Flowing Meditation - 3 Powerful Tips For Developing Fluid Focus
With all the constant distraction of modern society, focus might be the most powerful mental ability that anyone can develop.
A focused person displays more skill, gets more done, and enjoys the process more as they do it.
Focus can transform any activity! The problem is the way we tend to focus.
We often develop a lot of tension and pressure around the concept and activity of focusing.
This tension and pressure actually restricts us from achieving deeper levels of focus.
This keeps many students of meditation from really developing powerful focus.
When you learn to blend relaxation and fluidity with your focus, you will not only develop focus much faster, you will also eliminate the limitations on your long term growth.
The following 3 tips will help you do exactly that: Fluid Focus Tip 1 - Keep your focus gentle: It is very important to note that a lot of work with focus can lead to sensations of tension or strain.
It is best to avoid this as much as possible.
So do your best to keep your focus soft and gentle (even if it is a specific focus).
Relax and release any sensations of physical tension that might come up.
Also accept, allow, and release any attachments that seem to arise in the mind.
And continue to gently pour your awareness into the focus of your meditation.
Fluid Focus Tip 2 - Develop flowing focus - Follow the energy: This can be an endlessly fascinating exercise! This one is best done with body sensations as your focus.
Direct your awareness to any sensations in your body, and just notice where they go.
Watch how they move and flow.
Notice how they grow larger or smaller.
Notice how they feel, and if/when the feeling changes.
Eventually, you might find ways to do this with images and sounds as well, but I encourage you to get good at it with body sensations first...
once you really 'get a feel' for this exercise, it will be fun and easy to branch out and play with it elsewhere as well.
Fluid Focus Tip 3 - Develop flowing focus - Move the awareness: This one is also easiest with body sensations.
Scanning your awareness back and forth across a region of your body, or across your entire body is one example of this.
You can scan bottom to top, top to bottom, right to left, left to right, back to front, front to back, or play with any combinations of these.
Rather than following your sensations, you move your awareness in a fixed manner regardless of what the sensations do.
Notice the sensations, and then continue your scanning or fixed movement of awareness.
The microcosmic orbit is a classic meditation and could be considered an example of this, but a full description is beyond the scope of this article.
Few practitioners every develop truly flowing meditations.
When you add in some relaxation and fluidity to your focus, though, it becomes much easier to do.
A focused person displays more skill, gets more done, and enjoys the process more as they do it.
Focus can transform any activity! The problem is the way we tend to focus.
We often develop a lot of tension and pressure around the concept and activity of focusing.
This tension and pressure actually restricts us from achieving deeper levels of focus.
This keeps many students of meditation from really developing powerful focus.
When you learn to blend relaxation and fluidity with your focus, you will not only develop focus much faster, you will also eliminate the limitations on your long term growth.
The following 3 tips will help you do exactly that: Fluid Focus Tip 1 - Keep your focus gentle: It is very important to note that a lot of work with focus can lead to sensations of tension or strain.
It is best to avoid this as much as possible.
So do your best to keep your focus soft and gentle (even if it is a specific focus).
Relax and release any sensations of physical tension that might come up.
Also accept, allow, and release any attachments that seem to arise in the mind.
And continue to gently pour your awareness into the focus of your meditation.
Fluid Focus Tip 2 - Develop flowing focus - Follow the energy: This can be an endlessly fascinating exercise! This one is best done with body sensations as your focus.
Direct your awareness to any sensations in your body, and just notice where they go.
Watch how they move and flow.
Notice how they grow larger or smaller.
Notice how they feel, and if/when the feeling changes.
Eventually, you might find ways to do this with images and sounds as well, but I encourage you to get good at it with body sensations first...
once you really 'get a feel' for this exercise, it will be fun and easy to branch out and play with it elsewhere as well.
Fluid Focus Tip 3 - Develop flowing focus - Move the awareness: This one is also easiest with body sensations.
Scanning your awareness back and forth across a region of your body, or across your entire body is one example of this.
You can scan bottom to top, top to bottom, right to left, left to right, back to front, front to back, or play with any combinations of these.
Rather than following your sensations, you move your awareness in a fixed manner regardless of what the sensations do.
Notice the sensations, and then continue your scanning or fixed movement of awareness.
The microcosmic orbit is a classic meditation and could be considered an example of this, but a full description is beyond the scope of this article.
Few practitioners every develop truly flowing meditations.
When you add in some relaxation and fluidity to your focus, though, it becomes much easier to do.
