Chapter
Seven
Attention
effects were very striking. The vase
seemed more vivid, richer, or even
luminous. It became animated, or
alive, and people felt they were merg-
ing with the vase or that perceived
changes in its shape were happening
in their own bodies. This sounds like
an intensified version of the increases
in contrast or resolution that may
result from everyday attending.
Deikman argued that as we normally
develop through life, we learn to
attend increasingly to thoughts and
abstract categorisations. This allows
us to conserve attentional energy for
the higher-level goals of biological
and psychological survival. But the
side-effect is that our perception
becomes automatised and dull. The effect of this exercise in concentrated med-
itative attention was ‘deautomatisation’ (Deikman, 1966, 2000). Similar effects
may be observed after taking LSD or in other ‘altered’ states of consciousness (see
Chapter 13). The mechanisms involved in reducing automatisation and increas-
ing cognitive–emotional flexibility through meditation may include: reducing
the chaining of thoughts into an associative stream; making the contents of the
thought chains more flexible and varied; and/or creating new paths for the chains
of thought (Fox et al., 2016).
The most common object for concentrated attention is the breath. One method is
to count out-breaths up to ten and then start again at one. This can help deal with
the distractions that all too often plague the mind in open meditation, leading
one to get lost in long trains of thoughts for minutes at a time. If you are count-
ing the breath, you are much more likely to notice that you have lost count, and
even to remember where you got to. This can be quite shocking as well as useful.
Another method is just to watch and feel the sensation of air flowing naturally in
and out as the chest rises and falls.
Sometimes special techniques are used that alter the breathing rate or depth,
the ratio of in-breath to out-breath, and whether the breathing is predom-
inantly in the chest or abdomen. Different breathing patterns have powerful
effects on awareness and there is evidence that experienced meditators use
these effects instinctively. For example, during the in-breath, pupils dilate, heart
rate increases, and activity in the brain stem increases, as does activity in some
higher brain areas. The opposite occurs during the out-breath. Blood gas levels
also change. Research shows that experienced meditators spend more time
slowly exhaling, and increase abdominal breathing. Overall, they may reduce
their breathing rate from the normal twelve to twenty or so breaths per min-
ute to as little as four to six, often without ever explicitly being trained or even
realising that they are doing so (Austin, 1998). Some meditators stop breathing
altogether for periods of many seconds, and one study of TM adepts showed
that these stops often coincided with moments of ‘pure consciousness’ or wake-
ful no-thought (Farrow and Hebert, 1982; Forman, 1990, 1999; see Chapter 18).
FIGURE 7.7 • Letting go, not pushing away.