In this practice we're going to train our muscle of attention by playing a little bit with our faculty of concentration.
First we need to find a star to look at.
If it's very cloudy and you can't see any stars then you're welcome to use a street light or other light in the far distance.
If there are many stars or many lights try to choose one.
So perhaps a nice bright star and then begin to focus your whole attention on this point of light.
As you do this you might need to adjust your posture,
Cradle your head or use a pillow to keep your neck comfortable as you look up like this.
To begin with you might notice your eyes dancing about a little bit.
When we start we need to concentrate just to keep our focus.
Do your best.
Keep on focusing on this point of light.
If you get distracted then just as soon as you notice guiding your attention back come back to looking at this star,
At this light.
Focus your whole being on looking with a kind of laser beam attention.
Keep going,
Keep concentrating your attention.
Each time you get distracted just come back looking at your star.
Now when we feel stressed or anxious part of the body's fight-or-flight reaction is to narrow the gaze a little bit like we've got tunnel vision.
However if we can do this whilst maintaining a sense of relaxation and sustaining this kind of narrow intense focus over a period of time can help the mind to quieten.
It encourages a sense of tranquility.
You might notice this for yourself.
Now let's try a different kind of attention.
Try broadening your focus out and beginning to notice the periphery of your vision.
There's no need to move your eyes just notice what you can see around the edges of your field of view.
Maybe you can see other stars,
Maybe clouds,
Trees,
Buildings,
Perhaps the window frame through which you're looking or maybe even your glasses frames.
Having this kind of broader more open attention helps us to develop a more expansive frame of mind.
Just like feeling stressed tends to narrow the vision if we can consciously broaden the vision and start noticing the periphery it sends signals to the body that everything is okay.
There's nothing to worry about here it's okay to relax.
Can you notice a difference in how it feels for the two different ways of looking?
Let's continue to play.
Zoom your attention in on your star focus in like a laser beam and now broaden out and notice the periphery of your vision.
Focus in then broaden out.
Do this a few more times by yourself.
Now let's apply these two ways of looking to the body.
Lower your gaze and close your eyes.
Search around inside your body for the most intense sensation you can find.
Maybe it's an ache or the sensation in your fingers of touching something or maybe it's just the pressure of your body on the chair.
Once you've identified a sensation start to focus your whole attention on it like a bit a bit like we did with the star.
Zero in like a laser beam.
Try to put your attention in the epicentre of this feeling.
Is the sensation sharp or broad?
Is it constant or pulsing maybe tingling dancing around?
Are the sensations of heat or coolness associated with it?
How is it changing?
Now let's again play with our faculty of attention.
Broaden out your awareness slightly and see if you can notice any sensations in the tissues around your area of focus.
In the rest of the limb or in other parts of the trunk for example.
And now broaden out a little more.
How does it feel in your whole body?
What's the general state of your body?
Are you overall warm or cool?
Do you feel heavy or light?
Now let's switch between these kinds of attention.
Zoom in to the epicentre of your chosen sensation again and then broaden back out and notice the whole of your body.
Try zooming in and out like this for a few times.
You can do it slowly or quickly as you wish.
Now open your eyes and look up and find a star to focus on.
It could be the star that you were looking at before or perhaps a new one.
Try switching your attention between the star and your chosen inner sensation,
This time without closing your eyes.
Just shift your attention.
Notice the star,
The periphery of your vision and then notice your sensation and then the whole of your body.
The star,
The whole of your vision,
The sensation and the whole of your body.
Like this we're bringing together the small and the large,
The narrow and the broad into one field of awareness.
After some practice you might find it possible to become aware of both the zoomed in view and the whole view at the same time.
When you're ready to finish take a deep breath and have a nice stretch.
