Nate Hagens

So what do we do with all this?

I've come up with five pathways with the help of some research and my coaches.

They're at least directions and knowing that none of them is sufficient and all of them together are just a beginning.

The first is the senses.

The mind cannot be in the future and in the body at the same time.

Not really.

So when you find yourself gone, the most reliable way home is through the senses.

What do I hear right now?

What do I see?

What is the texture of this coffee cup against my hand?

This is what every contemplative tradition has known for thousands of years and what neuroscience is now confirming.

Somatic attention quiets the default mode network.

The Zen teacher Thich Nhat Hanh built an entire body of work around this.

Drink the tea.

Wash the dish.

Walk the path.

Each of these is an entire practice, if done with the senses awake and aware.

The second is the pause, a speed bump before the reach.

And there's a moment, almost subliminal, between the impulse to grab the phone.

and the actual grabbing of the phone.