A shared practice
Focused Attention, Intermediate
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Created bySean Fargo
From Sean's awareness collection — recorded in his own voice.
In Sean Fargo’s own voice11 min
Read along — the full script
Mindfulnessexercises.com. Focused attention. Let's begin by taking a moment to allow the body to settle, finding a comfortable position where you can feel relaxed and alert. Feeling grounded by feeling the weight of your body on the ground or chair.
Feeling your feet or your sit bones touching the ground. And just allowing a sense of ease and wellbeing into the body, loosening any tightness, taking a few deep breaths with a relaxed belly. And softening around any areas of tension.
Today, I'll guide you through a focused attention practice where we'll be focusing on the breath. The proximate cause to focus and concentration is a sense of wellbeing, a sense of joy. So as we prepare ourselves to concentrate or to focus on our breathing, it can be helpful to reflect on something that makes your heart smile, that makes your heart sing.
It could be the thought of a loved one, the smile of a pet or animal, or the inspiration of a spiritual figure or community leader who you admire. This can help to open the heart and provide a sense of ease in the body, allowing ourselves to focus our mind on one task without the feeling of agitation. So as we continue to relax our mind and our body, you can take a full breath in through the nose, and a long breath out through the mouth.
And now allowing the breath to find its natural rhythm, in and out, without trying to change your breathing in any way. Just taking this time to notice how your body breathes. And you may feel the breath as air passes through your nostrils or in the rise and fall of your belly or the expansion and contraction of your rib cage and your lungs.
But choose one area to observe the breath for the next few minutes, whether it's your nostrils or your lungs or your belly, whatever feels most predominant or interesting to you. Whichever you choose, direct your attention to noticing the inhale and the exhale. And whenever you find that the mind has wandered, just come back to the breath without judgment.
Noticing the different aspects of the breath right now, the phases of the inhale and the exhale, and whether your breath is warm or cool, deep or shallow. Observing if there's a pause between the end of one complete breath and the beginning of the next. If your mind is wandering, counting can be helpful in maintaining focus on the breath.
So at the bottom of each exhale, count silently from one to 10. Inhale, exhale, count one. Inhale, exhale, two, while still noticing the sensations of each breath. And if the mind wanders again, just come back to one and start again without judgment.
Just noticing the sensations of breathing. Very simple, just noticing the sensations. And as we begin to close this practice, bring your attention back to the body. How does your body feel? Are there sounds around you? And what are the sensations of the clothes or air on your skin?
And feel where your feet or body make contact with the ground. And maybe wiggle your fingers and your toes. And if you want, you can gently open your eyes and take in the world around you. You can also stay sitting here for a few more moments as your body and your mind return to alertness.
And as you continue with the rest of your day, you can access this gentle refocused energy again and again by refocusing for a few moments on your breath in the way that we just practiced. So let's finish this focused attention practice now by taking a full breath in through the nose and a long breath out through the mouth .
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