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Micro Awareness

Some more thoughts on the conscious competence stage of learning. So, let us say you are learning something new - and the instructor has told you to focus on a few things, the feet, the shoulder, the swing, the eyes, the knees...

It is difficult. If the feet are right, the grip is wrong. If the grip and feet are right, you missed seeing the ball. If you did all of that, the knees did not bend. If you bent the knees, the shoulder and everything else was in the wrong place...

It is like juggling balls - struggling to keep them all in the air while they are falling.

The interesting thing is that as you struggle through the process, with the awareness, you know it. When the ball is mishit, you know that something was wrong and later on you know specifically what was wrong. That is what I mean by micro- awareness. Even as you hit the shot, you know that the knees did not bend enough. Many a time you know what is wrong, at other times the coach helps either with an instruction or a smile or something...but that micro awareness phase is quite an amazing one.

You lose focus - the balls fall. You stay focused and you can see yourself getting better, step by little step. Slowly. With awareness. But you can see it happen. Sometimes by slowing down a little, sometimes by listening - to the coach or to your own micro-awareness...

And as the Buddha would say, this micro awareness helps us stay focussed on the here and now...
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