Shifting Your Orientation
What we pay attention to impacts how we feel about ourselves, others, and the world around us.
As Pat Ogden, the founder of Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, explains, “our orienting response helps us select what we pay attention to, moment by moment, in the world around us. When an external stimulus is found engaging (e.g. a beautiful sunset or friendly puppy) or demands our attention (e.g. an unexpected noise or crying child), we ‘orient’ to, or direct our sensory ‘radar’ toward, this stimulus. Orienting can be a conscious choice or an involuntary reflexive instinct. Voluntary orienting has to do with choosing what you pay attention to.”
You are currently “oriented” towards reading this and the words here. Should your phone ring, your attention may shift towards that sound and wonder who is calling you. Where we are oriented changes from moment to moment.
Someone who grew up in a household where there were frequent arguments may have adapted by orienting toward anything that could upset a caregiver. When this child observed a furrowed brow or heard a slammed door they would likely t…