Sustained Attention

I've taken classes this spring from a teacher who identifies a benefit of yoga practice as the cultivation of sustained attention.  That seems right.

I've written before about distraction, and some ways that I work to minimize the impact of distraction, to recognize and pull back from a distracted state.  Sustained attention is the positive to distraction's negative.  Distraction compromises sustained attention.  Sustained attention keeps distraction at bay.

What is the value of sustained attention?  Why spend so much time working to cultivate it?
At a superficial level - day to day functioning in the world - sustained attention is important to being able to get things done.  Washing the dishes, doing the taxes, planning for an important meeting, developing a project plan - all kinds of things we want to accomplish require application of our mental and physical energy over a period of time - sustained attention.

At a deeper level, sustained attention is what allows us to most fully experience and appreciate life's experiences.  Indeed, sustained attention fundamentally alters the experiences we will have.  This is the purpose and effect of my "10 breaths" practice.  Sustaining attention, for a period of 10 deep breaths, on some thing or experience - whether the song of a cardinal, the petal of a flower, the pattern of shadows playing on a window shade, the Pleiades in the night sky, sunlight playing off water flowing down a creek, a cat sleeping in a patch of sunshine - can bring a profound sense of connection, wonder, and appreciation.

It's the same flower if I pay attention or not, but my experience is fundamentally affected by my choice and ability to sustain attention.  That is why it is worth cultivating.