Learning to love your body can be an incredible feat. The older we get, the harder it seems to be to keep up with societal standards. Aging can come with a variety of side effects that cause us to feel inferior. Fashion magazines sport images of extremely thin figures whose bodies have gone through the Photoshop machine one too many times. Stretch marks, cellulite, wrinkles, freckles and more are digitally removed to show an image of what makes perfection. We flip through the pages and sigh as we view what we’ve been brainwashed to believe is admirable.

But while there are plenty of stories of models being told their already svelte bodies are too big for runways and actresses that they’re too big for parts (not to mention the silent operation of removing flaws with technology), there is an incredible movement happening that seeks to provide awareness of this problem, and to move past it entirely, living in a world where all bodies of all shapes and sizes and with many different “flaws” are considered normal.

Dr. Udo Ulfkotte is a top German journalist and editor and has been for more than two decades, so you can bet he knows a thing or two about mainstream media and what really happens behind the scenes. Recently, Dr. Ulfkotte went on public television stating that he was forced to publish the works of intelligence agents under his own name, also adding that noncompliance with these orders would result in him losing his job. He recently made an appearance on RT news to share these facts:

I’ve been a journalist for about 25 years, and I was educated to lie, to betray, and not to tell the truth to the public. But seeing right now within the last months how the German and American media tries to bring war to the people in Europe, to bring war to Russia — this is a point of no return and I’m going to stand up and say it is not right what I have done in the past, to manipulate people, to make propaganda against Russia, and it is not right what my colleagues do and have done in the past because they are bribed to betray the people, not only in Germany, all over Europe.

I would like to present you a very practical skill which can make your work and private life a bit more exciting. It should be primarily useful for people who deal with others during face to face meetings, presentations, conferences, etc. It is fairly easy to learn and it is based on flexible attention.

Flexible attention is the ability to alternate between narrow attention style (focused) and diffused attention style (broad) or to apply both at the same time. Narrowing makes us specific but requires dividing reality into smaller pieces (objects). Diffusing allows us to see the big picture and connect (immerse) with its elements.

For example, you can read and understand this text (narrow attention style) while staying aware of something more (diffused attention style). Try the exercise below to experience what flexible attention feels like.