THE CENTERED ATTENTION

ESSAY ABOUT ITS APPLICATION TO HUMAN ACTIVITY

BRIEF INTRODUCTION

A theory of the Centered Attention, applied to the performance of human activity, means focusing attention exclusively on an organ or body movement, on a thought or on a point in any activity of the human being, distinguishing it from the dispersed attention that is not focused punctually. However, the discipline of Psychology, where the study of Attention is inserted, has since Antiquity been absorbed into the large area of Philosophy, which has always privileged the study of Reason and Deduction (from Aristotle to Plato and from Descartes to Kant...), minimizing its importance. Only with the birth of Experimental Science in the 17th century, thanks to the studies of Képler (heliocentric theory) and Galileo (experimental method), the Psychology (along with other knowledges) will also become scientific and autonomous from Philosophy, through the Americans Wilhelm Wundt (1920) and Ernst Weber(1878). The study of human attention became like this, throughout the 20th century, one of the main objects of study of the new scientific Psychology, with William James, Gustav Fechner, John Watson, Ivan Pavlov, Michael Posner, Eugene Gendlin and the neurologist Marcus Raichle, a pioneer in the study of brain images of selective attention. The Centered Attention on the observation of human behavior would be adopted by the behaviorist psychology of the American Karl Rogers (1987), a methodology later extended to other sciences and knowledges (Psychiatry, Neurology, Physiotherapy, Education, Sports, Yoga, etc.), not forgetting Jean Piaget (1980), swiss biologist and psychologist, who in his Cognitive Theory, when talking about the development of human intelligence in 4 distinct periods (sensorimotor, pre-operative, concrete operations and abstract operations), also refers the importance of the "centering attention", in the child's pre-operative period (2-7 years), defined as the child's tendency to focus only on one aspect of the situation, neglecting the others...

Thus, according to Theory of Centered Attention, for that certain physical or organic human activity be carried out correctly, the attention must be centered or focused, solely and exclusively, on the organ, a point or part of the body that performs this activity, facilitating its performance, optimizing significantly the results obtained, and canning even help to correct some neurological disorders such as difficulty in focused attention and task coordination, resulting from depression and schizophrenia (among others...). In conceptual terms, Centered Attention is not only the opposite of Dispersed Attention, but also distinct from the Concentration (opposite of Distraction) which aims at all possible detachment from the surrounding circumstances, such as athletes or students who, at beginning of a test, seek the maximum concentration aiming obtain the best result.- Next, we present some human situations where the Theory of Centered Attention can be applied, with emphasis on the emission of the voice and human walking (march), resulting from personal experience and empirical observation, hoping may it be completed and improved by new contributions…

1.- CENTERED ATTENTION APPLIED TO THE EMISSION OF THE HUMAN VOICE

According to the theory of the Centered Attention on the emission of the Human Voice, whenever we speak, shout or sing, the attention should be focused only on the vocal cords and their vibration, supported by abdominal respiration, with the diaphragm remaining firm until the end of each  respiration act, this being the only way to obtain a well-placed voice. In the society in general, naturally, the vast majority ofpeople speak and sing correctly, with the voice centered and vibrated only on the vocal cords, supported by diaphragmatic respiration, emitted from bottom to top, maintaining a safe posture, without any fear of the surrounding public. Unfortunately, however, due to situations of shyness, stress, anxiety, shame or irritation, an increasing number of people speak incorrectly and insufficiently, leading to voice emission being displaced from the vocal cords, centered in the palatal and nasal cavity or even in the lip area. These disorders in the production of human speech, increasingly present in today's society, are associated with a muscular contraction in the frontal-temporal area, a tense in the mandibular articulation and consequent sore throat, and may even appearing in the childhood and the adolescence when the child is subjected to traumatic situations or high levels of shyness and anxiety, affecting the ordinary people but also the voice professionals (radio and television announcers, teachers, priests, singers, politicians, lawyers, etc.), when they are forced to speak very loudly, hastily, irritated or excessively (classroom environments, discussion, oral debate, etc.), breathing incorrectly, producing a voice clearly displaced from the vocal cords, sometimes tense and crisped, sometimes shy and velvety…

