experiences as well as how they respond to their world. Over time,
with practice, they learn to direct their attention in ways that are
most helpful to themselves and to those around them, even during
difficult moments.
THE POWER OF FOCUSED ATTENTION
To understand why mindsight oʃers such empowering choices, it’s
helpful to understand what happens in the brain when a person
concentrates on one particular set of rim points. As we’ve discussed
already, the brain physically changes in response to new
experiences. With intention and eʃort, we can acquire new mental
skills. What’s more, when we direct our attention in a new way,
we are actually creating a new experience that can change both the
activity and ultimately the structure of the brain itself.
Here’s how it works. When we have a new experience or
concentrate on something—say, on how we feel or a goal we’d like
to achieve—that activates neural ɹring. In other words, neurons
(our brain cells) spring into action. This neural ɹring leads to the
production of proteins that enable new connections to be wired
among the activated neurons. Remember, neurons that ɹre
together wire together. This entire process—from neural activation
to neural growth and strengthened connections—is neuroplasticity.
Essentially, it means that the brain itself is plastic, or changing,
based on what we experience, and what we give our attention to.
And these new neural connections, created when we pay attention
to something, in turn alter the way we respond to and interact with
our world. This is how practice can become a skill and how a state
can become a trait, for good or for bad.
There’s a lot of scientiɹc evidence demonstrating that focused
attention leads to the reshaping of the brain. In animals rewarded