{"id":782,"date":"2023-03-31T23:47:09","date_gmt":"2023-03-31T23:47:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/articulatingyourstrengths.org\/?page_id=782"},"modified":"2026-01-06T19:22:58","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T19:22:58","slug":"advanced-sfi-practice-lesson-6","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/articulatingyourstrengths.org\/index.php\/advanced-sfi-practice-lesson-6\/","title":{"rendered":"Advanced SFI-Practice \u2013 Lesson\u00a06"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry\">\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Objective: Focusing on the Present, Part 1 of 2<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>In this video:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jerald provides a detailed demonstration of attention in the present moment, noticing the positive as well as the not-positive moments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Key Takeaway (An important one!):<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The SfI-Practice naturally leads to focusing more on the present moment. Have you ever heard that the only way out is through? Entering the moment <em>as it is<\/em> brings us to the pivot point from which we can move in any direction. Jerald gives a demonstration of moving with the flow of experience. Again, this is not a program of repressing negative feelings or thoughts. It is not a program of judging feelings or thoughts either. This is a fine point! It is a program of <em>being<\/em> with the present moment, <em>accepting <\/em>the present moment, and <em>choosing<\/em> what to do in the present moment. It is a program of <em>building<\/em> on those choices to repeat and reinforce our <em>chosen<\/em> attitudes about our circumstances and ourselves. In this way we grow to know ourselves as creative self-makers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"video-responsive\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Lesson 6 Adv SfI Focusing on the Present, Part 1\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/cpXUjuwoULM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><thead><tr><th>Notes on Practice<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>In \u201cFocusing on the Present, Part 1,\u201d you will hear Jerald give an example of keeping his attention in the present moment throughout the cooking of his breakfast. You will hear him articulate his changing thoughts and feelings. When we practice present-moment awareness, it is important to be accepting of whatever arises. Our flow of experience is a mix of positive and negative reactions.<br><br>The practice you have been doing\u2013recalling positive moments and articulating strengths\u2013will help you be comfortable with being in the present moment regardless of whether you find it agreeable or disagreeable. You will know that a positive moment will come along. As Jerald says in the video, \u201cI like the sweet yogurt better, and I know I will buy it the next time.\u201d<br><br>We don\u2019t want to be stuck in a negative reaction. This is the point. The negativity bias tends to get us stuck by telling us our negative reactions are important and meaningful when they aren&#8217;t any more important than our positive reactions. In fact, our positive reactions are more likely to be useful to us, causing us to feel better and make better choices.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><thead><tr><th class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\"><strong>Reflection Question<\/strong><\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">Try a period of being fully focused on whatever it is you are doing, without letting your mind flit off to something else. What do you notice?<br><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text alignwide is-stacked-on-mobile\" style=\"grid-template-columns:21% auto\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Articulating-Your-Strengths-practice-developing\/dp\/B086G2JW7K\/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;qid=1674938625&amp;sr=1-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"350\" height=\"499\" src=\"https:\/\/articulatingyourstrengths.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/AYS.jpg\" alt=\"Articulating Your Strengths\" class=\"wp-image-134 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/articulatingyourstrengths.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/AYS.jpg 350w, https:\/\/articulatingyourstrengths.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/AYS-210x300.jpg 210w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cWhen your total attention is on what you are doing, you are not aware of much else, and that is a good thing.\u201d <br><em><em>Jerald<\/em><\/em><br><br>\u201cWe are leveraging your certainty that there are positive moments into present-moment focus.\u201d <br><em>Jennifer<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-content-justification-center is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-94bc23d7 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-vivid-cyan-blue-background-color has-background wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/articulatingyourstrengths.org\/index.php\/advanced-sfi-practice-lesson-5\/\" rel=\"\">&lt; Advanced SFI-Practice \u2013 Lesson 5<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-vivid-cyan-blue-background-color has-background wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/articulatingyourstrengths.org\/index.php\/advanced-sfi-practice-lesson-7\/\" rel=\"\">Advanced SFI-Practice \u2013 Lesson 7 &gt;<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Objective: Focusing on the Present, Part 1 of 2 In this video: Jerald provides a detailed demonstration of attention in the present moment, noticing the positive as well as the not-positive moments. Key Takeaway (An important one!): The SfI-Practice naturally leads to focusing more on the present moment. Have you ever heard that the only &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-782","page","type-page","status-publish"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"j_forster","author_link":"https:\/\/articulatingyourstrengths.org\/index.php\/author\/j_forster\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Objective: Focusing on the Present, Part 1 of 2 In this video: Jerald provides a detailed demonstration of attention in the present moment, noticing the positive as well as the not-positive moments. Key Takeaway (An important one!): The SfI-Practice naturally leads to focusing more on the present moment. Have you ever heard that the only&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/articulatingyourstrengths.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/articulatingyourstrengths.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/articulatingyourstrengths.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/articulatingyourstrengths.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/articulatingyourstrengths.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=782"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/articulatingyourstrengths.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/782\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1341,"href":"https:\/\/articulatingyourstrengths.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/782\/revisions\/1341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/articulatingyourstrengths.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}