Hey everyone, it's K-Sunga here. I just want to let you know that we've launched a brand

new call and advice podcast called Dear Headspace. Each week the headspace teachers, along

with some amazing new friends, are answering your questions about relationships, work,

life, mindfulness, and just about everything else. It's so different from anything we've

ever created and we're so excited for you to hear it. Dear Headspace comes out every

Tuesday on the Headspace app and anywhere that you listen to podcasts. Thanks for listening.

Hi, I'm Dora and welcome to Radio Headspace and to Wednesday. So, most mornings I have a rising

ritual or a few things that I like to do to really help set the tone for my day. Since I've

started working at Headspace, I've started to meditate way more and as a way to deepen my own

personal practice, I've stopped using music or any guidance in my meditations. I simply focus

on the sounds in my immediate space. I start by closing my eyes, then letting my focus rest on

whatever I notice first. Normally it starts with the low humming of my fridge, then I begin to

notice the sounds of cars driving by outside my house, and then it drifts to the birds just outside

my window. The more that I focus, the more aware I become of the interesting sounds and things around

me. It reminded me of this phenomenon that I learned while in university, called the

reticular activation system. The RIS is a part of the brain that helps us focus on more important

information and discard everything else. Think of it as a nightclub bouncer for our brains,

where it's in charge of filtering all the sensory information that we perceive every single day.

It filters sounds, tastes, colors, and images, helping us to focus on just the right amount of

information. And we've all used this before. For example, if you're thinking about buying a new car,

and then all of a sudden you start to see that car everywhere, that's the RIS in action. And this

mechanism had me thinking about if it was possible to train ourselves to see the good and everything.

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