This activity begins the second main part of the B theme (What mindfulness is and isn’t) and should be included in any variation of L2B regardless of the number of class sessions. It’s important because this activity introduces the construct of mindfulness to students.

The three main elements of mindfulness are elicited from the group in this interactive exercise which invites them to explore the quality of their own attention after a short period of listening.

The point is to identify the core components of Mindful attention and compare it to mindlessness using sound.

As we’ve stated throughout, this kind of attention has certain qualities:
1. IT’s on purpose (that is, focused, motivated)
2. IT’s in the present moment (that is, it’s attending to right now)
3. IT’s open and curious (that it, it’s accepting, without judgment or without preferring something else),

How to do this is explained in detail in the manual. Notice that this provides an initial introduction to the attitudes of mindful attention (openhearted, accepting, curious) that we know are critically important. It’s not just WHAT we do with the mind in practice, it’s HOW we do it.