Hello,
And welcome to The Daily Insight.
My name is Mark Coleman,
And today we will be focusing on focused attention.
So beginning your practice by finding a comfortable posture where you can sit with ease,
Relaxation,
But also a sense of uprightness,
A sense of dignity.
Once you've found a comfortable posture,
Closing your eyes or lowering your gaze,
And turning the attention inwards,
Taking some moments to attune to your internal landscape,
Noticing the quality of your body as you sit.
And aware of the climate of your heart,
And the landscape of your mind,
So you have a sense of where you're starting the practice from.
Establishing mindfulness of body,
Being aware of your posture,
Aware of your body,
Contacting the ground through the chair or cushion,
Releasing any unnecessary tension in the jaw,
The eyes,
Soften the belly and the shoulders.
And as you bring your awareness to your body,
Notice how the body is naturally breathing itself.
So attuning to the physical sensations of breathing.
Bring your awareness to the tip of your nose,
To the nostrils,
Sensing the cooler air as you inhale,
The warmer air as you exhale.
Aware of the pause between breaths.
The same way shifting awareness to your chest and torso,
Feeling all the sensations as the inhale comes in,
Expanding,
Lifting the ribcage.
As you exhale,
The torso falls.
Be aware of all the minute sensations,
Shoulders,
The back,
The diaphragm area,
Cultivating an intimate,
Curious attention.
Each inhale,
Each exhale.
Now letting your attention settle where you feel the breath most clearly.
The nostrils,
The throat,
The chest or the belly,
And letting your attention settle,
Stabilize.
Sensing all the fine sensations as you inhale,
As you exhale.
Feeling present in the stillness of the pause until the next exhale.
It's natural that you'll notice many other things other than the breath,
Sounds,
Other sensations in the body,
Feelings,
Images.
Practice simply to recognize and acknowledge these things and keep pivoting attention over and over to the simple sensations of breath.
Breathing in and now I'm breathing in,
Breathing out and now I'm breathing out.
Allowing the breath to breathe naturally.
No need to control or change or force the breath.
Pretending to the breath as it is.
As a way to support attention,
Use labeling in on the in breath,
Out on the out breath.
Use counting,
One on the inhale,
Two on the exhale,
Up to ten.
Turning again to one if you become distracted.
Keeping the note or the label,
Just a whisper in the back of the mind,
Full awareness of the changing sensations of breathing.
Breathing in and out.
Becoming aware of the beginning of the in breath,
Sustaining your attention just for that in breath.
Aware of the sensations of the beginning of the out breath,
Sustaining your attention just for that out breath.
Staying present during the pause and repeating over and over.
Each time you notice the attention wandering into thoughts or spacing out,
That moment of recognition is a moment of mindfulness and without judgment,
Releasing the thoughts,
Reestablishing mindfulness in this moment,
Reconnecting with the breath over and over.
An important support for concentration is relaxation,
So making sure you stay relaxed in your body,
Soft and alert.
Another support for focusing the attention is to find a sense of pleasure.
Pleasiveness in the experience you're focusing on.
Notice if there's any pleasure or contentment with attending to the breath,
The simple act of sitting in stillness,
Quiet.
Allowing the attention to that pleasantness or pleasure to deepen your absorption.
Allowing the attention to that pleasantness or pleasure to deepen your absorption.
Allowing the attention to that pleasantness or pleasure to deepen your absorption.
Where is the attention in this moment?
No matter how far the attention wanders,
It takes only a moment to reestablish awareness,
Reconnecting with the fine sensation of the inhale and the exhale.
No matter how far the attention wanders,
It takes only a moment to reestablish awareness,
Reconnecting with the fine sensation of the inhale and the exhale.
Relaxed in the body,
Alert,
Curious with awareness.
Relaxed in the body,
Alert,
Curious with awareness.
Receiving the sensations of breath in the same way you receive sound.
No effort required.
Just attuning to the sense impressions that appear and disappear.
Relaxed in the body,
Alert,
Curious with awareness.
Allowing awareness to permeate and be permeated by sensations of breath.
Awareness and breath not separate,
Rising together.
Relaxed in the body,
Alert,
Curious with awareness.
Stay curious,
Each breath distinct and unique from the last,
Each moment varying,
Changing sensations never to be repeated.
In the last couple of minutes of the sitting,
Renewing your focus,
Your intention to cultivate,
Gathered in unified attention,
Just this moment,
Just this breath,
Releasing attention to everything else,
Absorbing awareness into the breath.
And as we draw the practice to a close,
If you're feeling particularly absorbed,
You're absorbed and quiet,
You may continue the practice of course.
If you wish to transition,
Beginning that process slowly,
Gently moving the body a little,
Slowly opening your eyes,
And attuning to the quality of your experience,
Noticing what focusing the attention for this length of time allowed to be developed in your experience,
Knowing that you can take this quality of focus into your day.
