Have you ever been told to pay attention?
After you were asked to pay attention,
Were you taught how?
When I was in school,
I was told to pay attention and to focus,
But I was never taught how to.
So I thought paying attention meant to stare in the direction of the speaker and occasionally nod my head to show I was listening.
But I wasn't really listening,
And my mind was thinking about other things,
Not what the speaker was saying.
When we learn how to pay attention,
It can help us to do better in school,
Learn sports and music more efficiently,
And even to be a better friend.
So what does it mean to pay attention?
It means to focus on whatever you want to focus on.
Notice when your mind wanders away from that focal point,
And then bringing your focus back to what you're trying to focus on.
Paying attention is like any other skill.
It can get stronger with repetition and practice.
Today we will practice anchored breathing to help us practice paying attention.
Anchor breath is the practice of placing your attention on your breath,
Noticing when you are no longer focused on your breath,
And bringing your attention back to your breath.
First we want to notice where we most feel our breath in our body.
Sitting up tall,
Place your hands on your belly,
And take a few slow and quiet breaths.
Notice if you can feel your breath move in your belly.
Next,
Place your hands on your heart,
And take a few slow and quiet breaths.
Notice if you can feel your breath move near your heart.
Last,
Place your hand in front of your nose,
And take a few slow and quiet breaths.
Notice if you can feel your breath on your hand.
Now choose where you most felt your breath in your body,
And place your hands there.
Was it on your belly,
On your heart,
Or in front of your nose?
Where you place your hands is your anchor.
We will sit here for a few minutes,
Place our attention on the sensation of our breath,
Either in our belly,
On our heart,
Or in front of our nose.
And as we breathe in,
In our mind,
We will say,
Breathing in.
And as we breathe out,
In our mind,
We will say,
Breathing out.
Breathing in,
Breathing out.
Breathing in,
Breathing out.
At some point,
We might get distracted by sounds,
Sensations on our body,
Or even our own thoughts.
When we notice we're distracted,
And we're no longer paying attention to our breath,
We kindly bring our attention back to the feeling of our breath and our body,
And the words,
Breathing in and breathing out.
Let's practice.
Sitting up tall,
With your hands on your anchor spot,
You can close your eyes or look down so your attention is on you.
We will begin this practice when you hear the sound of the bowl,
And I will ring the bowl a second time when it's time to stop our practice.
I will ring the bowl a second time when it's time to stop our practice.
Thank you.
Take a moment and notice how you feel.
How does your body feel?
Was it challenging to keep your focus on your breath?
Life is full of sounds,
Sensations,
Thoughts,
Emotions,
And many other distractions.
When we notice we are distracted,
We have the power to choose what we want to pay attention to.
Throughout the day,
You can practice paying attention to your breath,
Notice when your mind wanders,
And bring your attention back to your breath.
Each time you notice when it wanders and you bring it back to your breath,
You're building your focus muscle.
If you haven't done so already,
You can gently open your eyes.
Thank you so much for practicing with me.
