I can’t clear the thoughts in my head.
I hear that all the time as a reason why someone doesn’t meditate.
You know what? I can’t either.
Well, I can, but they keep coming back right away.
This is the truth for most people.
No one – save for maybe a monk who’s been practicing for 80 years – can keep all the thoughts out of their head.
Because we’re human. And that’s how human brains work.
I listened to Andrew Huberman’s podcast, “Huberman Lab” yesterday.
In an episode on tools for improving focus and concentration, he mentioned a 13-minute meditation where you concentrate on your breathing and the focus attention on the spot inside your head that’s between your eyebrows. (aka the sixth chakra.)
Every time you find your mind wandering, you refocus back to your breathing.
I realized how squirrely my own brain is, even after more than five years of daily meditation practice. ๐ฟ
Like every 10-15 seconds, I was off thinking about ๐ฏ different things.
Here’s the kicker tho – It’s the practice of bringing your attention BACK to the breath that improves your ability to focus.
๐๐ฑ๐๐๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฆ๐๐ค๐๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ค ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฒ’๐ซ๐ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ ๐จ๐จ๐ ๐๐ญ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ข๐ญ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ’๐ฌ ๐๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฆ ๐ ๐จ๐จ๐ ๐๐ญ ๐ข๐ญ!
This exercise carries over to when you need to focus on a project and get distracted.
You’ll be able to more easily bring your mind back to the task at hand.
Interestingly, I was much more focused when working on an important project today.
If you’re interested in hearing more about this tool and others he shares, here’s a link to the podcast https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yb5zpo5WDG4. You can also find it on whatever app you listen to podcasts on.ย
Want to learn more about how to make meditation work for you? Book a complimentary chat with me here: https://calendly.com/zenrabbit/chat