Training the attention muscle, key to reinforcing resilience
In this context of pandemic and confinement, knowing how to manage our attention is essential.
In these times of confinement caused by the pandemic, thousands of people are facing a complicated reality, both in terms of economic hardship and the impossibility of leaving their homes when they want to go home. economic difficulties as well as the impossibility of leaving home whenever we want and the risk of contagion.
Therefore, in many cases it is necessary to develop resilience skills, i.e. the psychological capacity to face crises or catastrophic situations with a constructive mindset and without letting painful emotions paralyze us.
These resilience skills are diverse, and psychologists help to enhance many of them in psychotherapy sessions with patients, but in this case we will focus on a very important one during these weeks: the ability to modulate the focus of attention.
The importance of training the attention Muscle in the face of difficulties.
One of the characteristics of sadness is that, if we allow ourselves to be dragged by it indefinitely, we tend to see everything from a clearly pessimistic point of view. This not only makes us feel bad; it also continues to feed that emotional state marked by negativity and more importantly, actions that expose us to more discomfort.
When it comes to managing this emotional imbalance, there is a very important element that we often overlook: attention management.. Where a person afflicted by anxiety and pessimism sees a hostile world full of difficulties, there is often, at least in part, a problem of attentional focus management. If we get used to focus our mind on the negative, the discomfort will attract to us more discomfort in a vicious circle from which we should get out as soon as possible.
Now then... What can we do to improve our attention regulation skills? For this, we have a very valuable tool: Mindfulness.
Enhancing resilience through Mindfulness
Mindfulness, also known as Mindfulness, is a state of consciousness a state of consciousness characterized by making us focus on the present, detaching ourselves from worries about the present.It is also a series of mindfulness exercises that help us to focus on the present, letting go of worries about the past and the future, and adopting a more detached and non-judgmental perspective.
It is also a series of psychological exercises that we can use to induce in us this state of consciousness. It is a practice inspired by the traditional Vipassana meditation of India and nearby countries, although it differs from it, among other things, in that it is stripped of any religious or mystical element: it is a therapeutic tool that has been scientifically researched for decades.
Thus, Mindfulness has several beneficial effects for the mind, most of which are very useful in developing resilience in the face of crises and times in which when we have to adapt to difficult and painful situations, such as the death of loved onesSuch as the death of loved ones, the sudden drop in the level of income, or a layoff from the company where we worked. Of course, in all these cases there is an objective fact that produces emotional pain and that exists outside of us, but through resources such as Mindfulness it is easier to adapt to these circumstances in the best possible way and move forward.
How does this happen? Mindfulness helps us to "wipe the slate clean" with regard to painful emotions, especially anxiety. and especially anxiety. For example, if there is a thought that appears again and again in our consciousness and we find it disturbing or generates anxiety, through Mindfulness practiced regularly we can go losing the fear, we are desensitized to this and learn to see it as a thought, like many others that comes at a certain time and then goes away. In this way we can focus our attention on more stimulating and constructive aspects of our daily lives.
In addition, Mindfulness promotes a philosophy of life based on the acceptance of that which cannot be controlled. acceptance of that which cannot be controlled, and action directed at achievingand action aimed at achieving concrete solutions to what we do have control over. This combination is very useful where resilience is needed.
Looking for support in coping with difficult times?
Even during days of home confinement, psychologists continue to work to provide professional support to patients. We continue to help people especially through online therapy via video call, a service that many of us have been using for some time now and which has proven to be effective in addressing most cases.
Therefore, if you are interested in starting a psychotherapy program in which you can learn the principles of Mindfulness and other psychological tools to better regulate your emotions, we invite you to contact us. At PsicoTools we put at your disposal a team of psychologists specialized in different areas of mental health and a professional trajectory of many years to adapt to your needs and help you overcome problems such as generalized anxiety, depression, work stress, low self-esteem, psychological trauma, and more. If you are interested in seeing our contact details, access this page.
Bibliographic references:
- Didonna F. (2011). Mindfulness Clinical Manual. Bilbao: Editorial Desclée De Brouwer.
- Dreeben, S.; Mamberg, M. & Salmon, P. (2013). The MBSR body scan in clinical practice. Mindfulness. 4: pp. 394 - 401.
- Garland, E.L. & Howard, M.O. (2018). Mindfulness-based treatment of addiction: current state of the field and envisioning the next wave of research. Addict Sci Clin Pract, 13(1): 14.
- Hassed Craig & Chambers, Richard (2014). Mindful learning: reduce stress and improve brain performance for effective learning. Exisle Publishing.
- Lutz et. al; Slagter, HA; Dunne, JD; Davidson, RJ. (2008). Attention regulation and monitoring in meditation. Trends in cognitive sciences 12 (4): pp. 163 - 169.
(Updated at Apr 12 / 2024)