Deeper Dive: Mindful Focus
It’s time for a new Deeper Dive theme! For the next month, we’ll be exploring mindful focus, or the practice of concentration. This is all about how we pay attention to where our attention is going, either in stillness and meditation, or in a yoga and movement practice, or going about our day.
Episode Details:
Mindful focus is a really powerful tool, because it gives us more choice in what we give our attention to – and that can have a huge impact on how we feel, how our perspective is shaped, and where we’re spending our time and energy.
This is an important skill to have, whether you are dealing with physical pain that takes up a lot of mental energy, or states like anxiety and worry that capture the mind, or if you’re just struggling to process the intensity of news and politics these days.
Mindful Focus Topics I’ll Cover:
- practicing concentration in meditation, as well as in asana (yoga postures) and movement
- how relaxing into a focused state works way better than trying to force it
- what to do with all those thoughts
- how concentration (mindful focus) fits in with Mindfulness Meditation overall
We’ll also nerd out a little with some neuroscience on the Default Mode Network that’s active in your brain when your mind is wandering, and I’ll give some examples of different “anchors” you can use to steady your mind in meditation.
Give it a listen, and practice Focus along with the MTM community all month (and beyond)!
Resources & Links from this episode:
- A nice, layperson-friendly article on the Default Mode Network from the Neuroscientifically Challenged site
- “A Wandering Mind is an Unhappy Mind” article in Science by Killingsworth and Gilbert (free registration required to read)
Improve your mindful focus and physical well-being by practicing with me in the Moved To Meditate Class Library!
As mentioned at the beginning of the episode, to receive the Deeper Dive worksheets on this month’s theme of Focus, you can sign up for the MTM email newsletter here.
P.S. If you missed the newsletter because you’re listening to this later, you can still get the worksheet. All you need to do is email me at mail@movedtomeditate.com and ask. đŸ™‚