Division of attention project completion

Monday:

Work on the new 4 against 5 pattern today.

Go through basic form with 3 variations.

Steady and patiently.

Tuesday:

Complete the 4/5 pattern - reverse version.

Then establish the following:

1) Feet tap: LRRLR with the count of 5 bars of 7.

2) Hands tap: LRRLRLR with the count of 7 bars of 5.

Putting patterns 1 & 2 without count was impossible. 35 beats sequence would collapse after ca. 10-13 beats, yet something has been established.

Wednesday:

Continue 5/7 work.

The demand this exercise places on attention is much higher then what I've done before.

Thursday:

I pause several times during the practice and do some chi kung form, it supports the work.

Discharge 5 against 7 pattern once, with the count of 7 (w/o counting the bars)

It's definitely not something I could do reliably, still, I have the sense of modest achievement.

Complete with AAD Sitting.

At 20:00 in England (21:00 in Spain) the Division of Attention Project completes.

Penultimate Week

Monday:


I'm actually having a time off from GC, but since I committed to the project, I'm on with DoA work. So today, instead of dividing attention I first sit and do nothing in order to develop it first.

Tuesday:

3 against 7.

Basic form. Then counting:

3 bars of 7 on top.
7 bars of 3 on top.

Wednesday:

First variation.

Notice how attention is being divided. Part of it required for the first pattern, and part of it for the second one.

Also notice that today the body is the centre of the experience.

Thursday:

Variations 2 & 3.

Then the basic form 2 (hands & feet reversed). I get irritated when it comes to count it in 3. Notice it -> inhibit. But inhibit in AT sense, no suppression here.

Saturday:

Complete the reversed series (basic form + 3 variations)

Today I had the cheerful attitude to mistakes.

3 against 7 completed.

Practice last week

The pattern this week:

Feet: LRRR
Hands: LRRLR

Count:

- 4 bars of 5
- 5 bars of 4

Basic form + 3 variations.
Reversed form + 3 variations.

So 8 patterns altogether.

Monday:

Hectic day, no practice.

Tuesday:

15 minutes. I'm exhausted. The basic form is too much today.

Wednesday:


Basic form + variation 1.

My mind is cooked after another draining day, so i treat it gently, relax.

Thursday

10 minutes.

Variations 1 & 2

Friday:

Basic form variation 3.

Then go through reversed basic form with its all variations. Complete this week's exercise.

My attention frees up today, and more is possible. I think it's also due to the fact that today was the last day of challenging week at the school, and consequently - a release.

* * * * * * *

Now a week off from the Project. We'll be back on the 1st June for the final two weeks of work with Alain P.

19th May

A hectic week, this one. I will post one weekly notes on Saturday.

Not reliable

Work on the 3rd variation today. Although I discharged it with both ways of counting at some point, it's not something reliable. I couldn't repeat the basic form + other 3 variations just like that, there's no certainty here.

I paid attention to the softness of the feet, and the efortlessness and sense of calm did spread.

End of the week. Back to the exercise on Monday.

In the park

Last night I dropped the practice (DoA & guitar). I was in a negative state and felt it's inappropriate. Instead I addressed my emotional state.

And today I used the time gap I had in the city centre and practiced outside in the park. Lovely surroundings, many parents & children around.

And how was it? Well, nobody gave me strange looks, children didn't cry or run away, so it was quite alright.

Work on the current exercise (2nd variation)

End-gaining muscles

During practicing today I noticed that as far as my body is concerned, my belly muscles are at the centre of end gaining, at least on that level I am aware of.

So today I look at this reaction.

-------

Establish the basic form & 1st variation of the exercise. In order to maintain the pattern flowing I have to be attentive to its every beat. Most distracting to being attentive today were recurring thoughts & on-going inner analysis.

Late evening practice

Continue to work on 3 against 5 pattern. Every limb is involved in tapping here.

Pay attention to the softness, or its lack in the feet, as recommended.

Yesterday I realized that the movement of the feet can work using the same principle as the movement of the right hand when striking the string (The Principle of Release) So there is no doing here. I don't do tap the foot, just allow the tension necessary for the foot to be above the floor to release.

It's late and I'm less attentive than earlier during the day and than I would wish to be. Go through the basic form without counting, then just work on individual patterns:

Feet in 5, count of 5 bars of 3.
Feet in 3, count of 3 bars of 5.
Hands in 5, count of 5 bars of 3.
Hands in 3, count of 3 bars of 5.

Double speed.

10th May 2009

25 minutes practice with Marek.

We establish the pattern in the feet: Left Right.

Then add the count of 3 and the pattern in the hands: Left Right Right.

So it's 2 against 3.

This is impossible, so we establish what is possible and take it from there.

We keep going with the feet & counting and establish what is possible with hands: tapping 'Left' on count of '1'.

Once this is established add 'Right' on count of '2'.

When it's too much, we take step back and come back to what is possible, and then take it from there again. The Principle guides us...

We establish the complete pattern, let go of counting, and let the pattern integrate into the body.

We end with intention, and give our Attention to the sounds outside ... and then beyond those sounds ...

Inner talk

The current exercise I'm working on requires 5 beats attention span.

