I first learned about this practice many years ago while studying with Dr. Arnold Mindell. Arny teaches process oriented psychology, better known as processwork. His model incorporates quantum physics principles, experiences dealing with altered states of consciousness as well as shamanistic states of being. I first heard the term second attention years before I began studying with Arny, during the time I was reading Carlos Castaneda’s books while in college. I believe Arny adapted the expression since processwork is all about staying in your awareness even as many things are happening at once. Essentially, cultivating a second attention awareness means staying current with everything that’s happening both internally and externally in the moment. Westerners tend to marginalize subtle and unexplainable perceptions that may seem irrational and and seemingly important in the moment. However, it is possible to train oneself to cultivate greater sensitivity to the larger field of subtle phenomena that is happening all around us all the time. This might be another way of describing cultivating second attention awareness.
As a psychotherapist, this comes in very handy. Clients who have experienced trauma will predictably not have as great an access to their emotional life since portions of their awareness and memory have been dissociated out of conscious awareness. Additionally, other types of remaining traumatic residue might include an inability to access particular emotions (due to the earlier trauma), as well as limiting beliefs and overidentification with certain feeling states that preclude greater choice in perceiving what’s going on in the moment. As a psychotherapist, it is extremely helpful to have developed the sensitivity through cultivating second attention awareness to be able to pick out the information that’s in the interpersonalfield but it has been rendered inaccessible to the client because of prior trauma. This enables me to move the process along even when the client is stuck or flummoxed in the moment. While I have been characterized as being psychic, I maintain that I have developed increasing intuitive capabilities from the intentional practice of cultivating second attention awareness. As I model this in sessions to clients, I also begin to teach them how they themselves can learn to develop this heightened sensitivity and awareness.
You might be asking just how one goes about cultivating second attention awareness. The answer is not straightforward but is answerable nonetheless. In order to cultivate second attention awareness, you have to want to remove the filters that tend to obstruct perception of the subtle phenomena within us and all around us. if you’re clear about your intention, you can then start identifying limiting beliefs by simply writing down any beliefs that you suspect might be present relating to intuitive or psychic abilities. Using some of the energy psychology techniques outlined in my book ( such as EFT or TAT or NAEM for example), it is easy to discharge those limiting information fields that are profoundly affecting our experience all the time.
It is also important to develop a regular energetic practice that will support your growing sensitivity to subtle energy. This might include meditation, tai chi or chi gong. It’s typical to feel very little at the beginning of these practices. However, if you persist, not only will you generate more vital force coursing through your mind-body-spirit matrix; you’ll begin to notice greater sensitivity to subtle energies within you and around you. These experiential signposts will reinforce the subtle perceptions in other perceptual channels that otherwise might have been habitually marginalized. For example, an image that just comes into your mind when talking to somebody. Another example might be a sensation either on your body or within your body that occurs in some kind of interpersonal contact. When you begin to tune into the subtle clues that suggest more information is present than had previously been acknowledged, you then begin the process of tracking or running down these subtle perceptions or flirts (that pop in and out of awareness very quickly), in a more methodical manner. This then becomes the practice of cultivating second attention awareness.
Why is this important? For all the reasons mentioned above and one more. As this process starts to gel, you become inner referential and learn to trust your own perceptions. Wow! what a change! In this codependent culture of ours, where so much is determined by externally referencing to outer authorities, knowing what is really true becomes a self determining process. While this at times may create potential interpersonal conflicts, it is the first step in establishing and maintaining your personal power, enabling you to come from a place of deep integrity and represent to the world who you really are. As this happens more and more consistently, your throat chakra starts to come into balance and you become a self-empowered individual.
Like anything worthwhile, it takes practice and some time to perfect. But the truth is, the world needs more light at this time of transition and earth changes, and as you become more self-empowered from this place of deep integrity, your own light will shine bright.
posted August 27, 2008
Howard Brockman, LCSW
Howard Brockman
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