This mindful “spotlight” practice can create actual positive physical
changes to the structure of the pre-frontal cortex which means more calm, more clarity,
more compassion more heart/brain coherence.
A multi-tasking superhuman super-hero may be able to fight the enemy whilst
also holding up a building and changing the weather but for most of us mortals
one task in any one moment is enough. Neuro scientists have proved that as we
have an experience the brain throws a spotlight onto one area and everything
else fades out of focus. A good example you’ll already know if you've had the
pleasure of a British speed awareness course, is you'll have been shown a short
film after which they invite you to recall everything that you've seen, your
conscious mind simply doesn't record everything that you see and most people
quickly realise that they've missed out some vital detail, this also explains
one of the reasons how a group of friends may share an experience but can
remember it quite differently. So what does happen when you overload the system
with too much information? As your spotlight of focus darts about between the
senses you may start to feel overwhelmed, then tired, the less energy that you
have the more stress rises and focus will fall onto negative patterns. As this
happens, your executive function (decision making) suffers greatly. The fastest
way to reboot the system and bring about calm is to turn the spotlight inward.
Doing the following exercise for a few minutes will re-energise the frontal cortex of the brain. Like
training any muscle, the more you practice this for yourself the better the
results…….
Close your eyes if it helps. Turn your spotlight onto your breath and breathe
in slowly, feel the air coming into your body, through your nostrils and down
into your tum. Be aware of it in your body and simply keep your spotlight on the
air as it very slowly makes it way back out again. Keeping your focus on
letting the air out slowly is what will really calm everything down. If you lose track just wait for the next breath and start again.
Because what we focus on we feel...taking your spotlight to your breathing will
also bring your heart into coherence giving you not only a sense of well-being
but bring back the sparkle into all of your organs as they radiate with renewed
energy.
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