This week we add the focus of your attention.

The Practice - 10 minutes

Step One

Start by taking a dose of your tincture. Next, begin your belly breathing. Then become aware of your environment through all your five senses. Notice what you see, what you hear, what you smell, what you taste, and what sensations you feel in your body. Take a minute to do this.

Step Two

Close your eyes and bring your awareness to your belly breath. Set your intention that your breath is your object of focus. Let your attention rest on observing your breath. Observe the coolness of the air as you inhale, the warmth of the air as you exhale. Notice the sensations of the air moving down into your body. Observe the sensations of your belly rising and falling. Give five or ten minutes of your time simply being present with your breath and observe the experience of belly breathing.

Step Three

When you become aware of your attention going to your thoughts, as it inevitably will do, gently bring your awareness back to your breath. The intention is to rest your awareness on your breath. When you lose that focus by wandering into your thoughts, you have the opportunity to gently let go of those thoughts and bring your attention back to your breath.

People often get frustrated with this practice of letting go of thoughts and coming back to the breath. They think the “goal" is to stay focused on the breath and achieve a deep state of relaxation with no thoughts. Then they take on an attitude of frustration or failure when that doesn’t happen, like they are doing it wrong or it doesn’t work for them.

A quiet mind and deep relaxation are certainly benefits of mindfulness meditation that come over time. But there is also a great benefit that comes from letting go of that most compelling thought or emotion as soon as you notice it and bringing your awareness back to your breath with kindness and no judgment toward yourself. Simply let go of the thoughts and come back to the breath with a neutral state of mind.

Maybe you are thinking about a problem you need to solve. Maybe you are raging in your mind at the person who cut you off on the freeway or an argument you had with somebody. Letting go of this most compelling or intense thought structure right in the middle of it and bringing your attention back to the breath is very powerful. It reorients you that you are in control of your mind.

The more you have the opportunity to practice this in your meditation, the easier it is to do it in real life too. Imagine the benefit that you have when, in the midst of a thought pattern that runs on autopilot that you have thought a thousand times before, you can just let go of it. Maybe you are deep into a pattern of emotionally beating up on yourself (or someone else), and you just stop, let it go and bring your attention to your breath. This alone can help regulate your emotions throughout the day.

Or maybe you are in the middle of an imagined future outcome that, because of a mistake you made, the entire outcome of your project will fail. When you stop at the moment of awareness and bring focus to your breath, you can save yourself from panic and anxiety. And then you will be in a more resourceful state as you go about your day finding resolutions to issues.

If you notice you lose focus and wander into your thoughts 99 times during the meditation, you have the opportunity of letting go of thought 99 times. You will become an expert at letting go, which is a good thing! The practice of being aware of your thought patterns, stopping them in the moment, and coming back to a different focus becomes an incredibly powerful and effective life skill.

Step Four

Take 5 or 10 minutes to do this practice. When you are done, take in a nice deep breath, hold it for a moment, release it, and stretch your body. Go on to observe your day.

Step Five

Set your intention to notice when you are involved in thought patterns that run on autopilot throughout the day. As soon as you notice them, let them go and bring your attention to your breath. Do this with an attitude of kindness and patience toward yourself as you are learning this practice of mindfulness.

Step Six

At the end of seven days, take a moment to think back on how this mindfulness process affected your state of mind or body. Re-evaluate the symptoms you listed in your 'State of Body' and 'State of Mind,' along with any perceived benefits from your extract in 'Tracking My Extract Benefits.' Enter these notations in the space provided for Week Four Experience on all sheets. As well, if you have discovered any changes or benefits not previously recorded, be sure to enter them in your 'Discovered Benefits' sheet.