more than ever, our capacity for attention needs attention, and restoration.
At first it all looks simple. The painting is divided in two. It depicts the street magician on the right and on the left his audience.
Between them is a table. Then we start noticing the details. We smile at the jolly conjurer with his funny hat. We see the little owl symbol of trickery and duplicity, discreetly concealed in the basket he holds in his left hand, while in his right he holds up a ball that has undoubtedly reappeared from under one of the upturned cups on the table.
We note that the man bending over the table in fascination is very tall, and we realise that he has been relieved of his purse by a pickpocket staring strangely skywards, as though to distract attention from what he is doing. We wonder is the robber in cahoots with the conjurer, and perhaps with the woman being pointed at who is also dressed in red?
Then we notice some very odd details. The man being robbed is dribbling; the other people are almost all looking in different directions—some at the table and some at the conjurer or the tall, bent man, while others have their eyes closed. And then there is the last, forgotten member of the audience, a placid little toad squatting on the table, its eyes fixed on the conjurer’s trick.
As always, in the work of Bosch, this strange picture is full of symbols and has multiple meanings, but the crucial thing here is that this masterpiece also speaks to us about attention and awareness.
Mindfulness is a state of sustained, attentive awareness, from moment to moment, in which we are able to notice what is happening both in our inner world of mind and body, and in the external world—the situation and conditions we are in.
The way we generate this state is by cultivating our capacity for attention which increases the quality of our awareness which in turn becomes mindfulness.
Awareness is undoubtedly our mind’s most delicate, complicated function, and has been the subject of thousands of scientific studies but, for simplicity, we shall say there are three levels of awareness.
Three levels of awareness
1. Primary awareness of our impressions and sensations. This is a kind of preverbal awareness that helps us adapt to the world around us. It is with this awareness that while reading these lines, you also perceive your body, the sounds that come to your ears, movements around you, and so on. Primary awareness enables us to understand and calm our body and emotions.
2. Awareness of self Helps us synthesise our experiences and understand that all these sensations are ours. It is the starting point for observing the flow of our thoughts.
3. Reflective awareness Enables our mind to observe itself and what we are experiencing in mind and body.
Attention is the fundamental tool of awareness. There can be no awareness without attention. The words most often spoken by meditation teachers are, “Now gently direct your attention to …”
Source
The text of the lesson above is an edited extract from the book by Christophe André, Mindfulness: 25 Ways to live in the present moment through art (2014). Rider Books, Ebury Publishing.
OTHER LESSONS IN THE SERIES
Lesson 1 Breathe / Lesson 2 Inhabit Your Body / Lesson 3 Listen
Mindfulness Meditation Exercises
Put the theory practice with the series of six mindfulness meditation exercises here on Jervis Bay Weekend / Wellbeing. These are simple, proven techniques we know are beneficial to wellbeing.
- Synchronise Mind and Body assists mind and body to be alert and aware and fully present in the moment—enabling us to make thoughtful choices, in real-time, about how we respond, what we say and how we act.
- Body Scan Technique useful in calming body and mind, especially before sleep.
- Spacious Mind Assists the mind to adopt an open, accepting, accommodating attitude—particularly helpful preparation for fraught conversations or situations.
- Circular Breathing Practice shown to improve cognitive clarity, and ease feeling emotionally stuck.
- Notice and Name Observing sensations in the body, emotions and thoughts with friendly curiosity, naming them, letting them go.
- Equanimity Technique enabling you to handle uncomfortable feelings and maintain mindful presence.
