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Threat, stress, and worry constrict our attention, reducing information we take in.

When this happens, intentionally broadening our awareness can help.

Increasing our spaciousness helps us hold both stressful and soothing or affirming content simultaneously.

By Lizabeth Roemer, Ph.D., and Josh Bartok, M.S.

We move from contraction to expansion not by straining to change its nature, but by surrounding it with spaciousness. —Sharon Salzberg

Do you ever notice your mind focusing on specific, stressful situations, reviewing them over and over? Do you notice your mind is narrowing in on potential “threats” and little else? Does a narrowed perspective cause you to miss opportunities to engage with people and the world around you?

If so, the good news is that your threat detection system is functioning well, proactively identifying potential danger in an attempt to maximize your chances of survival. The bad news is that this habitual pattern of responding restricts your life and diminishes your well-being, because many or most of these threats never come to pass. We do, of course, live in threatening, stressful times, with a sociopolitical context that provides many triggers for fear and danger, particularly for people whose identities are targeted and marginalized. And we are bombarded by images, commentary, and news that highlight the worst of this. Naturally, many of us are finding our attention constricted and feel consumed by fear, anxiety, anger, or........

© Psychology Today