We humans can perform many actions without thinking about it; we can cycle, walk, even drive a car, without really paying attention to it, almost without realizing how we got from A to B.
It's smart, and in many situations it saves us a lot of energy. In some areas, the ability is absolutely necessary for us to function, but the ability also means that we easily end up living part of our time on autopilot, that we are simply absent from our own lives.
For example, we are often unconsciously worrying about the future or the past in our thoughts, while the present is met with a learned mechanism. This can be inappropriate.
In the ongoing MBSR course, part of the work therefore also concentrates on becoming aware of some of the moments in which we live automatically.
The training consists of trying to bring our full attention to the present moment, with an open freedom of assessment, so that we can choose how we encounter what is happening in our lives, both within and outside ourselves. Right now.
