The Locational Process

The Attention Process moves your attention rapidly around the room. The Locational Process takes a different approach - slower, more deliberate, with explicit acknowledgment of what you’re looking at.

This might seem like a small difference. It’s not. The addition of acknowledgment - naming or noting what you see - creates a deeper orientation to your environment.

Why Orientation Matters

When you’re disoriented, you’re not fully here. Part of you is still in whatever upset, shock, or mental loop pulled you away. You’re physically present but psychologically elsewhere.

Disorientation is more common than people realize. Think about how often you drive somewhere and don’t remember the trip. How often you eat a meal without tasting it. How often you’re in a conversation while mentally somewhere else. This is normalized disorientation.

The Locational Process systematically reorients you. It forces contact with the actual environment by requiring you to see things AND acknowledge that you’ve seen them.

The Principle

Looking at something and looking at something while acknowledging it are different acts.

You can look at a wall and remain lost in thought. The eyes point at the wall, but attention never arrives. The wall doesn’t register.

But if you look at the wall AND acknowledge “wall” - if you say it internally or out loud - attention has to go there. The acknowledgment forces arrival.

This is like the difference between glancing at someone and making eye contact. The glance might not register you were seen. Eye contact confirms: I see you, you see me, we’re both here. The Locational Process creates that confirmation with your environment.

How to Do It

1. Pick an object in the room
2. Look at it - really look
3. Acknowledge it: “Wall” or “There’s the wall” or “I see the door” or just “Door”
4. Move to another object
5. Look and acknowledge
6. Continue until you feel oriented and present - the environment feels more real and you feel more “here”
7. This usually takes 3-5 minutes, but let the change be your endpoint, not the clock

You can acknowledge silently (internally) or out loud. Out loud is often more powerful because it adds another sense modality. But internal works too.

When to Use It

The Locational Process is particularly useful for:

• After shock or upsetting news
• When feeling “not quite here”
• When dissociated or spacey
• After waking from disturbing dreams
• When anxious and ungrounded
• In unfamiliar environments (hotels, new offices)
• When you need to feel safe in a space

It’s slower and more deliberate than the Attention Process, so it’s better when you have a few minutes and need thorough grounding rather than quick clearing.

Today’s Practice

Run the Locational Process until you feel oriented and present.

Sit or stand in your space. Look at objects around you - furniture, walls, windows, items on surfaces. For each one, acknowledge it. “Chair.” “Window.” “There’s my desk.” “Book.”

Say it out loud if you’re alone; internally if you’re not.

Notice how this feels different from the Attention Process. The pace is slower. There’s more deliberateness. You’re not just spotting - you’re naming and confirming.

Your endpoint: the room feels more real, more solid. You feel more “here.” This usually takes 3-5 minutes, but stop when the change arrives, not when a timer goes off.