Not necessarily entertainment

One of the reasons radio station MBZ1 exists is to remind you that you decide where to spend your attention. The “attention economy” is running away with our valuable time and energy. Let’s take it back!

This studio, and the radio we produce, is not trying to be an entertainment platform that sells you ads.

Instead, you are invited to use Radio MBZ1 to anchor your attention. Sometimes it is actually entertaining, sure it is! But that is not necessarily the point of all this effort.

Go ahead and press the green PLAY button at the radio station website, (wait for the lag!) and then audio will start playing. It might be an entertaining podcast, it might be birds singing, it might be some boring silence. It might not be on air, if there’s a glitch.

BUT- That you pressed the button with an intention for mindful awareness was the important moment. What was actually playing, or not playing, was secondary or even lower on the priority list of mindfulness.

This is a quote from the June 1st email:

An “anchor point”

In meditation teacher terminology, you can use an anchor point during any meditation. During a practice period, a meditator returns the attention to the anchor point again and again. It is similar to how a body builder might lift a weight again and again.

For example the anchor point might be the breath. You’ve probably heard guided meditations that say “notice the breath” many times these days.

But, it’s interesting to note that the breath itself is not the point. The breath is an anchor. For a body builder, the barbell might be made of lead, or steel, or even gold, but the material that the barbell is made out of is not the point. It’s just an anchor for the exercise.

Even though the audio is what is being broadcast, it’s important not to mistakenly give it too much importance. Should a body builder get all excited that the barbell is made of gold versus made of led? Or should they just get to work doing the set of reps?

This is only one of the interesting paradoxes that we encounter when we start integrating mindfulness into a real life that is messy, confusing, and doesn’t fit into a 2-dimentional spreadsheet.

It’s great to start by listening to the radio, and then, please join us in the studio for the Tier 2 Labwork on the topic of money. It’s best to unravel these paradoxes in the good company of fellow practitioners.