Our toes don't get all that much attention. Sure, if you are a girl with cute ones, they may get a coat of stunning aquamarine paint. But I'm not and mine don't. Reading "Aware" by Dr.Daniel Siegel, I see other possibilities in meditation. Without much evidence to support my vague guesses about my brain, I wonder about the effect of thinking of my toes, of feeling them, being aware of them, sensing them. I picture my brain and me and my toes all benefitting from my being consciously aware of them. Further, if I pay attention to my mind and my mental activities, I am aware that I am paying attention to my toes.
Here is an excerpt from a post I wrote in 2017:
One thing I remember from Merzenich is the difference between habitual action and deliberate, conscious action. Other scientists felt that he had overestimated the difference between my turning a switch without paying attention and my turning it deliberately. However, he showed that it does make an important difference to the brain. That is why he and others emphasize that in stopping an old habit or building a new one, it is important to stop the old actions deliberately, consciously and to do the new deliberately. Granted that can be difficult, but stopping the old and starting the new, important for educating yourself and training yourself into a new way works better, more efficiently and more effectively, if you stop intentionally and start with attention.
Deliberate, conscious, intentional thought matters. So, when I ask my toes how they are doing and I get some response from them, I am connecting to my toes a bit emphatically. Same goes for my ears, my lateral breathing muscles, my sense of smell. There is a lot to me and it takes a little effort to figure out what parts I have not paid attention to lately. You see why Siegel called this book "Aware". I think it is surprising that doing something with awareness and deliberately is different from simply doing it out of habit and without concentration.
