We’re all used to having our attention disrupted at home and at work. This could be by conversations, messages, phone calls, social media notifications, or simply wandering off in thought.
One surprising research finding is that when our attention is disrupted, the quality of what we do remains consistent. However, there is a cost as we often compensate for the lost time by working faster, which increases our levels of stress and frustration. Other researchers who studied task-switching in the normal working environment found that about half of all interruptions are when people interrupt themselves by switching to something else, for instance, by swapping working on a report to checking email, or browsing a news site.
One way of looking at our experience is to separate it into the foreground and background. We tend to focus all our attention on the content and activity in the foreground of experience. The foreground is the main content, the conversation, the sounds, and the pictures that happen to be prominent in conscious awareness in any moment. The background is everything else, that’s often out of focus and not processed by conscious attention.
Imagine for a moment that you’re at work and have just opened an email with some potentially worrying news about an organisational change. While you’re reading the text, in the foreground, unnoticed and outside of conscious awareness, you’re starting to tense up around your neck and shoulders; there’s the hum of traffic outside the window, and a light breeze gently rattles the leaves on the trees across the road. Your attention is focussed on the email, but all these things, which are part of the rich background, can play a useful part in your experience. For instance, noticing that you’re tensing up and acknowledging the feeling of anxiety emerging means that you are better placed to respond to the emotion. Also, by sending your awareness outwards, for instance, by noticing the sounds outside, you open up a bit of space and freedom from limitation in that moment.
Just about all phenomena in the foreground go through the same cycle: they arise, play out for a while, and then release back from where they came from; like a wave rising on the surface of the ocean, lifting to a peak, then returning into the ocean.
One way of looking at our experience is to separate it into three layers.
- The waves on the surface are the shifting foreground of content and activity –– where we generally spend most of our time and attention
- Below the surface, it’s quieter, but there’s still some content and activity, for instance, physical sensations and sounds, which often go unnoticed
- The whole ocean is the overall background, which is the space, silence, and stillness that contains the waves, the content, thoughts, and sounds
If you observe your attention, you’ll notice that most of your waking life is spent following the foreground of experience. With mindfulness, we also build an awareness of what’s going on beneath the surface, as well as learning to access the inner resources of the whole ocean.
Perhaps you’re thinking, what’s the problem with keeping our attention on the foreground – surely that’s where the important stuff is? And you’re right; being able to focus your powerful attention, thinking, and creativity on the foreground is important. It’s just that we can also benefit from getting more familiar with the background of experience as well. When you’re on the surface with the waves, you’re either bobbing up and down, or a wave is crashing into you. Without the broader background. our attention is less stable, so more prone to being easily distracted by the environment. This is a recognized cognitive issue for the generations who have grown up with digital media that competes by grabbing their attention. Caught up in the foreground of experience we end up reacting automatically and lose the space and freedom of choice to respond more skilfully.
When we rest in the broader background, the ocean that contains the waves, the whole of our conscious experience is more vivid, richer, more insightful, peaceful, stable, and grounded; with access to greater inner resources and the space and flexibility to respond with openness and kindness.
Suggested weekly practice
- Notice and explore the difference between the foreground and background of things; for instance, the foreground and the background in a film or television programme, the foreground melody and background accompaniment in music.
- When you meditate, see if you can bring the background into the foreground and notice the richness and diversity of everything that is being experienced.
- Be more aware of the space, silence, and stillness in the background of things, including your own thoughts and feelings.
Guidance
Find somewhere undisturbed and sit in a comfortable, dignified and upright posture, where you can remain alert and aware. There are two guided practices for this session. You can close your eyes, or lower your gaze while the meditations play.
- Play the first settling practice, then read through the session content, which you can print off if that helps.
- Then play the second practice to explore the foreground and background of experience.
