[...] a chronic lack of awareness due to over-using attention. Most people overuse attention because it’s under direct conscious control and peripheral awareness isn’t. Awareness arises automatically in response to external or internal stimuli, so it’s easy to neglect. Consistently neglecting peripheral awareness in favor of attention eventually stunts the faculty of awareness. In meditation, where other distractions are minimized, we can learn to use peripheral awareness effectively, and become skilled at using attention and awareness together. However, skill at using attention and awareness is only one part of mindfulness training.