How do you maintain focus during meditation?

Scheduling this was crucial for me, especially when getting into the habit of daily meditating. I've ended up with a twice daily practice, one with a more traditional guided/seated meditation and the other a walking meditation. I have also called this reflective time when working with beginners who do not yet realise meditation doesn't have to involve being seated somewhere with your eyes closed. My favourite seated spots are actually outside, by a river near my home. With time and practice, you'll find you can step into meditative states "on demand" when doing things which don't require high levels of awareness. I've also described in the past the state of flow as a meditative state due to the lessening of distractions

I agree! For me it was very important that I chose to meditate at the same time each day, so that it became a habit, rather than another thing I had to do. By meditating first thing in the morning when I was the only one up I ensured that I was consistent.

As a beginning meditation practicer time and place creates a consistent pattern and is recommended since meditation is a form of discipline. A quiet place, free of distraction and interruption and with time to complete your practice is essential. Later on you may find yourself sliding into a meditative state while gardening, doing dishes or other activities. It is an awareness practice, so begin with time and place. Be creative, be comfortable and make it your space.

Meditation is a technical component of ancient Yoga! There is no genuine Yoga without meditation, since this is the expanded state of Consciousness that precedes samádhi, hyper-consciousness or Self-knowledge, the goal of Yoga practice. Since Yoga is a philosophy of life that, through the practice of its techniques, teaches us to apply its ethics, Principles and Values in our lives, we must face meditation as a tool to expand our Intuition and try to make it work consciously for a longer period of time. longer period of time in daily life.

Meditating from the perspective of Yoga, consists of suppressing the instability of the mind and this requires time, experience and a good dose of practice, during which we must learn to manage our frustrations that will inevitably occur during practice and that is self-knowledge. In terms of practice time of the meditation exercise, what is important is the quality of the exercise and not the quantity. Generally, after a Yoga practice, we need less time of meditation, because the quality of this is much deeper, than when we do the meditation alone, during which we need more time to free the mind from the situations of the day and our life.

In my experience, focusing and counting through my breathing has helped big time! This allows me to get lost in my breathing with silence and then the time goes by so quickly!

Initially (For me during the first year) I required a focal point. I used guided audio meditations from an app (There are many available) as I am an auditory learner and found these best. Slowly these may become less necessary. To this day, I don't enjoy meditating in total silence and use background music when I am indoors. My walking and outside meditations I use the noises of the environment to great effect. Especially as the noises change throughout the year. I have known these to provide me with greater clarity than music or meditation practice indoors. This is also worth considering (in line with my comments about the "time and place" above)

The breath is the entry level focal point, and should be maintained during the practice. I also use a sound, the sound "hu" to create a call back to the practice and to connect me to the purpose of meditating. A simple mantra can be found online and suggestions are there to help pick one that suits you. So breath, a focal point sound to call you back to the practice works for many.

As someone awaiting confirmation of ADHD, I found this the hardest part of meditation to get to grips with. The shame I felt that I "Couldn't meditate" as my mind wondered meant I kept starting and stopping for many years and didn't develop a regular habit until my late 30's. My work around came when I was told a trick which "muted" my internal monologue and lessened the thoughts in my brain. I lowered my tongue to the base of my mouth (Akin to having a tongue depressor on with a medical doctor). This allowed me to focus with greater clarity. Eventually, I didn't even need to lower my tongue consciously. It now happens automatically if my brain is noisy.

When I began meditating, imagining the most persistent thoughts as balloons or butterflies that would float away if I gently opened my hand was helpful. Of course, the imagining itself was a thought to let go of. But I had to start somewhere!

Labeling the distraction is a great way to recognize it and let it go, and help keep you present. I tell my students it is literally impossible to clear our minds from producing thoughts, as that as what our minds do while we are alive and breathing. However, we don't have to get attached to their meaning. I sometimes use the visual of a remote control. Imagine your body/mind is a big remote control stuck on the play mode. The rewind (past) and fast forward (future) buttons are not working. The past and future are the 2 entities that keep us from being present.

