Most of us can say that at some time in our life, we have experienced boredom. Some of us struggle with boredom chronically. Boredom is defined as a state of weariness and restlessness as a result of lack of interest. Interest is really about attention and focus. When we encounter something that we want to focus our attention on, we are engaged in life itself. In the body, we start to feel movement instead of stagnation within our being. This is actually the somatic experience of expansion. The purpose of coming into physical life is expansion. So when we feel the expansion that is the result of being interested in something, we also feel a sense of purpose. It is a feel good feeling.

Focused attention creates the movement (otherwise known as growth) here in physical embodiment. When we feel the lack of momentum, the stagnation of energy in our being as a result of not being focused on something we want to be focused on, we feel two opposing emotional states that pull in opposite directions. Fatigue and restlessness. The restlessness is actually a reaction to the feeling of stagnation; it seeks to try to get that feeling of momentum back by all means possible.

Because we are largely unconscious beings, most of us are not aware of what we are focusing on when we feel bored. If you will stop to watch your thoughts when you are bored, you will see that your thoughts are all revolving around not having what you want. Your attention is focused on what is preventing you from what you currently want. For example, when you are a kid and it’s raining outside and you want to be outside playing, but the rain is preventing you from doing that, it feels like the movement within your being is stalled out.