The correction of the human voice disorders becomes difficult, especially when they become permanently fixed over the years, becoming a habitual way of speaking, requiring a great deal of effort to reactivate the diaphragmatic respiration, replace the voice in the organ where is produced, until it is possible the permanent return of a well-placed voice, emitted correctly, just centered and vibrated on the vocal cords. In this sense, it will be necessary to do multiple diaphragmatic breathing and vocal cord vibration exercises, whether through the repetition of simple sounds, spoken or sung in various keys (uhm..., vowels, syllables, musical scale, etc.), or through repetition of short popular phrases, also repeated in various tones, whether through laughter, yawning, screaming and even crying out loud (the first human manifestation), without ignoring exercises to relax the neck and the mandibular articulation, aiming to correct the muscular disorders associated with displaced voice emission. Finally, as a complementary, important and worthy observation, we can all see that a large percentage of individuals who speak with a voice displaced from the vocal cords, reveal a marked tendency towards baldness or loss of hair (and its opposite also seems be true), a universal phenomenon easily verified in the known people or in public communication figures (political and sports commentators, announcers, singers) and which deserves be investigated, canning be posed the hypothesis (among others) of being associated with reduced blood supply to the capillary area, caused by muscular constraints in the temporal-frontal area and in the throat, as well with a weak diaphragmatic breathing and a reduced vibration of the vocal cords...

2.- CENTERED ATTENTION APPLIED TO THE HUMAN MARCH AND BODY MEMBERS

It is very important to focus attention on the activity of the Upper and Lower Limbs (arms and legs) whenever they perform a certain task, contributing to their correct performance and to a better success in the daily, work and sporting activities carried out by them. Attention Focused on the Upper Limbs (arms), the optimization of their performance is already well known and used in many work and sporting activities, as is done by boxers who focus their attention on each of the arms used, increasing the strength and effectiveness of the punch on the opponent, or martial arts practitioners who use identical methodology, managing to break very hard objects with a single blow of the hand. The same principle can be applied to other sports besides those that use the arms as the main instruments of sports practice (handball, volleyball, basketball, golf, tennis, throwing, launching, rowing, etc.), aiming to optimize the result obtained, however other techniques and methodologies specific to each of them. But, although the Focused Attention methodology is applied to these main activities of the upper limbs, we cannot ignore that in today's society multiple sedentary activities have developed where the use of the arms is minimal, making it necessary to perform physical exercises frequently (even daily) physical muscle strengthening exercises (flexing arms and legs, lifting dumbbells...), as well as exercises to relax the muscles of the arms (through horizontal and vertical movements), whether through horizontal and vertical movements, whether walking  and swinging the arms at half height in order to relax the muscles of the neck and of the cervical area...

Regarding Focused Attention applied to the Lower Limbs (legs), it proves to be even more important, as almost all activities in human life depend on the basic act of walking and require great individual movement throughout the day, making it necessary to focus attention on the movement of the legs, to walk in the most correct way, the same principle is applied in sports that preferentially use the legs (football, athletics, gymnastics, etc.), where the best results (similar to the arms) are obtained by athletes who know how to focus their attention and channel the effort for each of the legs used.- In particular, with regard to the Act of Walking, a medically recommended practice and very present in leisure activities and free time, it is important that it is done in the most correct way to obtain all its benefits, and attention must be focused, solely and exclusively, on each of the legs that walks, ignoring the rest of the body, keeping the torso straight, walking rhythmically with the nose and head raised high as if looking far, swinging the arms at half height feeling relax the muscles of the neck and of the cervical area, imitating the young models that parade on the catwalks, with confidente and relaxed posture... - Finally, Centered Attention can also be used to improve the joint performance of legs and arms, in various activities, namely in traumatic situations, being applied either in MFR (Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation) techniques to recover function after CVA (Cerebral Vascular Accident), or to raise awareness of amputated limb prosthesis, or for other corrections of the limbs of the human body…

