As I walk out on the street to get somewhere, I often notice people walking their dogs or pushing a pram or simply just walking as I am. This would not be an unusual sight but over the past years, it has become apparent that these activities are often accompanied by looking at the mobile phone. I am going to be honest and share that it disturbs me to observe this “multitasking” on the street.
When I was a child, I was told not to walk and read my book at the same time, as this could result in an accident. This was true then, even if I had not liked hearing it from my mom; I made the experiment to read my book, trip over the little step that I had not noticed and learned my painful lesson then. In my 20s, I began my training in martial arts, Shao Lin Quan, where we were trained to keep our senses clear and focused on our surroundings so that we would be able to react to any situation presented; in a martial art situation, one would be ready to respond in the event of an attack. I understood then that I was honing my skills for survival, when my senses are clear and aware, by being present in that moment and place I am in.
I came across an interview on the American Psychological Association APA recently, it was about attention span in the modern world. The researcher, Dr. Gloria Mark, who wrote a book titled ‘Attention Span,’ describes how she has been studying attention span for over 20 years and how it has decreased over the last 22 years. In 2004, with the help of a stopwatch, her researchers found that people averaged an attention span of 2 minutes and 30 seconds on an activity. In 2012, with the help of computer activity monitoring, it was down to 1 minute and 15 seconds. By 2016, it was at 47 seconds. Of course, in this time, the supposed ‘benefits’ of multitasking and the glorification of efficiency models were/are at its peak. Yet our attention spans are diminishing. She also observed that every time we moved our attention to another activity, there is a physiological response in our bodies, with an increased heart rate as well as in blood pressure, indicating a stress response. Why are we so surprised that we are feeling stressed or that we have high blood pressure when in the span of 10 minutes, we would have switched activity almost 13 times. Maybe we need to lay off the hypertension medication and just do one thing at a time. Not only would it be beneficial for our bodies and minds, but also for the beings around us and our environment. Maybe those babies in the pram and the dogs we are walking would feel more care and connection to us, if we gave them our attention instead of the mobile phone.
When I read the definition of the word ‘attention’ from the American Heritage Dictionary, it states:
- “Concentration of the mental powers upon an object.”
- “Observant consideration; notice.”
- “Courtesy or consideration.”
If I apply these definitions to the current research about attention and lack thereof, it makes me sad to think that we have become less observant, less considerate and less courteous.
It is time to become attentive, not just for our own health and ourselves but also for all around us. Let go of that object that distracts us as we do the most basic human movement of walking. Walk with awareness, of our own bodies, of our environment and of the beings we are with. Go on, get out into the spring sunshine and take a walk with attention!
Image by Sam Lion on pexels.com
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