Focus

Let us begin by finding a focused and attentive posture.

Just like anything that requires our full focus,

Our body language plays a key role in how we approach whatever it is our area of focus is.

So find your seat,

Whether that be in a chair with your hands resting on your thighs or sitting on a cushion with your hands on your thighs or thumbs touching hands together.

And find a lift through the upper chest,

Find a lift through the upper jaw to lengthen the back of the neck,

Allow the ears to move back in space and relax your shoulder blades down.

Soften through the space in between the eyebrows,

Soften the lower jaw off the upper jaw and relax your belly.

Using the relaxation and the posturing of the body to start to relax and focus our mind.

And let's start to invite the focus and attention onto our breath.

Simply becoming aware of the movement of the air from the outside world coming in and the warm air from the inside world coming out.

Not trying to change anything in the breath,

Trying to manipulate it,

Just bringing our focus,

Finding our own rhythm,

Our own natural flow of wherever your breathing pattern is at this very moment.

And today's meditation is going to be on that focus,

On finding a way to be in the flow of whatever our area of interest or focus is.

And to do that we are going to imagine ourselves seated just like we are in our meditation space.

I'd like you to imagine yourself seated just by a flowing river.

So any river that comes to mind,

Whether it's in a forested area or maybe a more barren,

Or maybe it's a river that you have near your home.

Maybe find a nice bench that is parked right near the river where you can just sit and watch the flow pass by you.

Continuing to be aware of the flow of your breathing pattern.

And what this river is,

It's a symbol of how we want to be in our focus.

So we want to be persistent.

We want to have barriers that we focus in as the river has barriers that it flows through.

And we want to be able to move with the bumps and the rocks and the so-called negative things that maybe come up during our time that requires our focus.

Whether that be our work,

Whether that be some sort of sporting match or tournament event.

Using the symbol of a river to embody our own flow,

Our own persistence,

Our own maneuverability in dealing with the changing tides as they come.

We're going to use the gentle and persistent flow of the river to start to relax our inner world.

Using the flow of our breath to notice if there's any tension in our body.

And just quickly do a quick body scan to relax through our minds,

Our head.

With each breath I'd like you to send a little bit of that energy that's coming off of the river,

That flow.

I'd like you to send it to each part of your body.

And then on each exhale I'd like you to just relax and let any tension flow out,

Maybe flow into the river and allow the tension to release.

So breathing in through the shoulders and exhale releasing any tension that might be stored up.

Inhale,

Breathing through the chest and the upper arms.

And then each exhale allowing tension to melt away into the river.

And we're just going to move down through our body,

Not doing a full body scan,

But noticing as we move down any parts that might need a little extra love,

Might need a little extra attention to fully relax.

Down through our lower arms,

Through our torso,

Our tailbone,

Thighs,

Our knees.

Breathing in through our calves,

Our shins,

And breathing out relaxing any lingering tension.

Going through our feet,

Toes.

Setting ourselves up to be fully aware and a calm mind then allows us to find our focus,

Find our flow.

So releasing all the tension and then on these next few breaths I'd like you to affirm,

I am calm,

I am poised,

I am able to swiftly respond.

I am calm,

I am poised,

I am able to swiftly respond.

Being able to respond to the situations that life gives to us,

Rather than react,

Is really one of the most key functions and roles that we can learn to embody in our own lives.

And especially this is key in any area of performance,

Whether mental or physical or a mix of both.

Because things aren't always going to go our way and the power that we have is only to control our minds and our perceptions and our actions to whatever comes our way.

So continuing to use the flow of your breath to keep you calm,

Keep you poised.

I'd like you to bring to mind something in your life that happens that maybe triggers you and specifically triggers you while you're trying to stay focused on your work or trying to stay focused in your sporting event.

Maybe something negative happens like you get an email from someone when you're trying to stay focused on a project and the email just stirs up all of these emotions within you and you want to react and lash out and respond.

Maybe you're in a sporting situation like a golf tournament and you miss a putt or shoot a bad drive.

Both of these situations,

They happen.

So instead of reacting to them when they come,

I'd like us to visualize that situation and maybe it's slightly different in whatever your area of focus is.

Visualize yourself getting unfocused,

Getting triggered.

And as you do,

Use your breath and the relaxation of your mind to ease you and find a way to respond to this situation,

To let it go.

And allow it to flow in the river that's in front of us.

And to make a choice to keep persisting,

To keep flowing,

To keep moving.

And as the river does,

Being able to keep barriers,

Keep focused,

But also able to allow the bumps and the turns to come and go.

Not needing it to define us or get us off our track.

So envision yourself having that situation come and letting it go.

Seeing yourself move past it in a calm and poised way.

Release the focus on that particular.

And I'd like you to not notice any of those thoughts that pop up as we work or maybe those thoughts prior to working on something of having doubt or thinking that we're not good enough or that we're not capable.

These only get in the way of our focus.

So as any of these thoughts that might still be lingering,

I'd like you to notice the thought.

Notice those thoughts of doubt that will certainly come if you're doing anything of high performance.

And breathing the energy of calm and peace persistence and breathe out,

Allow that thought to leave your head and move into this river and just flow downstream,

Releasing all of these negative thoughts from your mind.

Knowing that although they try to keep us safe,

They're really not going to serve us in what we need to do.

And instead affirm,

I am capable.

I am confident.

I am capable.

I am capable.

I am competent.

I am confident.

I am confident.

I am confident.

Now using this affirmation of being capable and confident,

Using this feeling of knowing that your intention is to perform at your best,

Whatever that means.

I'd like you to begin to visualize what the feeling of performing competently in your area of focus is.

So imagine yourself in the middle of it.

Maybe you're working on a project and the creativity is just flowing.

The words are just coming out and there's this effortlessness to it.

Or maybe it's a sporting event like a golf tournament and every shot feels pure.

Every putt seems to find the back of the hole.

And just begin to move through either your golf match or your sporting event or move through your work project.

Just imagine the feeling.

The key here is the feeling of what that feels like to be competent,

Confident and in the flow of your work.

Continue to breathe in the flow of the river,

Persistent,

Unchanging.

As you feel and embody the feeling of being in your own flow,

In your work.

Noticing the smells or anything that brings this situation more alive.

The sounds,

Maybe there's other people.

And just start to feel the flow of the river.

Noticing the smells or anything that brings this situation more alive.

The sounds,

Maybe there's other people.

Really breathing in,

Feeling that energy deep within.

And then finally visualize what the success in your area of focus is.

So that might mean finishing the project.

That might mean winning the golf tournament.

See it in your mind's eye what that looks like.

And then breathe in what that would feel like.

Breathe in yourself visualizing and holding the completion of possibly a book.

Or looking at the scoreboard and seeing your name as the first place finisher.

Breathe in the feeling that that brings within you.

What does it feel like?

Take another deep breath.

And relax it out.

Come back to yourself sitting on the river.

And using these next few moments to let go and surrender any expectations.

Surrender the expectations that you're going to always feel focus.

Surrender the expectations that you're going to play really well.

We've done the work.

The final thing is to let go.

Because that is truly what brings us into the moment of now.

And gives us the capability to use all of our facilities.

So surrender any thoughts of winning or losing or things going your way.

Surrender it all to the river.

Finding one last flow of energy as you completely release thoughts of anything.

Completely release any focus on the breath.

Maybe you even release your body posture right now and just kind of start to relax.

And then whenever you feel ready,

You may begin to start to come back to your body.

And gently open your eyes.

I wish you much success and focus in whatever you are working towards.

Be well.