Attention

Gay Watson is the author of The Resonance of Emptiness: A Buddhist Inspiration for a Contemporary Psychotherapy (2002), Beyond Happiness: Deepening the Dialogue Between Buddhism, Psychotherapy and the Mind Sciences (2007) and A Philosophy of Emptiness (Reaktion, 2014). She lives in Devon and California.

"This is a remarkable and searching account of the meaning of attention. Gay Watson looks deeply into the practices of artists, writers and musicians and reveals the correspondences with spiritual disciplines. This is a provocative book in replacing attention at the heart of what we should care about." - Edmund de Waal"In this tour de force, Gay Watson weaves together profound spiritual insights, crisply clear science, and page-turning personal observations about the front edge of consciousness: how we attend to our inner and outer worlds. Since we gradually become whatever our attention repeatedly rests upon, this book also helps readers use attention more skillfully to grow more of the good inside themselves and others." - Rick Hanson, author of Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom"An illuminating survey of approaches to the practice of attention that ranges from psychology to art, from mindfulness to music, from religion to philosophy. Interweaving conversations with personal reflections, Watson opens up the field of attention for each of us to explore in a way that is suited to our passions and needs." - Stephen Batchelor, author of After Buddhism"An illuminating and revealing book on the powers of attention. Read it immediately for a riveting way to exercise the muscle of the mind." - Wayne McGregor CBE, Resident Choreographer of the Royal Ballet

• 1 Attending to AttentionPart One Creating Attention2 The Attentive Art of Meditation and Mindfulness Practices3 The Neuroscience of Attention4 Emotional Attention5 Attentive EducationPart Two Attending Creatively6 Attentiveness to the Word7 Visual Attention8 Aural Attention: Listening and Hearing9 Embodied Attention10 Attentive and Experiential In-conclusionsReferencesBibliographyAcknowledgements