3.- CENTERED ATTENTION APPLIED TO CAR DRIVING

Another specific area of current human activity where it is possible to apply Centered Attention is in the performance of the car driving. In general, the drivers focus their attention on the physical front of the vehicle and on the road that they observe globally and continually changing, forcing their fields of vision to adjust permanently at the different external and environmental circumstances, generating physical and eye fatigue... So, according to the Centered Attention methodology, applied to driving a car (or motorcycle), the best driving technique (also mentioned somewhere by a former Formula 1 champion) will be to drive the vehicle focusing only on our body, which is sitting with hands on the steering wheel, simulating or imagining that it is this seated body that travels along the road, according to a line projected by us on the road layout and on which the vehicle must also necessarily pass... Now, this type of driving, simulating that it is our static body (and not the vehicle) that travels the road according to a pre-defined line, as if ignoring the inconveniences of the vehicle in motion and the continuous changes in the external landscape, relativizes the higher speed of the vehicle which will seem very smaller and makes the driving less tiring and much safer…

4.- CENTERED ATTENTION APPLIED TO THE ACT OF SLEEP

The last example of this Essay on Attention Centered on human activity, refers to its application to the Act of Sleep, which is often difficult to achieve, due to worries, memories and images that, at the end of a busier day, assault and disperse the human mind, disturbing the the beginning of sleep activity. Despite the multiple traditional practices used to overcome this difficulty (daily routine, ambient light, relaxing music, hot shower, noise elimination, calming drink, absence of caffeine, respiratory  control...), we believe that Centered Attention, applied to the act of sleeping, can prove to be of great importance in overcoming the most difficult insomnia situations, especially when traditional practices no longer work, as this methodology aims to control the whirlwind of images and concerns that, in these circumstances, invade and disperse the mind, hindering the initiation of this basic human activity. Therefore, according to this methodology, the attention must be focused exclusively on the area of the eye socket, being necessary to close the eyes and completely relax the eyelids, trying to free the mind from the circulation of any and all ideas or images for as long as possible and only centered in eyelid relaxation, an exercise that is difficult to maintain for a few minutes at a time, due to the continuous flow of images and ideas that always tries to invade the human mind while awake, but which is important to repeat several times until the ultimate goal of sleeping is achieved, which will eventually happen, almost without us realizing it…

GENERAL CONCLUSION

In conclusion, it is important to say that, in addition to the examples presented, there are other human areas where the theory of Centered Attention can be applied to optimize the performance. It could even be developed, within the scope of religious activity, noting that, in the polytheistic religions of antiquity, the human relationship with the Sacred was impersonal, only developed in collective rituals directed to various mythical and anthropomorphic deities, while in monotheistic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam), the relationship with the Sacred is directed to a Single Divinity of a spiritual nature and centered on a direct and personal connection with the Spirit of God, well exposed in the evangelical episodes of Nicodemus (Jo.3,1-21) and of the Samaritan woman (Jo.4,5-42), as in Christ's appeals to an interior prayer developed in spaces of silence (Mc.1,35 / Lc.5,16 / Lc.6,12) or in the secret of your own room (Mt.6,6).- It is also important to mention that the exercise of Centered Attention in the performance of the various human activities exposed here, in addition to the benefits mentioned, also contributes to the formation of Consciousness and the development of the Self, as a subject free and responsible, helping the Person to assert their Identity, to control their emotions and to feel socially safer... - Finally, I hope that that this theory be experienced in the concrete lives of everyone and improved by scholars of the various sciences involved . - Thanks!

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JOSÉ LEMOS PINTO

Ovar, 13 de Maio de 2023

http://www.facebook.com/jlemosp

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