Body awareness isn't easy. Quick, turn your head to look toward your left. Easy enough. But if I asked you which leg (or what side of you butt, if you're seated) holds most of your weight as you start the movement, you'd probably need to think about it or repeat the movement and pay attention to that part of your body. But then if I asked you if your right ear came toward or away from your right shoulder as you began the movement, you'd probably have to move and observe again.
Feldenkrais clients learn to increase their body awareness during movement. And this improved awareness might help uncover movement habits that can cause or exacerbate problems like pain or excess tension. A little awareness goes a long way, at least in a body awareness practice like Feldenkrais.
The psychology research community is beginning to investigate the paying of attention in other realms. I was surprised to learn that not much research had been done here. Terming lack of attention as "mind wandering" the Psychport gives a brief overview of some research that's starting.
How often does your mind wander? Psychologist Michael Kane says about 30 to 40 percent of the time. But some students in his studies mind wandered much more, like 80 to 90 percent of the time. (And these kids haven't flunked out yet?)
Why does the mind wander so much? Well, beside the fact that the kids in one study were tested while reading War and Peace,
"The mind is always trying to wander, every chance it gets," Schooler said. In his view, the mind has not only the goal of achieving whatever task we're focused on, but also personal goals simmering outside of our immediate awareness. These are things like making plans for the future, working out everyday problems, and better understanding oneself. Sometimes, one of these goals hijacks our attention. And so our mind wanders.
But it might not be so bad after all:
"Mind-wandering is probably more often helpful than harmful," Kane said. For one thing, the cost is low: despite notable exceptions, life usually doesn't demand our full attention.
"A lot of human daily life is autopilot," he said. "There's a whole lot of what we need to do that we can do without thinking about it, from driving to eating .... We do occasionally miss that turn on the way home, but we get through the day pretty well."
But if your back or necks hurts after a marathon session with Tolstoy, maybe more body awareness wouldn't be such a bad idea.