The other day, I was on a New York City subway train, going to a meeting downtown. It was an off time of the day, I had no trouble finding a seat and noticed a young woman standing at one of the poles in the middle of the car. She had on her i-pod and was seemingly tapping to whatever music she heard. As I watched, I noticed that she wasn’t actually tapping out a rhythm. Instead, she was fingering what appeared to be a cello or stand-up bass, moving her fingers the way a musician would move up and down the neck of the instrument while playing. Noticing this young woman enjoying a practice session on the subway got me to thinking again about how we fill our awareness as we go from here to there and how important the tone and content of what we focus on is to our moment-to-moment quality of life.

We all have habits of mind that take us away from the moment, and we also have habits of mind that take us to places we don’t actually enjoy spending time. How often do we find ourselves revisiting a discussion we had with someone and replaying it – only this time, we get to say all the things we didn’t say the time before? How often do we take ourselves to an uncomfortable memory and feel the shame or distress all over again? How many times do we focus on fear, and generate even more in the process?

It’s all too easy to drift into states of mind that take away from our quality of life, and it sometimes feels like mental gymnastics to develop new habits of mind. And so, for this week’s experiment, I’d like to invite you again to notice what fills your thoughts and feelings as you move through your day. What’s the focus of your attention? Is it worry, or internal arguments or distressing mental conversations with people? Is it thoughts of gratitude or memories of good times. Is it being right here and now, noticing what’s around you and letting in the things that feel nourishing?

As you play with this week’s experiment, give yourself an opportunity to stop any thinking that doesn’t nourish you or make you feel better and literally replace it with thoughts, images, memories, music, or other sources that increase your sense of comfort and/or well-being. At first, this is likely to feel mechanical, and you may find yourself feeling odd stopping thoughts midstream to change to something else. That said, I’ve found – over the years – that it is deeply liberating to be able to choose not to finish a thought that’s toxic or unpleasant, and to be able to decide where I want to put the focus of my attention. It’s a moment-to-moment journey, so there’s always the next opportunity to shift awareness to something that’s more nourishing.

As with all the experiments, be sure to leave judgment behind and bring along curiosity as your constant companion.