Wide Angle vs Zoom Lens: A different way to pay attention in movement
I recently listened to a podcast in which meditation teacher Joseph Goldstein compared attention to a wide angle lens versus a zoom lens in photography. The metaphor stuck with me and made me reflect on how we shift and toggle our attention in our movement practice.
In any practice, we are working with attention, where we place it, how tightly we hold it, whether it feels spacious or strained. Thinking about attention as a lens gives us a way to work with it rather than against it.
The Wide Angle Lens
Moving with a wide angle lens reminds us that the body is a system, not a collection of isolated parts. This is where flow lives. Movement feels bigger and more embodied. It is a shift away from overthinking and toward feeling and experiencing. For many people, it is also where the nervous system settles.
In movement, wide angle attention might look like:
Feeling the body move as a whole
Noticing breath, rhythm, effort, and ease
Allowing movement to feel continuous rather than segmented
Staying connected to sensation without micromanaging
The Zoom Lens
A zoom lens narrows attention with purpose. This kind of attention is intelligent and essential. It is how we get stronger and more efficient in our movement. It helps us interrupt old habits and build new ones. But like any zoom lens, it can become too tight if we stay there too long.
Knowing When to Change Lenses
The real skill is not choosing one lens over the other, it is learning how to switch between the two.
Some useful cues:
If you are flowing but mentally drifting, zoom in
If you are hyper-focused and gripping, zoom out
If movement feels scattered, zoom in
If movement feels rigid or effortful, widen the lens
This is where movement becomes a conversation instead of a set of rules. Instead of asking, “What is the right way to do this?” you start asking, “What kind of attention would be most helpful right now?” That question builds autonomy. It builds trust.
Let’s consider the exercise, teaser, with both of these approaches.
Wide lens: From your back, roll up and balance, reaching arms and legs to the sky. How does it feel to balance on your seat?
Zoom lens (focusing on arms in the exercise): Let the arms lift from the back body, shoulder blades wide and settled, neck and jaw relaxed. Can you reach the arms without lifting the shoulders?
The exercise hasn't changed. Only the lens has.
Pilates is not just about exercises. It is about training attention through movement. A resilient practice can zoom in to build clarity, zoom out to restore ease and coordination, and move fluidly between the two. Learning how to adjust your lens is part of the work. That adaptability is what keeps a practice supportive instead of rigid, and what allows movement to meet you where you are on any given day.
Some days need precision.
Some days need space.
Most days need a little of both.
