“The faculty of bringing back a wandering attention, over and over again is the very root of judgment, character and will. An education which should improve this faculty would be an education par excellence.” William James, American philosopher and psychologist

I first heard the above quote in mindfulness educator training. I thought of it often as I listened to my daughters who rowed and during my own humbling “learn to row” experience. I thought rowing is such the education William James was referring to, and with that the idea of Power With Presence took shape.
I am far from the first to recognize that attention is needed in rowing or that the skills and lessons learned while rowing can be applied to life. There are plenty of quotes and articles referring to such. Most are written, retrospectively, about what they learned about the human condition and qualities such as connection, trust, communication, leadership, resilience, teamwork and ultimately success.
Instead of looking back at what we learned, why not pay attention to what we are learning at the time we are learning it. Attention, energy and time are three resources we all possess. Our attention determines how we use our time and energy. Ever experience a day where you feel unable to focus, like your “mind is all over the place” and you end the day feeling exhausted but “got nothing done”? Our way of being (our attention) affects our way of doing (time and energy).
Harnessing those skills that help us tract and understand our attention expands our awareness, and therefore offers more choices and opportunities of how we can use our time and energy to better serve us. Rowing seems an ideal laboratory to “train up” the skill of paying attention as a well informed use of one’s time and energy can not only pay off by improving one’s rowing ability but is also a skill that can be of service to inform one’s life out of the boat.
It also makes sense to build the skill of attention as boat speed depends greatly on rowers ability to pay attention to one another, to be in sync; or as so beautifully depicted in Boys in the Boat, row “as one”. Findings in neuroscience have revealed our nervous systems are primed for success when we are co-regulating with one another. Maybe practicing paying attention together can make achieving “swing” more accessible, more often?
It all begins with a pause, stopping and letting your nervous system (the “glitter”) settle and come into the “here and now”. From this grounded place you begin to practice skills such as mindfulness of body, mindfulness of breath; using them as anchors to help you stay in the present moment and notice where your attention goes. Every time you bring your attention back to one of these anchors you strengthen the attention muscle and become more familiar with the nature of your attention and improve your ability to put it where you want it, when you want it.
You also begin to notice more of what is happening in your present moment experience, both inside of you and outside of you and the interaction between the two. With more noticing, comes better understanding and what may be needed in the next moment. No matter if we are are in or out of a boat, most endeavors do not go off without a hitch or strong headwind. Unexpected conditions, outside of our control happen. If we are paying attention, we can find the resources within ourselves to respond. It just takes practice!

Suzy O’Brien

Founder

Power With Presence