Attention Game for Greater Calm

How To Use This Video

This is little attention game that can train your brain and nervous system to remain calm and steady amidst the ebbs and flows of life. (Please note: the effect of the video will be more powerful if you listen through headphones or earbuds.)   

First, it guides you through some slow breathing and relaxation.   

Then you’ll be guided to follow the music as it fades into silence, and to maintain a sense of that silence as the sound of the music re-emerges. The repeated experience of this silence gives you the opportunity to discover that there is always a silent stillness available behind the surface of our experience.  Our attention is usually too caught up in the everchanging drama of life to notice it, but by gently shifting your attention to become aware of it, you can rewire your brain in such a way that this calm, spacious silence emerges more and more into the foreground of your experience. With regular practice, your brain can develop to the point where you have access to it even in the most difficult of circumstances.

 Music composed and performed by Don, using Logic Pro X.

Video created by Jan using Motion 5.

Making Use of the Video During the Day

A Mindful, Restorative Pause 

You might try watching part of the video again once or twice during the day – just enough of it to bring you back in touch with that quality of stillness and silence.  Then when you stop watching, have a gentle intention to maintain some awareness of the stillness and/or silence (whichever quality is more vivid in your experience) in the background as you continue with your activities.  

Or you could reattune yourself to the silence without the use of the video. For this, it can be very helpful to start by taking a few slow, gentle breaths and then spending a moment noticing the sensations of your body, then noticing the sounds in your environment, and then shifting your attention to the silence between, behind, and around the sounds.  You can recall the silence you experienced earlier with the video to help attune yourself to it in the moment.  

Don’t be concerned if this isn’t apparent to you right away.  It’s not until the 5th week of our online course, “Train Your Brain, Change Your Life,” that we introduce practices designed to familiarize yourself with this peaceful background quality of silence and stillness.