 Attentiveness is a commonly used word and something that forms the bare bones of our practice, regardless of which model we use. I intend to break the word down and provide a practical description of what attentiveness "is", and how to improve practice through really understanding what it means to be attentive. This is just my take on it based on what works, and is working, for me; this may change as new information becomes available.Attentiveness describes the act of paying attention to an object; to be "attentive" is to be engaged in the act of paying attention; "attention" is defined as "the act or faculty of attending" [0], faculty being "an ability, natural or acquired, for a particular kind of action" [0]. Since we all have this ability naturally rather than having to acquire it, as is apparent simply by noticing that you're sitting reading this post right now, it's just a case of recognizing this "particular kind of action" occurring in real-time and learning how to utilize it effectively.Some common synonyms for the word "attentive" include: heedful, aware, alert, and, perhaps most interestingly given the context of this piece, mindful [0]. In short, to be attentive is to be heedful, aware or mindful of whatever is occurring at any given moment. For the sake of clarity, I'd like to briefly analyze the word "mindfulness" since, given what we know already about attentiveness and based on my own practice, I posit that it is identical in operation and produces the same phenomenological results; there will likely be some who immediately disagree based on comments made by the founder of the AFT, or consider these correlations to be the product of "my" efforts to force-fit the language of one model with another. I am trying to present this in as clear terms as possible so as to avoid any ambiguity or bias towards any one model, and am also providing these breakdowns of the words to clarify the way in which I use and understand them.The word "mindful" is an adjective meaning "attentive, aware, or careful (usually followed by of)" [0] or "conscious or aware of something"[0][0]. We've already looked at "attentive" and found that it's synonymous with words like "mindful", "heedful", "aware" and "alert", all of which represent the same process: To be attentive of something; to be paying attention; to be aware. It does not require any further analysis to demonstrate that mindfulness and attentiveness are simply labels for the same, naturally occurring ability to pay attention.What is this "naturally occurring ability to pay attention" and how does it happen?Attentiveness is occurring right now as I sit here writing this; as my eyes scan the screen I'm able to simultaneously notice the sound of my fingers on the keyboard, the television in the background, and the sound of traffic outside. I'm also aware of what's going on ‘internally' and can notice thoughts arising by themselves, the way I mentally verbalize these words as I edit this paragraph and consider whether it's an accurate description or not; a reflection based on the way that I understand the words I'm using and whether or not others will understand them in the same way. All of this can be observed occurring without effort, but the simplicity of attentiveness is what makes it difficult for some to perceive.Attentiveness is just a matter of noticing what's happening right now, you're not looking