Developing Concentration

In this meditation, Dr. Julien Lacaille gently guides you to strengthen and sharpen your capacity for concentration.

Transcript

Okay,

So taking a few moments to settle into this sitting posture which is conducive to alertness,

Wakefulness,

Concentration.

You might want to just kind of check in with the symmetry of your body and make sure that you're well kind of balanced and centered,

That the spine is kind of straight and lengthened.

And just making sure you're not too stiff or rigid either,

Finding some flexibility,

But retaining this wakefulness.

And just noticing just as you shift into this posture,

The effect that it's having on your mind.

And so kind of just getting a sense of the body as a whole,

Sitting in this dignified and wakeful posture.

And seeing if we can set the intention from the beginning to not move,

To make the commitment to stay put,

Stay still no matter what happens.

Knowing that we can move if we wish to,

But that we're going to try to just stay still for the whole meditation.

Okay,

So finding stillness now,

Noticing stillness in the body.

I can move my body,

But I'm choosing to not move my body.

Noticing stillness,

Stability.

Noticing the whole body just sitting here being still.

And as you do that,

You might notice that the body is still in some parts,

But some parts just keep moving on their own.

Might be the abdomen region,

The chest region,

The shoulders,

Or other parts of the body affected by breathing.

Maybe the flow of the air that's going in and out of the nostrils and through the throat.

So from this still and stable perspective,

The body being just sitting here,

Seeing if we can direct our attention towards just one tiny part of the body where we're noticing breathing.

No bigger than your pinky nail.

Just a few centimeters of a part of your body where you're noticing breathing.

And then once you find that tiny spot in your body,

Seeing if you can anchor your attention there.

Just like pointing a laser beam at just one tiny spot.

A spot where you can really feel the sensations,

The raw sensations of breathing.

Whether it's a spot on the left or the right nostril,

Inside the nose,

In the throat,

A place on the chest or on the abdomen.

Just picking one,

And that becomes our best friend.

Resting attention there.

Seeing if that area can just become the center of gravity for our attention.

So it's surely going to wander away from there,

From time to time.

And seeing if we can,

Without struggling or kind of forcing it back,

Just gently escorting the attention back with a lot of curiosity,

A lot of kindness towards that one area.

And then seeing if we can kind of like zoom into that one area and then notice new sensations,

More subtle sensations we haven't noticed yet.

And it's normal at first that the attention wanders more than it stays put,

Maybe.

Just with a lot of patience,

Coming back,

Getting curious,

Getting curious about sensations.

What's there?

Maybe noticing that what's there keeps changing.

So what's there right now?

What's happening right now?

What's happening right now?

What's happening right now?

What's happening right now?

Where's my attention aimed right this moment?

Is it lost in thought somewhere?

And if so,

It's not a problem.

Curiosity is your best friend.

It will help you come right back to it.

Seeing if we can adopt really this beginner's mind,

This childlike mind that is convinced there's something new to be discovered in just this one little area.

Maybe something a little more subtle we haven't noticed yet.

What's happening right now?

What's happening right now?

Making your posture from time to time if you've lost a little wakefulness or alertness.

Making those subtle adjustments to lengthen the spine a little more.

Finding your center to help support this stable,

Focused attention in that one area.

Going deeper and deeper into it.

Discovering things from moment to moment.

With the inquiry,

What haven't I noticed in that one area yet?

Maybe noticing that,

I can always ask that question because just like a stream of water,

The stream of sensations just keeps changing.

You never step into the same stream twice.

It can come in and out of an area.

If you notice the mind wandering to the same place over and over again,

Something that needs to be solved,

Resolved.

See if you can give yourself just the permission to just put that aside for a few minutes.

We'll get back to it later.

Just for now,

Practicing something different.

Practicing getting curious about sensations in one area of your body.

Having a razor sharp attention.

Say maybe you are abbys怕 of that,

What are some of the signs that you are?

Going deeper and deeper into these sensations just noticing subtle sensations and we're not going deeper by trying harder we're just resting awareness there and letting it reveal itself like when we watch the night sky for a long time we see more and more stars subtle ones in the same way just resting your attention in that one area and just waiting with a lot of curiosity what is there to be discovered and as we end the meditation seeing if we can now broaden the attention to become aware of the body as a whole once again not just that one region but the body as a whole just sitting here breathing on its own still aware of the sounds in the environment the surface we're sitting on perhaps the other people in the room and then when you're ready opening your eyes

Reviews

Fantastic, can highly recommmend this meditation to my fellow meditators it really will help develop your focus.

Very well done and well guided. Different from other basic mindfulness meditations: the focus on a few square centimeters of the body, the analogy with watching stars. For those bothered by the car horn: Mindfulness is about maintaining concentration despite distractions. The car horn is life creating distractions. Use it as part of the practice!

Just the right amount of guidance and silence. Great voice!

This was really challenging and wonderful. Thank you!

Wonderfully directed practice to access and develop concentration. Thank you, Julien.

I like spaciousness if this meditation. There’s guidance but lots of silence too. My kind of meditation. Thank you! And I personally like the car honk 😀

Excelente ejercicio de enfoque. Wonderful focus experience. Thank you!

Like the exercise andfocal points used. Definitely will be working this one in to rotation

Great practice to train concentration using the breath. I liked the instructions and comparisons used. Being new to meditation, it’s hard to practice without guidance. This recording is very helpful with that.

Helped to better my attention. Thank you

Great for developing focus.

His teaching is so accessible. I'm really grateful to have found him.

Absolutely brilliant meditation 💖 the right amount of talk and silence. Thank you🙏

Great meditation lesson. Training to focus is so important in this loud and busy world. Thank you!

nice pace and reminders to keep nourishing your concentration

Peaceful!!! Thank you 🙏🏻

I really appreciated your guidance in this concentration meditation. Concentration is something I’d like to strengthen this year, as I often find myself getting lost in thought in varying moments (ie at work or while in conversation). One suggestion I can give would be if you can possibly edit out the car horn heard in the background. All the best

Deep and restorative and still

I found the guidance very helpful and not invasive even if frequent. There is a nice longer pause with silence towards the end. Thanks 🙏🏻

Wonderfully focusing. Excellent guidance and cadence.