NOTICING - The Human Superpower
Hi there and a very warm welcome to Season 6 Episode 25 of People Soup, it's Ross McIntosh here.
This week., it's another cup-a-soup. A short episode from me. I'm going to explore the human superpower of noticing. I'll talk about what we might be missing out on when we're stuck inside our own heads, and share an exercise that you might like to try, which, with practice, is designed to enhance our skill of noticing.
Here's a question. How much of our waking hours do we spend on autopilot? I've asked this hundreds of times to groups of adults in the workplace, and people will typically come in with a high number, sometimes as high as 90%.
The actual figure from a study by some psychologists at Harvard was 46.9%. That means we can be mind wandering for almost half the day, perhaps not noticing what's going on around us. Now, this research also noticed that the wandering mind isn't always the happiest of minds.
For those of you who are new to People Soup - welcome - it's great to have you here - I aim to provide you with ingredients for a better work life from behavioural science and beyond. For those of you who are regular P Soupers - thanks for tuning in - we love it that you're part of our community.
There is a transcript for each episode. There is a caveat - this transcript is largely generated by Artificial Intelligence, I have corrected many errors but I won't have captured them all! You can also find the shownotes by clicking on notes then keep scrolling for all the useful links.
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Transcript
For those of you who are new to People Soup, welcome. It's great to have you here. We aim to provide you with the ingredients for a better work life from behavioral science and beyond. For those of you who are regular paupers, thanks for tuning in. Again, we love it that you're part of our community.
Bean Rides. Again, a Tale of [:keep on riding. Laura Howard on LinkedIn said, embracing discomfort. Those bike seats are a literal pain. You're not wrong. Laura. On Facebook. Joan Mayer said, listen to your podcast, Ross. It was Fab. And And a Facebook Glenn Hughes messaged me to say, thoroughly enjoyed the solo cycling cast on psycho flexibility.
Well, thanks to Glenn and Joan and Laura and Michael. And again, on Facebook. one. Gordon Macintosh said, A brilliant young man who I'm very proud of and honored to be his dad. Wow. Well, thank you so much, dad. That really floored me. And to be called a young man was even more of a trait. In other news, I'm running another free taster session for my course.
s designed for adults in the [:It's backed by research, and I've delivered it to thousands of adults and organizations over the past 10 years. The free taster session is on Friday, the 16th of May, from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM British summertime, as you'll find a link to reserve your place in the show notes.
So let's crack on for now. Get a brew on and have a listen to my copper soup. Noticing the human superpower. Here's a question. How much of our waking hours do we spend on autopilot? I've asked this hundreds of times to groups of adults in the workplace, and people will typically come in with a high number, sometimes as high as 90%.
st half the day, perhaps not [:Now I'm not knocking mind. Wandering. Sometimes it can be a very creative state without this capacity to dream and imagine we wouldn't have great music, architecture, poetry, choreography, literature and invention.
But sometimes that autopilot or mind wandering can overreach itself and we can be in a mind wandering state When it would be more useful to switch into the present moment. Now I've got an example that I'm not proud of, but I'll share it anyway.
I speak to my 90-year-old dad every day on Zoom. I'm conscious that some days I might be the only person he's had a conversation with
yet. Sometimes on our call I can find my wind wandering to things I haven't done on my to-do list or things I need to buy at the supermarket.
t to be present and engaged, [:I might appear distracted, unfocused, or perhaps irritable. So I'm beginning to build a case for developing the skill of noticing to help us realize when we're in mind wandering and how we can step back into the present moment.
One way to do this is through something called mindfulness Now, it's become very popular over the last decade or so, and I would argue it's become damaged by its own popularity.
for me. Mindfulness is like a workout for the brain. It can help us gather our scattered mind and help us wake up from autopilot. It doesn't happen overnight, but there's strong evidence to show that regular mindfulness practice can help us to focus more effectively, reduce stress.
r than react and improve our [:And if you'd like to have a go. Find somewhere quiet where you're unlikely to be interrupted and listen to my voice as I try and guide you through the exercise. at the end of the exercise, I'll invite you to reflect on your experience.
What did you notice? you'd like to share with me what you notice? I'll make next week's episode a debrief on the exercise. And if you'd like to try it two or three times over the coming week, that would be great. Each time just reflect and perhaps note down what you've noticed.
I'll also publish a short bonus episode A day or so after this one, just with the mindfulness exercise with a very minimal introduction to help you access it and use it more effectively.
Okay, so let's start the mindfulness exercise. It's called Mindfulness of Body and Breath.
[:Allow your spine to be upright in what we call a dignified posture. And if it's comfortable for you, allowing the eyes to close or just go unfocused on whatever's in front of you
the body all the way down to [:Just registering that sensation moment by moment. And if there's nothing to notice, that's fine. We're not looking to create anything. We're just looking to hone our noticing skills and acknowledge what's there right now.
et and the sensations there. [:Maybe noticing sensations of clothing in contact with your skin. Perhaps noticing sensations deep inside,
whatever there is to notice. Just registering that.
ht rise to cover the back as [:Are there any sensations to notice in the air around your hands or fingertips? Perhaps a tingle, perhaps a particular temperature,
and again, you might find your mind's wandered off. It's completely natural and normal human response. And if you do notice, your mind is wondered. Just see if you can gently yet firmly bring it back to the body,
noticing what sensations there are in this moment,
and on the next in breath, [:Perhaps noticing the expression on your face right now.
And now as we try to hold a full body in our attention. Noticing the posture too, holding the whole body in our attention.
o fade away and bringing the [:as best you can, seeing if you can follow one in breath and one out breath, and the movement of the tummy, perhaps noticing the tiny pause between each in breath and out breath.
As best you can, allowing the breath to breathe itself, not looking to alter the way you're breathing, just following its natural flow.
And if your mind's anything like mine, you might notice it's been hooked away.
e where it went. Then gently [:and I'll just leave a few moments without my voice just to allow us to practice this in silence.
And just know that the breath is always there
to help us ground ourselves [:Maybe give your body a bit of a stretch. Your legs, your arms, stand up, have a shake. Just bring yourself back into the present moment.
[:My idea is that next week I'll do a debrief responding to what you've noticed and what others have noticed from the same exercise.
You can help me reach more people with a special people soup ingredients, which could be just what they need in these turbulent times. Please do continue to share, subscribe, rate, and review to help people soup get noticed. Thanks to Andy Glenn for his spoon magic and Alex Engelberg for his vocals. But most of all, dear listener, thanks to you, Look after yourselves. Peace supers and bye for now.
And again, on [:
