Laser Beam Of Awareness For Greater Focus & Attention

Having difficulty focusing, staying on task, procrastinating? Then, try this meditation. Research shows that practicing this type of pointed awareness on a daily basis can improve executive functioning and brain efficiency. In this meditation, you will practice using your Laser Beam of Awareness to hone your focus and attention.

Transcript

Hi there.

I'm Lisa Danahy,

The founder of Create Calm and a yoga therapist.

I spend a lot of my time helping people to unwind,

Declutter their minds,

De-stress and refocus.

If you've been having trouble focusing lately,

I invite you to do this meditation with me that I call Laser Beam of Awareness.

We all know that sometimes our thoughts can be scattered and we need to guide where we focus our attention.

And in this meditation,

That's exactly what we're going to do.

Your awareness is like a laser beam.

You can direct it wherever you want it to go.

You choose the intensity,

The duration and the quality of the focus of this laser beam.

And you can turn it off or turn it on at any time.

So let's give it a try.

Find a comfortable seated position.

Allow your eyes to soften,

Looking down at the ground or close them.

And as you settle in here,

Feel your feet touching the earth.

Lengthen your spine a little taller.

Take a big breath in,

Breathe it out and let it go.

Now I'm going to name some body parts,

Keeping your body still.

We're going to practice using that laser beam of awareness,

Pointing it at the body part and noticing what's there.

Take that laser beam of awareness and point it at your left big toe.

As you point that laser beam of awareness at your left big toe,

Begin to notice sensations.

Begin to notice where you are focusing.

Perhaps there is a sense of connection or absence of heaviness or lightness,

A temperature or texture.

Take a moment and notice sensations in your left big toe.

Now take that laser beam of awareness and shift your attention to your right knee.

Bringing that laser beam of awareness to the right knee,

Explore the right knee.

Noticing shapes,

Textures,

Sensations.

Now perhaps as you're trying to focus this laser beam of awareness on your knee,

Your attention is shifting to other sounds,

Sensations,

Thoughts or feelings.

And that's okay.

Just practice gently pointing the laser beam of awareness back towards the right knee.

Now move the laser beam of awareness to the left hip.

Feel the left hip in its entirety,

The bones,

Joints,

Tendons,

Ligaments,

Muscles,

Soft tissue surrounding the hip.

Notice all sensations in the left hip.

Tension or relaxation.

Simply notice the left hip.

Now draw the laser beam of awareness up to the right shoulder.

Aware of the position of the right shoulder.

Sensations in the right shoulder.

The whole right shoulder.

And now the left ear.

Notice the parts of the outer ear,

The inner ear.

Notice your ear hearing.

And point the laser beam of awareness to your right ear.

Notice the parts of the right ear.

The right ear hearing.

Now both ears working together.

Now point the laser beam of awareness to the top of your head.

Feel the top of your head and all sensations at the top of your head.

Now adjust the laser beam of awareness to come to the tip of your nose.

Notice your nostrils and your upper lip.

Feel the breath coming in and out of your nose.

Notice the texture and temperature of the breath in your nose.

Notice the breath in the left nostril.

The right nostril.

Breath in both nostrils.

Breath is something you use every day,

All the time.

Notice how you can change your breath when you focus your awareness on the inhale and the exhale.

Take a moment to practice deepening your breath.

Now practice extending the exhale.

Watch and allow.

And as necessary,

Gently redirect the laser beam towards watching the breath.

The extended exhale.

And notice the rhythm of your breath.

Now as you've been focusing on your body and your breath,

You might have noticed you have some friends in there with you.

Thoughts and feelings that keep darting in and trying to get in front of that laser beam.

Those thoughts and feelings may be saying,

Oh,

Gosh,

This is so difficult.

I can't sit here just any moment longer.

Or maybe they're saying,

This is the most amazing experience ever.

I don't ever want to leave.

No matter what those thoughts and feelings are relaying,

Take a moment now to practice watching them without reacting or responding to them.

Allow the thoughts and feelings to emerge.

And briefly hold your attention without attachment.

And notice how other sounds and sensations may also come in and out of your awareness.

Take the next few moments to simply sit and watch.

And notice where your awareness wants to point on its own.

And then play with gently pointing the awareness where you would like to focus.

Allow the thoughts and feelings and anything that pops into this soft space of awareness to float by like clouds in the sky.

Simply watch.

Notice how your laser beam of awareness can point to anything you choose to focus on.

And notice if some of those thoughts and feelings are commenting on how comfortable you are,

Or uncomfortable in using this laser beam of awareness.

And allow yourself to play and practice without any expectation.

Simply here and now,

Watching.

Now once more,

Pick up that laser beam of awareness and point it back to your breath.

Follow your breath as it moves in and out of your body,

Through your nose,

Your throat,

And your chest.

Follow your breath to the center of your heart.

Now allow your laser beam to focus on another voice,

A much quieter voice than the rest.

Listen for a moment for that little voice in the space of your heart.

Point the laser beam of awareness at that little voice and allow it to tell you something positive.

Perhaps something like,

I am relaxed.

I am okay.

I am at peace.

I am strong.

I am steady.

Whatever the message,

Hear it now.

Speak that positive message in your mind from your inner voice,

Your inner self,

Your intuition.

Hear that message now.

That voice speaks the truth.

That voice knows balance and harmony and focus with kindness,

Consistency,

And ease.

Know that you can tap into that voice,

That place,

At any time.

You can get the guidance,

Reassurance,

And empowerment from that voice.

That will always remind you that you're okay.

Your natural state is one of harmony,

Goodness,

And wholeness.

Now,

Once again,

Feel your breath.

Feel it moving through your nose,

Your throat,

And in and out of your lungs.

Feel your chest expanding and softening with each breath.

Begin to guide the breath,

Taking a big breath in and opening the mouth to sigh the breath out.

Do that two more times,

Breathing in through the nose,

Sighing out through the mouth.

One more in and out.

And before you lift your eyes,

Start to roll your shoulders and wiggle your fingers or move your body in ways that your intuition tells you feels nice,

That helps you feel calm and full of ease.

Roll your head a little and open your jaw.

Take one more big breath and breathe it out.

Let it go.

Slowly open your eyes.

Coming back into this space,

Still remembering that you have the power to just watch,

Allow,

Redirect,

And point that laser beam any time that you want to feel a little more relaxed.

A little more focused,

A little more balanced,

And a little more calm.

Thank you for joining me in this practice today.

Peace.

Shanti.

Peace.