In recent years, attention deficit has been trending in popular psychology and medicine. Vaguely diagnostic references such as adult attention deficit, neurodivergent, and "on the spectrum," have gained significant traction in psychotherapeutic circles. Those searching for meaning and belonging reach for explanations that qualify their neurodiversity. At the same time, societal norms pathologize humans for our diminishing capacity to focus and produce in a commodified world that demands and consumes all of our time and attention.
What if we were to consider attention as a real capacity to attend to what is needed in each moment rather than the ability to maintain external focus on an outer image or demand? Considered in this way, we have the possibility of observing, first, how we actually use our attention—often unwillingly and without decision—and second, how we wish to use our attention. What is it we would like to use our life energy to attend to? In each life event, or given condition, what is actually needed?
These workshops offer a clear and simple possibility for reclaiming some of our attention and for understanding how to use our attention to become present. By bringing in the body, and unifying the energies of body and mind, we begin to experience ourselves more cohesively, and when body, mind, and feelings function together, we can receive a taste of Conscious energy. This means that our Being is present, and we are connected to our True nature. Whatever we do in this moment nurtures understanding, harmony, and balance in ourselves, with others, and with all life, because we are no longer holding ourselves separately.
The workshops are appropriate for practitioners in the fields of mental, physical, and emotional health, and for anyone who is interested in understanding how to work with attention.
These workshops are participatory and experiential. We will practice a variety of somatic movement and partner bodywork exercises that nurture connection between body, mind, and feelings, and open possibilities to process events in a new way that strengthens our capacity to assimilate, heal, and live fully and vibrantly. Please be comfortable sitting on and working on a well-padded floor.