Attention: We're Aging

By Stephanie Siegel, Pay Attention for Fall Prevention. April 25, 2024.

Today's economy has been called the attention economy, because ads, TV, social media all want your attention. You command your attention. It's valuable to them. It's valuable to you.

Paying better attention to your movements can help you not fall. The older we get, the more harm falling can do, so the more important it is to pay attention.

Athletes don't let their minds wander when they're on, when they're in a game. Our movements are as important as theirs. We want to learn to command our attention when walking and when getting up from a bed or seat. We have good reason to be in the game, paying attention, whenever we move.

As we age, we sometimes have injuries. What do top athletes do when they're injured? They do what their physical therapist tells them to do. (And a good therapist will tell you to pay attention to how each motion feels to you. They will help you to modify movements to make them helpful to you, not straining or reinjuring.) Athletes are careful to heal and take good care of their bodies. We need our bodies, too. We can't afford to take them for granted. They need our love and attention.

The body is in present time. Thoughts can be in past or future or hypothetical, imagination. When your thoughts are on past or future events or imaginings, you are less present. When you become aware of your breath, you become more present, more aware in present time.

Ever forgotten whether you took your pill? If your attention wasn't on taking your pill, where was it?

Ever asked “Why did I come in this room?” If your attention wasn't on why you were walking, where was it? Where did it go? How did it get away? How can you get it back?

Ah, the many benefits of paying more attention to the present moment!

Learn how to pay better attention – request a half-hour class by writing to dontfall (at) usa (dot) com.