Hi,
My name is Kai Stowers and I'm a member of the Mindful Workplace Alliance.
Recently,
I've been thinking a lot about focus and that's partly because I'm in the process of healing from a concussion which has impacted my ability to focus for long periods of time.
I've had to think about ways to maximize the amount of focus that I do have and I'd like to share some of my thoughts with you today.
Let's start with the understanding that our ability to focus will ebb and flow throughout our lives.
Further,
Some people will find concentrating harder than others,
Whether this is due to their neurochemistry,
The mental or emotional loads that they may be carrying,
Or underlying health issues,
For example,
A concussion.
But I suspect that all of us,
At some time or another,
Will find that we don't have as much focus as we'd like.
So what to do then?
One approach is to remember that the mind is a muscle.
We can build its strength and endurance over time and this involves both practice,
Like mindfulness,
And periods of rest and recovery.
If we're always on the go and never take time to truly relax,
We may find that our ability to focus slips.
So instead of beating ourselves up when we can't focus,
It can be helpful to think of ways to recharge,
Such as spending time in nature,
Getting a good night's sleep,
Or just taking a 10-minute break from our daily tasks.
Another approach to improve focus is to regularly practice mindfulness.
We know it's more helpful to have a consistent practice than to do a longer practice every once in a while.
But how long you practice really depends on what's feasible for you and your particular brain.
Some people find it easy to start with 5 to 10 minutes,
And for others,
Trying to sit still that long is an eternity of suffering.
If that's you,
There's nothing wrong with practicing mindfulness for as little as 30 seconds or one minute.
Okay,
So now let's talk about what's really going on when we practice mindfulness.
I'm willing to wager that many of us are here because we've heard that mindfulness leads to peace,
Relaxation,
And serenity.
And this is true.
All of these things can result from practicing mindfulness.
However,
The first thing many of us notice is that we have a busy,
Distractible,
And reactive mind.
We replay our past frustrations,
We imagine worst-case scenarios,
And our mind goes everywhere but the present moment.
But guess what?
That's completely okay.
Noticing that your mind has wandered is not a personal failing.
In fact,
You should celebrate each time you catch your mind wandering,
Because when you know your mind has wandered,
You can do something about it.
And that brings us to what I like to call the focus cycle,
Which is what we were really doing during meditation.
Step one is that we pay attention for some period of time,
However brief.
Step two,
We notice that the mind has wandered.
Maybe we notice this happens right away,
And maybe we notice after we've been lost in a train of thought for some time,
Or even when the bell rings at the end of the meditation.
But no matter what,
The important thing is when we noticed.
And the third step is that we return the mind to the meditation,
Or we refocus.
And it's important to do this with some gentleness.
Maybe imagining the mind is like a small puppy that wants to do what you're asking but isn't quite sure how.
We tend to think that we're good meditators when we spend most of our time in step one,
Paying attention,
And that we're bad meditators when we spend more time in steps two and three,
Which is noticing the mind is wandering and returning the mind to meditation.
But really,
How can we pay attention if we don't know when the mind has wandered,
And when we haven't built the skill on how to return the mind to the meditation?
Think of how much practice we get at steps two and three during what feels like a quote-unquote bad meditation.
So now that we've established that even a bad meditation builds our capacity to focus,
Let's give it a try.
I'll do a brief body scan,
The feet,
The seat,
And one breath,
For those of you with highly distractible brains.
And then I'll continue the meditation for folks who'd like a longer session.
So now,
Let's begin.
Start to get really curious about the physical sensations of where your feet meet the floor,
Perhaps noticing pressure or temperature.
And now move to the physical sensations of your seat on the chair,
Again noticing sensations of pressure or temperature.
Now you can take a full breath,
Filling the chest and the belly.
And then slowly exhale,
Allowing the belly to soften and relax.
Take another few of these slow,
Deep breaths,
Filling all the way through the belly and then softening the exhale.
Breathing in and breathing out.
Now allow your awareness to fill the face,
Softening all the muscles around your eyes.
Softening the jaw.
And allowing the tongue to soften and relax.
Allow the shoulders to drop away from the ears.
And allow a wave of relaxation to move down your back like warm water.
Breathing and relaxing as much as is possible for you in this moment.
Allow your awareness to fill the hands from the inside out,
Allowing them to soften as you become aware of sensations of pressure or temperature.
And then as you're ready,
You can open your eyes to end the meditation.
