Sharp and Focused Mind

This meditation is great to do in the morning before you begin working or when you need a 'mental pick me up'.

It helps you to calm your overactive mind and restore clarity. Perfect when you want to focus, be more decisive, and gain mental vitality. A definite mental decluttering.

It follows a simple but powerful mindfulness of breath technique (based in Tibetan Buddhist traditions) called 'guarding the gate'. This also helps to awaken and harmonise the energy of the 3rd Eye Chakra (Ajna Chakra).

Transcript

At the sound of the bell,

Simply begin by closing your eyes.

And start by taking three long,

Slow,

Deep breaths,

Regulating the breath just a little so that you breathe long and deep.

Feel your breath going all the way down into the abdomen.

Fill it completely.

And then just release it.

Let the breath go with ease.

So three long,

Slow,

Deep breaths.

And as you breathe,

Feel the body slowing down naturally.

And then after that third breath,

Just allow the body to breathe,

Letting your body find its own rhythm.

Letting each breath flow in effortlessly.

And using your mind simply to watch the process of breathing.

Without trying too hard,

Without trying to control this breath,

Just letting the body breathe and standing back with your mind and observing every breath as it happens.

So tuning in to your body through your breath.

Observing the breath flowing in and out.

Using every breath to tune in more,

To feel the body breathe without regulation.

Instead paying great attention.

Feeling and feeling this sense of ease and release.

And so you can keep focused on the breath.

Observe the natural sensations and movements created in the body as you breathe.

Without trying to make any sensation happen.

Instead just noticing what does happen,

What movements naturally arise in the body.

Naturally you feel the chest or abdomen rising,

A sense of coolness or tingling.

So just take a few moments and be with every breath.

And now as you breathe,

Begin to heighten this awareness.

Bring your attention specifically to the area around your nose and concentrate fully on these four areas.

We want to create a laser focused mind.

So these four areas inside your nose,

Your nostrils,

The upper lip and that small triangle between your nose and lip,

This very small area,

Those four areas inside your nose,

Your nostrils,

Upper lip and that small area between the nose and lip.

Use the power of your mind to be 100% focused on this area only.

What sensations do you feel in this area simply by breathing?

Maybe you feel coolness or dryness,

A tickle perhaps,

Perspiration,

Maybe heat.

Do you feel the wind of your breath around the nostrils or feel the nostrils flare?

Whatever sensation is,

Just recognize it.

Allow it to be without craving more if it's pleasant or hating it if it's unpleasant.

Don't try to push it away.

Stand back and observe,

Acutely observe.

Allow the breath to be and observe it.

Allow yourself to relax into this observation and keep this mind focused with pinpoint precision.

Tune into where you feel each sensation.

Also sharpen this awareness,

Become more interested in the breath.

Each breath is different.

Notice these differences,

Heighten this alertness.

Notice exactly where you feel each breath in the area around your nose.

When you inhale,

Where do you feel the breath?

Take notice.

Where do you feel it?

Do you feel at the tip of your nose,

Inside your nose,

At that upper lip?

Where does it start for you when you breathe in and fix your attention on this very small area and begin to understand your process of breathing in great detail?

Take great interest and not with force.

Here with ease,

Simply with ease.

If you find you are beginning to try too hard with force,

Then just relax.

Release this tension with the out-breath.

You want to stay focused,

Very focused,

But with ease.

Release this vividness,

This paying attention,

Acutely paying attention,

But in this passive way.

Not trying too hard to make a sensation happen,

But instead standing back and merely noticing what sensation is happening as I breathe.

Simply at this small area around the nose,

Those four areas,

Inside your nose,

The nostrils,

The upper lip and that small space between the lip and nose.

Like every other area of your body falls away,

You are so focused,

Intently focused on these areas.

Getting to know this area of your body with great detail.

Hold your attention completely around the nose,

Experiencing your breath,

Every breath.