The first variation of the basic form the pattern fell into place straightaway, and when going through the cycle for the second time I said to myself something like: 'hmm, this never happened before', being bit impressed with myself. My voluntary attention got lost and engaged in the automatic considering at that point, and it's easy to guess that the pattern fell apart very quickly.

I spend few minutes at the end of the practice sending good wishes to somebody in need.

Challenge

I continue with the last days' work...

This is quite a challenge! In this case I dislike it, but it's beside the point whether I do, or not, really. Perhaps, that's the point of Challenge? That we are required to go beyond our likes & dislikes?

I accomplish the first 4 variations today and can certainly say that my brain must have turned into the scrambled egg, or something like this.

Brain ...

One of the challenges of the pattern I'm working on at the moment is that the feet repeat the pattern that begins & ends with the same foot:

L L R L & L L R L & L L R L etc.

So when i'm working with two patterns I find it tricky to see the loop as a series of blocks of 4.

Work on the first two steps/variations, approach it gently.

I wonder what's going on in our brain when we divide attention, when we 'stretch our attention muscles'. What can be seen & measured from the outside? Is it change of wavelengths? Building up new synapses / connections? Is our nervous system affected, and if it is, then how? Or perhaps the left & right sides of the brain are being harmonized?

Something to check out...

Relaxation

Work on a new pattern, that goes like this:

Feet: Left Left Right Left.
Hands: Right Right Left.

Count 4 bars of 3.
Count 3 bars of 4.

Then it develops...

Today work on establishing the basic form.

Sometime like 15 minutes into the practice I pause and direct attention to certain parts of my tensed body, take time to relax...

Then the pattern with counting effortlessly falls into place.

Again and always the importance of relaxation cannot be exaggerated.

Last week

Last week's notes:

Tuesday

10 minutes is possible today.

No metronome.

Basics - directing the attention. Is there a point of going further without establishing this?

Wednesday.

10 minutes again.

I add counting in 5 to the basic exercise of 3-4. It probably wasn't the required level of challenge, too much.

Thursday.

Work with a new additional exercise that has been recommended. It is AT related.

First 10 min: the pattern I've been working on lately.

Next 10 min: spontaneously review the old exercise that was presented to me as a challenge during the L1 Course in Los Molinos, May 2005.

Clap 7 bars of 5 while counting 5 bars 7, then reverse:
Clap 5 bars of 7 while counting 7 bars 5.

This exercise seems to be firmly established, even if I had a long break from working on it.

The second part of today's work is very energizing.

Friday.


The special exercise of sending relaxation impulse has a calming and balancing effect on me. I find it very useful.

I begin with just working on clapping in 5.

It's possible to clap in 5 when the feet tap on 'one' in the count of two.
It's impossible to clap in 5 when tap feet on 'one' in the count of 4.

Something to work on: establish the possible and gradually move towards the impossible.

Also continue to work on yesterday's exercise. Today focus on moving between two patterns without a break.

Fail with joy

I had many opportunities to observe my reactions/responses to failure with the exercise. I even failed with joy, once.

This week I'm going to approach DOA notes in a different manner, and will post the weekly report at the end of the week.

End of this week

Came back home from tennis today and just dropped off. Wake up just before 2 o'clock at night, bit unsettled.

Sit down to practice w/o metronome focusing on playing first 4 patterns I've learnt, without the interruption. Then to play them with counting of 3 bars of 4, and 4 bars of 3.

I think too much while doing this, a typical state after having a nap like this and waking up in the middle of the night.

A first cycle completed

Complete a 10 step cycle of the exercise today (one of 18 possible pairs of patterns). Once it is established I believe the other ones don't require as much work as the first time did though.

In some cases I found that adding counting actually made the pattern easier, but don't know why.

Day 3, middle of the week

It's evening, i'm tired.

Complete the first cycle of 4 patterns and then move further, where foot and hand patterns reverse.

Notice that my attention is mostly anchored in the body, sometimes too much, and I'm asleep to what is around me.

At one I made a mistake and stopped, afterwards I noticed i was gently laughing, daydreaming about something that happened earlier today. It caused the mistake.

Complete step 'H', and pause, notice the acupoints around my right eye suddenly 'opened'.

Few times I forgot about the special exercise for this week.

Enough. End on the step 'I'.

DOA

Continue with the exercise in the similar manner & focus as yesterday:

I stopped the exercise several times, and observed:

- acceptance of making the mistake, because of which i stopped.

- tension in the upper part of the chest

- relief of having the distance to myself.

- vibrant sensation on the top of my head

- something like tensed thinking, a mind equivalent of muscular tension.

- my breath about to suspend, but because i was aware of it, i allowed the breath to happen

- impatience & irritation. Honesty in describing my state.

Notice that observing what happens in between working with patterns affect my experience of whole practice. The quality spreads.

Observing

Continue with last week's exercise, plus focus on one aspect of the DoA practice, as suggested by AP.

I was aware of the following after stopping the exercise.

- muscular tension, the body readjusting to it, finding the balanced poise.

- suspended breath.

- anxiety.

- unconditional acceptance.

- calm.

- a sense of failure.

- satisfaction.

I'm more aware of the sounds outside (birds, people chatting in the other room) when pausing (more attention available), than when practicing patterns (attention engaged).

It is possible not to act on the impulses.

Complete the step E of the exercise.