It is a hot, sunny morning in a faraway location, holiday time.
You’ve rented a car and started driving.
A curly road through the mountains. It’s beautiful everywhere. Sharp edges, valleys, small lakes, trees hanging from the slopes and rocks.
The road is very narrow but busy with cars and bicycles riding on the cliff’s edge and clipping your mirrors.
These bikers must be on a suicide mission, you think.
You’re driving very focused on not killing anyone and staying alive. Behind another bend, you see the sign for a viewpoint.
You want to stop for a break and some rest.
You get out of the car.
There is a big panoramic view in front of you.
You sit on a bench and look with awe: clear air, blue sky, a few clouds, rays of the Sun cutting the shadows.
You suddenly feel calm and peaceful.
It is so beautiful, you say, and this is how you feel.
You want to stay here forever, with a silence in your head.
Stillness. No past, no future, just now. Just enjoying.
Yes, this is what you will remember.
This experience
So… nice.
….
Driving back, you feel relaxed.
The road is the same, but you’re not in a rush anymore
Whatever happens next will be fine.
Just fine.
Same evening, you think. What happened there? Why did I feel that way?
….
You admired the view in front of you, but have you noticed the empty space?
It was there, but I’m pretty sure you missed it.
You can say – there was nothing in the space. So, why bother?
However, one of Dr Fehmi’s findings during his neuro-feedback research was that attending to space makes a specific change in the brain.
The brain slows down and becomes synchronous.
So, what you really felt was a real-time change in your brain’s electric processing triggered by the vast space in front of you.
….
And now, fun fact.
The empty space is next to you right now when you read these words.
It is around you.
You want to feel it? Try this.
Become aware of the space between you and the screen you are reading from now.
Become aware of space, and keep reading.
You can do it. I am sure you can.
There is space between you and the screen. Become aware of it.
Don’t stop reading and become aware of space on both sides of this screen at the same time.
Keep reading and stay aware of the space.
Have you noticed your shoulders dropping down?
….
This small adjustment in the way how you attend the world can bring a profound change to your mind and your body for the better, naturally.
It can bring calm to your mind.
It can balance your physiology and your personality.
Making you a peaceful and loving human being.
Just stay aware of space.
Thank you for this reminder. Do you think that this way of attention using space needs to be brought about by conscious attention or does it become naturally unconscious after a time of using Les Fehmi or your recordings?
Hi Daniel, you don’t have to be conscious of space to benefit from it (as in the story above).
Yes, with practice, it becomes a natural way of attending. It gradually becomes clear that your attention can be focused and gently diffused most of the time. It is more than just listening to the audio exercises. I suggest silent practice as well.
Tomas…Thank you for your prompt reply. I realize that Les Fehmi noticed the shift to Alpha waves using imagining space mostly internally: “Image the distance between your eyes, etc.” Do you think that dealing with space with eyes open in the external world is a more efficient way to train your way of attending?
It works both ways.
With time, the border between inner and outer space becomes blurred, making it hard to find. In other words, it becomes clear that inner and outer space is just one space. Similarly, the silence outside and inside is the same silence.