Distractions

You want your horse’s attention-

Most people say something like this. I heard in a meditation podcast this morning that the average American is distracted 47% of the time- according to a Harvard research study a decade ago. (The podcast is Healthy Minds)

That’s half of our waking lives. Half the time at least, most of us are doing something and thinking about something else.

When I teach, I try to bring people’s awareness to the small details, and most people say something like they had no idea how much was going on before noticing it. They didn’t notice the way the lead rope felt when they picked it up. They didn’t notice the way the horse felt when they pet him, or how he felt when they quit. Most people admit to at least some of the time thinking about the task and forgetting about the horse entirely.

I’m not perfect at maintaining focus, but it’s something I’m fortunate to have had brought to my attention as a goal a long time ago. My mentors ask me to do everything, no matter how minute the detail is, with care and feel. And every lesson or clinic I take with them, I work on those things again.

Learning to stay in the moment and put care into the details has been something I’ve been working on for over a decade. I work with on average eight horses a day and probably think about it 290 times a day (made up number).

I may be denser then many, some folks might achieve this quicker. But it will not happen without it being your day in, day out goal. You can’t come to a clinic and suddenly be mindful- it’s the shift of focus in your entire life. It spans across every part of your day. You’ll slip up, notice and focus again maybe 800 times a day, and that is the practice.

Do you want your horse’s attention? Start by paying attention to where your own attention lies.