In meditation, think of thoughts as the yin and yang. Yin-yang is a Chinese philosophical concept that describes opposite but interconnected forces. Our thoughts are created and can cause chaotic energy during meditation. However, we can use cyclic breathing to let the thoughts wash away and flood the body with breath.

In my experience this step is essential to successful meditation. Being an exercise in awareness, becoming aware of our thoughts and feelings, acknowledging them and moving on, breath into it, assists us in becoming aware of our processes and how our mind directs our day. We want to know what our thoughts are rather than simply being bombarded by them. Easily examine them, let them go.

Many meditation teachers and practitioners know the power of patience, compassion, and forgiveness when these practices don't happen. When our thoughts wonder, note it (Something referred to as "noting" in mindfulness), and forgive yourself for that thought. Show yourself compassion for the thought. Acknowledge it and then return to your contemplation (Also try to remember what it was for some great insights come to us intuitively at these times) Practice daily, and allow the skills you develop to enhance your life. And when it doesn't work, use these skills you've developed on yourself, you'll find you receive double the benefits from these skills.

The practice of meditation lends itself to developing compassion and patience. When we are roused by the discomfort of not doing it correctly it is a voice telling us to be kind, to wait, to breath again. It is a voice telling us we are getting there or we would not hear it. We focus again, and again and with kind awareness we ease into the process.

I experimented with various practices before I found a few that work for me. I use different meditation techniques for different situations but the one that I use consistently is the the 5-4-3-2-1 meditation practice to destress and bring the focus back: Sit or lie comfortably and 🧘♀️Acknowledge 5 things that you can see 🧘♀️Acknowledge 4 things that you can touch 🧘♀️Acknowledge 3 things that you can hear 🧘♀️Acknowledge 2 things that you can smell 🧘♀️Acknowledge 1 things that you can taste This method prepares me for a busy day and helps declutter my mind.

I do take some exception to this. As meditation is an active discipline, or non-active, if you will it requires making a choice on how to go about it and attempting to stick with it as a form of not just jumping all over the place. That is not a practice. Of course there are variables to consider, but please, try sticking with your practice and gradually adjusting to make it your own. This is another place we need to be aware of what we are doing.

Finding what worked for me took a very long time, not least because of fear and self criticism because of my (likely) ADHD. A key mentor of mine is closely associated with a phrase I attribute to her "Nothing is ever right, nothing is ever wrong, it just is." (Attr. Chloë Bisson) This along with learning the flattened tongue trick I mentioned above were key breakthroughs for me; along with discovering things I wouldn't consider meditation were (Reflective walking, states of flow etc) I now use gratitude journalling, noting, walking meditations, "burn journalling", flow, and box breathing to induce meditative and calming states. Experimentation is your friend here, as is time and patience.

It might be helpful to see a psychologist to get information on your personality traits. Evidence suggest that some traits are fundamental if you want to meditate. For example, extrovert people tend to have some difficulty in getting quiet and silent. Also, people that are low in conscientiousness, who tend to be less organized and don’t do well with routine, will face some difficulty to engage with the practices in the long run. By doing so, you can work on the traits that may interfere negatively in your engagement with the meditation.

I feel that what is often classed as meditation is the prerequisites for establishing a meditation practice. The term meditation is widely used for many practices such as mindfulness, contemplation, concentration and focusing. For me the meditative state is of purely being in a vast expanse of all and nothing. Simultaneously being in my finite self whilst experiencing my infinite self, consciousness. Very different from being consciously aware.

My clients often designate themselves as being "not good" at meditation. Like yoga, meditation is a practice. Realizing that each day brings a different meditative experience based on your internal and/or physical state, allows you to let go of the need to perform. Experienced meditation teachers understand that the only way you can "do it wrong" is by not doing it at all. Neuroscientists have discovered that a consistent practice (at least once a day) improves brain function which improves focus. To better maintain focus during your meditations, work on developing a consistent practice.