The Whole-Brain Child

legs, and face—so he could then direct his attention toward
something that would relax him. Then he could take the next steps
to bring together the diʃerent parts of himself. He could think
about other rim points: his conɹdence that his parents would
protect him and would never let him sleep beneath a fan that might
fall and hurt him, or his memory of how much fun he’d had that
day digging the huge hole in the backyard. Or he could focus on the
tension he felt in his body and use some guided imagery to help
himself relax. Jason loves to ɹsh, so he learned to picture himself
in a boat with his father. (We’ll say more about this technique in a
minute.)
Again, it all comes back to awareness. By becoming aware that
he was stuck on one part of the rim of his wheel, and realizing that
he had other options regarding where he directed his
concentration, Jason learned to shift his focus and therefore his
mental state. That meant he could then make decisions that made
life much easier for both himself and his family. They all survived
this difficult phase without having to remove the ceiling fan.
But once again, integration led not only to surviving, but to
thriving as well. Mindsight wasn’t just a Band-Aid for Jason that
helped him and his parents deal with one particular diɽcult
nighttime obstacle. It also produced a more fundamental change
that will create beneɹts long into adulthood. In other words,
learning to use the wheel of awareness and change where his
attention was directed naturally changed Jason’s perspective—but
it did much more than that. As Jason, even at such a young age,
understood this principle and practiced concentrating on other rim
points, the neurons in his brain ɹred in new ways and made new
connections. These new ɹrings and wirings changed the makeup of
his brain and left him less vulnerable not only to this particular
fear and this particular obsession, but to future fears and
obsessions as well—like when he felt petriɹed about singing