The Not-So-Straight Line of Awareness

Most of us are programmed to judge progress on any goal like we're watching a live stock chart.

We zoom in on the most recent slice of time and we let that tiny window influence our perception of the bigger picture. Rarely is this picture the accurate view though. Let's explore this idea to not only make this point, but provide a simple understanding of what we mean by "expanded awareness".

When I got deep into meditation it was during a period of focus on weight loss. Settling my nervous system was an important tool in avoiding stress-based eating. I remember talking to another person on the weight loss journey and it was very helpful for them that I was able to show data that demonstrates weight loss, and really any success, is almost never a straight line.

For example, Here's a pivot chart showing my weight loss journey based on consistent weigh-ins. Looks like what you'd want right? I weighed a lot. And I lost a lot of weight.

Well, let me show you what that looks like if I zoom out and show a longer date span.

Right. So progress is not a straight line. Depending on where you zoom in, you can tell very different stories. "This isn't working", "Wow i'm doing it!" is a simple matter of where you zoom in. We often have these expectations and get demotivated when the straight line starts to curve, or reverse. But progress is a long game, and it's not at all a straight line.

So what does this have to do with meditation?

1. Many of us come to meditation as a tool to enable profound change. And it does. But the change is NOT a straight line. Some recently told me I have been defensive, snapping more often. It's tempting to go "ugh. See? This meditation stuff did not work". But success is not a straight line. There will be good times, and bad, and everything in between. You have to zoom out to see the big picture. Just keep going.
2. This analogy about zooming out also really helps explain what is meant by "expanding awareness". When you narrow your awareness, you see only a part of the picture. If you look at the weight loss curves above it's clear how much that can distort reality to be zoomed like this in our attention all the time. I have to be here. I have to finish that. Don't forget to respond to this, or pick this up from that. The continuous todo list is an extremely narrow zoom level. When we use meditation to "expand awareness" we open the aperture to a much bigger and more accurate view of reality.

Meditation deepens awareness beneath the mental brain chatter and expands it to a much larger perspective. Progress on these things is not always a straight line though. Stick with it. Zoom out and play the long game. Be it weight loss, nervous system management, or enlightenment.

-Clint