ROdown Blog
What do you see?
This blog post was created by Ashleigh.
Hey! Have you ever come out of a situation feeling completely bummed out, while the person next to you (having gone through the exact same thing) feels great? Have you ever wondered why that is? Do I have your attention yet? Good! That’s exactly what this blog is about ...
Attention is a concentration of the mind on a single object or thought by choosing not to focus on other outside influences.
The following exercises show how our awareness can be limited and how, by redirecting our attention, our perception can be changed.
Each of these images and animations can be seen in multiple ways. By focusing your attention on different aspects of the images, you are able to see things in a different light.
Necker cube animation
This animation forces your mind to see the cube in the different possible ways
Old woman or young woman?
Which do you see? Can you change your perception to see the other?
Hint: the young woman’s ear is the old woman’s eye, her nose is a wart on the old woman’s nose, her chin is the old woman’s nose, her choker is the mouth, and her neck is the chin of the old woman
Spinning silhouette (this one is a bit harder)
Is she spinning clockwise or counter-clockwise? Can you get her to change directions?
Hint: Sometimes it helps to look at her hips where her legs cross or at her feet and the shadow.
How did the exercise go?
Were you able to see the images in different ways? Have any of you practiced mindfulness? How did it work for you?
These simple exercises all relate to mindfulness. Mindfulness is about training your attention to the present moment, without dwelling on the past or worrying about the future.
In relation to thoughts, our minds participate in habitual thinking. This means our mind goes to places and thoughts (eg putting ourselves down) that we usually go to out of habit. Mindfulness training can give you more control over where your thoughts become focused.
For more information on mindfulness, check out our mindfulness fact sheet
A chance to get involved
A group of researchers from Melbourne and Monash universities are designing a mindfulness program to be trialled on Reach Out next year and they need your help to design a program which uses mindfulness meditation as the cornerstone. Are you interested?
If so send Dr Kaveh Monshat an email at mail@mateprogram.org and he will get you some more info about the project.
Email this page
Not a member?
Join Reach Out to access a range of great member features.
Forgot your password?
11 Comments
Log in to join the conversation. Join Reach Out.
Mockingjay - Community Builder
9 months ago
Reply ReportI've done that spinning silhouette one before, it's really interesting how by consentrating you can make her appear to change directions.
I also heard that whichever direction you originally see her turning, can be used to define whether you are a left brain or right brained person. I honestly can't remember which direction equalls which brain, but you know, it's still interesting.
ashcat
9 months ago
Reply Reporthaha, yeah! I have heard that before. I usually see her spinning counter-clockwise and I think that means I'm right-brained, but I disagree with that so I don't know how they came up with that conclusion, lol
anna
9 months ago
Reply Reportthe spinning one is hard!
I love the Necker cube.
The old woman/young woman, rabbit/duck ones are good too.
Is there anyone who's experienced mindfulness in any one of its forms who wants to share anything about their experience?
I know a few people I've spoken with said it was hard at first, but has become easier with time and has been really helpful for them.
Mockingjay - Community Builder
9 months ago
Reply Report@Ash - Well apparently Mr Scientists were wrong haha :P
Antria - Community Builder
9 months ago
Reply ReportAnna do you mean here, or? I'm happy to share my experiences but its probably better if other people do since I think I talked about it somewhere else. I'd love to hear about the experiences of others!
Kaveh
9 months ago
Reply ReportHi everyone,
I'm one of the people involved with the MATE (Mindful Awareness Training and Education) project on Reachout.
Don't forget to email me on mail@mateprogram.org if you'd like to give us your ideas about how the program should run. There's a movie voucher in it for people who either come to discuss it as a group or agree to a phone interview.
Looking forward to hearing from you!
anna
9 months ago
Reply ReportMake sure you get in touch with Kaveh everyone if you're interested in getting involved - great opportunity!
I was at a conference session on mindfulness last week, and in fact mindfulness and its many benefits were repeatedly mentioned throughout the conference - I'm going to try and get back into it!
If people want to share info about what has worked for them when practicing mindfulness (in any of its forms) feel free to share here.
Otherwise, if you'd like to share your story of how mindfulness has helped you on Reach Out, you can email it to crew@reachout.com.au. Just make sure you focus on how it helped you get through whatever you were going through or how it improved your sense of wellbeing / focus etc - whatever it might be, and perhaps if you did have any challenges how you overcame them.
thanks!!
:)
jomend725
9 months ago
Reply ReportI like doing visual tests like these. I often receive tests like these in my email, and I really enjoy making guesses(which most often are wrong).
post edited by moderator - please check community guidelines
Edited by moderator 9 months ago
NadineF
9 months ago
Reply ReportI love the spinning lady. I've never seen that one before! very cool but hard! :)
Porcelain
9 months ago
Reply Report*head spin* that's an eye catcher that causes confusions, but it's amazing how our mind plays. Our brain is really smart.
ashcat
9 months ago
Reply Reportthis is great! I'm so happy people are getting into this!