What is focused meditation?
Focused meditation is also known as focused attention meditation. It’s a practice that allows you to meditate while you focus on something that will help you remain in the moment. Focus can be your meditation room’s focal point, your breath, or any other sensations you feel throughout your practice, like the common meditation itching.
How to meditate with focus
1. Find something to anchor you focus
You will need to focus your attention on something in order to practice focused attention meditation. You can anchor your attention on anything, whether it’s your breath or something in the room. It’s important to find something that is easy to focus on, but doesn’t distract. It is important to not get lost in thoughts or distracted while practicing mindfulness meditation. Meditation requires that you remain alert, mindful, focused, and present while practicing it. Pick something that is easy to focus on.
2. Sit in a comfortable position
It’s common to feel discomfort when you are seated cross-legged on a floor while practicing meditation. You can find a comfortable position to sit in while you meditate. It’s important to find a position that you feel comfortable in for at least five minutes, but perhaps up to an hour. If sitting up is too difficult, you can also choose to lie down. Sleepiness can be a side effect of doing mindfulness meditations or loving-kindness meditations on your back.
3. De-clutter Your Mind
Any meditation you choose can be used under the focus category, including mindfulness meditation for concentration, focused attention, and concentration, as well as focus meditation for studying. A mindfulness meditation can be as short as 5 minutes long or as long as 20 depending on the focus category. The goal is to get you focused on what you really want to do. You won’t have to spend too much time to increase your focus.
4. Breathe deeply from your stomach
It’s normal to feel anxious and breathe fast from your chest. For meditation with focused attention, shallow breathing is not a good idea. Instead, take deep breaths and breathe from your stomach. It is okay to feel uncomfortable if you breathe in a little more slowly. This should be natural. Although babies naturally breathe from their stomachs, as they age, shallow breathing is more common in older adults.
5. Concentrate your attention
Focus your attention on the object of your focus, whether it is your breath or something else in the room. Pay attention to thoughts that drift in and out, but try to keep your eyes on the focal point for as long as possible. Relax your eyes if you are staring too intently at an item.
6. Block the mind’s chatter
Blocking your mind’s chatter is one of the most important meditation techniques, particularly during focused meditation. Your mind can wander off on its own. To stop your mind from wandering off on its own, you can use “stop” to say “stop”. You can also practice mental noting, which is “thinking” when your thoughts start to think. You can also label an itch if it distracts from your meditation.
7. Focus your attention elsewhere
Keep focusing your attention on your breath and focal point. Concentrative meditation requires you to keep refocusing your attention whenever you lose focus. It’s normal to slip up. Remind your thoughts to stop, and then go back to your meditation. You don’t have to restart from the beginning of a audio meditation. However, you can re-start if necessary. With more practice, you’ll get better.
