Into Focus
One of the technologies I specialize in as a somaticist, is the art of focus.
When we practice any somatic discipline, be it yogic, meditative, or psychotherapeutic, we are inevitably going to improve the capacities of our attention. Whether through tracking sensation, resting the mind on the wave of the breath, or articulating a movement through anatomical awareness; we are giving our mind something to focus on and carving fresh neuropathways.
And I wonder…
What is the difference between choosing something to focus on vs. allowing insight to come into focus inside of us?
Cameras are a part of our daily lives. And what’s wild about this to me, is that we literally carry around an extra eye in our pocket. Camera’s are designed like eyes, to allow light and color in through a lens which shapes what we see. The picture is not there. It is the eye, the lens, and the light that shapes the image.
I have both a BFA and MFA in Art. And in art school, we train in our discipline, as well as how we gaze upon our discipline. Receiving critiques from other artists is a regular practice, as this is how we better our craft. So, we are trained to be aware of how we gaze at another artist’s work and practice offering them unbiased feedback. This is a powerful and useful skill to develop! After all, can we even begin to possibly detangle our bias from what we see? The way around this is to allow the art to work on us rather than to seek something about the art to fixate on. It is a method of gazing from the body rather than the mind.
I wonder what would happen if everyone gazed at the world more like an artist? What happens if we let our dreams, desires, and truths to come into focus rather than try to choose them? What’s possible when we release the pressure to focus out and instead focus in?
*Caveat: I think there is a difference between letting things come into focus inside of us and disassociating. This form of concentration is still a conscious act. Disassociation is a trauma response, and therefore by its very nature, is not conscious.