Great mindfulness of the breath.

Fixate your attention on this point and just breathe.

Notice what happens.

Naturally,

What occurs as the breath flows in and out of your body.

And as you breathe,

Keeping your attention around the nose,

You will notice the breath will naturally calm and at times you won't feel any other movement or sensation beyond the area of your nose.

You will enter this kind of quiet void,

Empty space.

Just allow the mind to linger in this space as you focus on the breath.

Remember it's natural that the mind will wander sometimes.

So when that happens to you,

Whatever distracted you,

Simply acknowledge it.

Become aware,

Ah yes,

The mind has gone off.

And then every time,

Simply decide,

Not with force but with a gentle nature,

Bring the mind,

Refocus the mind,

Shift the focus back to the breath and the area around your nose.

Always coming back to this area every time.

Being patient and gentle but persistent,

Vigilant with this mind.

Train the mind to be strong.

The laser focused mind is what we want here.

And if you have trouble holding your attention at the area around the nose,

Try inhaling once or twice very strongly,

More coarsely,

A bit roughly so that you can pick up this subtle sensation once again with your mind.

So that you can notice the sensation as the air enters your nose.

So it's okay when you have to breathe a bit deeply,

More strongly a few times.

And once your mind is again intently focused,

Simply go back to noticing the sensations and movements that are naturally created simply by breathing.

These sensations around the nose,

Highly mindful,

Acutely aware,

Alert mind.

And I will leave you to continue practicing in silence.

Sit for a few moments in silence,

Continuing to focus your full attention on the area around your nose,

Watching for sensations that naturally arise,

Being present with each sensation as it lasts.

Watch as they arise,

They remain and then fall away.

And then a new sensation comes.

There's so much to focus on.

Be interested.

Experience it.

Be at ease with this focus.

Strengthen the focus and concentration of your mind as you learn to let go and deeply relax.

Experience relaxation with deep concentration.

Thank you.

You You You You You You You You You You You You You And in a moment I will ring the bell three times and you can rise from the meditation Doing so in your own time only open your eyes when you feel ready to do so You

Reviews

Excellent

I will put this in a playlist of tracks that emphasize on teqniques you can do on yourself without a timer.
You got the basic point of how to be mindful during a meditation, and I really liked the time sat off to let you do it on your own. I will listen to this until I got all of the instructions internalised and only use timer, and if I feel I need help, go back to the playlist and listen to a few instructions.
(I done this for a couple of years, so I kinda have. )

However it is still to "easy" to select a guided one and follow instructions and not being very mindful as you focus on the instructions and your thoughts will wander off very rarely, and so it your mindfulness of your thoughts rare, as you basically focus on instructions.

Not sure if this was clear. I think it is a great instruction on how to not need instructions!

Focused and ready. Thanks!!!!

Awesome meditation for focus!

Amazingly sharpening!

Simple and yet so rich practice

Thank you for this wonderful meditation. I liked the focused attention on the nose when breathing. It helped me keep my focus. 🙏❤️

Really good! Wonderful music and a nice time of just music once you have a breathing rhythm. One of the very best meditations ever!

A wonderful to prepare for a day of work. Thank you!!

awesome
but its more distracting

Interesting way to prepare the mind to be more focused.

Wonderful. I really got focused on the areas specified in the meditation. One of the best meditations I have done so far. Thank you!

Good focused meditation.

As the title said, sharp and focused mind. I personally have found that it is easier to focus the attention on the sensation of the breath around the nose. I have no problem with the pace of Julie speaks. She speaks fast but clear. Bookmarked. Thanks!

I love that we get that extra time at the end to practice the exercise! Thank you:)

Very nice. I liked the free time in the end too. Thank you.

Perfectly sweet.

Enjoyable meditation today, it was so relaxing and calming way to begin my blessed day. Namaste!

Wonderful meditation. Nicely done! Appreciated everything (words, concepts, music, voice, production).