Travel Companion: Flex Your Focus

Start your day with focus and energy! Through breathwork and a simple counting challenge, Doug guides you to clear your mind and strengthen your ability to concentrate. Practice this to hone your focus daily!

Transcript

Welcome to this travel companion, The perfect way to find peace no matter what your destination. Hey, Welcome, It's Doug and I'm here to get you ready for the day ahead just after your journey. Get yourself into a comfortable seat and sit up nice and tall. Close your eyes and begin to breathe in and out gently through the nostrils as I explain to you what we'll be doing. You see, Life is full of distractions now more than ever. It's not that the access to data gives us an edge anymore, But rather our ability to ignore the noise and dial out what's not important. This is the skill of focus and like any skill, It can be honed, Especially with daily practice. We're going to do that today by doing a breathwork practice to stimulate our nervous system and then a little challenge to fire up our focus. First, The breathwork. So all you need to do for this is take a deep breath in through the nostrils and exhale out through the mouth. OK, Carry on just like that. Inhale, Exhale. I want you to find a rhythm that works for you, But try not leave too much of a pause between the inhale and the exhale and the exhale and the inhale. If you can, Just take that pause out altogether. This breath should be pretty forceful, So we're no longer in relaxing breath territory, We're in deliberate breathing territory. So really make it work. Each inhale, See if you can expand a little bit further. Each exhale, See if you can empty out a little bit more. Keep moving between these as if your lungs are bellows, Pulling air in, Pushing air out and make it forceful. When I do it, It sounds like this. All right, Keep it going and start to take note of anything that's changing in your body now. Sometimes a few tingles go on, Sometimes my body temperature increases. Whatever's happening in your body, Just take note of that. We're going to carry on for another 15 seconds and then I'm going to ask you to retain your breath, To hold your breath. Don't get freaked out. It's not going to be too hard. Stay with me. Okay, And take a deep breath in and hold. Now during this hold, I just want you to pay attention to what's happening in your body. Just become aware of any changes. And all I'm going to ask you to do is hold your breath for as long as you can or until I give you the cue. If you have to breathe before I give the cue, It doesn't matter. Just enjoy it and go back to normal breathing when you need to. And I want you just to notice what it's like to feel without air. And this is going to stimulate the awareness part of our nervous system. Our flight or fight center, Which sometimes gets a bad rap, But this really helps us wake up. And this is essential for when we need to focus. We're just going to hold for another 15 seconds. If you're still doing it with me, If not, Don't worry. Enjoy it. All right, And exhale out now. Good job. Back to normal breathing. Again, Noticing any changes in your body, Really tapping in to focusing on what your body feels like. How it felt during the breathing and now how it feels after a bit of breath retention. Good. So the nervous system is woken up and now I want us to try a little challenge. It's simple, But not necessarily easy. All you're going to do is breathe in and out 10 times while counting. You're simply going to inhale through the nostrils and then as you exhale, You're just going to count the number one. The next inhale, You'll inhale as normal and then you'll exhale counting the number two. And so on and so on until you get to 10. But here is the catch. You are not allowed to think about anything other than inhale and the subsequent number that you're exhaling. So it should be inhale one, Inhale two, Inhale three and so on until you get to 10. If you lose count, You simply start again. Easy enough, Right? Let's see. There's a great way to tap into focus when there's not that much to focus on. So we'll do the first round together. Inhale with me. As you exhale, Thinking the number one. Inhale with me. Exhaling the number two. Inhale with me. Exhaling the number three. Inhale with me. Exhaling the number four. Inhale with me. Exhaling the number five. Inhale with me. Exhaling the number six. Inhale with me. Exhaling the number seven. Inhale with me. Exhaling the number eight. Inhale with me. Exhale the number nine. Inhale with me. Exhaling the number 10. Alright, Good job. Back to normal breathing. And now, You're going to try it on your own. Remember, If you think about anything other than inhale and the number you're on, You start again. If you lose count, You start again. Over to you. Simply inhaling and counting. No stress if you have to start again. Keep working that focus. Last 30 seconds of practice. Alright, That is us done. Just know that each time you do this practice, You are literally flexing your focus muscle. Making you better at the art of focus. Retraining your attention on the thing that you choose. In today's day and age, That is a superpower. So be sure to come back to this meditation whenever you need to flex your focus muscle. I'll see you soon.