The Practice that Helps You Focus & Kick Stress

There are times we feel overwhelmed with our to-do lists, our responsibilities or our stuff. This can lead to stress, ill health and it can grow the habit of ending our day feeling completely depleted and exhausted. 

I've got a real quick, minute-and-a-half meditation you can use so you get focused and stop feeling so scattered.

What happens is we can get in a state of being hyper- alert. This happens so easily today with so much media coming our direction. It doesn't help that we also have beeping, vibrating and alerts that come from our technical devices so we always feel on tap.

We have so much information at our finger tips that our neurons in our brain have been firing on hyper-alert, probably for a long time. We train our neurons (nerve cells) to do this everyday. 

Your brain and nervous system may be firing in all directions all the time making you feel hyper-alert and not able to sleep, concentrate, find joy, feel resourceful and simple, have fun or be at peace like you'd like. 

What happens when we are hyper-alert is we are very aware of our periphery. That is you are aware of the movements and stuff around your central field of vision (that which is right in front of you) and often it gives your nervous system more fuel to be scared, worried or on edge.

It's like you are aware of someone else's calendar, their emotions, their movements, their actions, a simple touch and you get racing thoughts that can go to the limit of your imagination of what there is to worry about and back. Often, you can set yourself in a bad mood just by these creatively negative thoughts and go in a bad direction when it comes to the stories you tell yourself about who you are, what can happen and where you don't fit. Talk about setting yourself up for self-sabotage going forward!

It's almost like you could use blinders inside your head so you can only focus forward or on one thing. The good news is, we can do the next best thing, that is to help settle the chaotic firing of neurons in our brain and start to grow solid neural pathways firing at a calmer pace so you feel centered, calm and focused more often. 

This new way of working to calm and channel your nervous system can be like a natural stand-in for Xanax or alcohol...and it takes less than two minutes, 2-3 times a day.

Let's dive into a minute-and-a-half meditation that will help you get more focused and at peace...

My 2 Minute (or less) 
​Meditation

Step 1 

Now focus on that spot for a minute-and-a-half. Set the timer if you can. This is such a short period of time and you can feel the benefits today.

Step 2

​Find a relatively quiet spot. You will need a little space to stretch out but not much, just enough to do a lunge exercise. In fact, you may look like you are doing Tai Chi with me here. 

Step 3 

​Focus on one little spot for a minute or so. You can choose your finger tip (one of my favorites) or a spot in the room, like a small piece of the design in your curtain. Choose the smallest point and the goal is to not take your focus off of it. If you stray, come back and focus on it - what it's day will be like, what shape it is, it's edges, it's color, where ever your mind goes with that one little spot.

You can add this:

I like moving like I'm doing Tai Chi, looking at the point at the end of my finger tip while I stretch out my arm and get into a lunge or reach up and stretch to the sky. 

You may want to keep moving also. It's a good time to take advantage of the time you set aside and allow your body to do what it was designed to do, move.

While you focus on that little spot or your finger, everything else might get blurred beyond the point of your finger or that spot. The periphery of what's around you may get blurred. That's normal, it means you are transfixed on the spot and doing it right. You will not see the stuff in the periphery. 

I also like to imagine all the universe including your home or current space, the buildings, people and feelings around you and all over the world and the universe, including the sun and stars and planets beyond that are all orbiting around that one point you chose. In a way they are. Everything is relative to another. Your little point can be your center focus and the center of the universe right now. Just stay transfixed on that point for the entire minute and a half picturing all orbiting around it like it's the sun.

If you can do this, you will be rewiring your neurons (mental circuits) to merge together and not be so scattered.

Stay with this practice an entire minute-and-a-half. If your mind starts to wander a bit, no worries, just bring it back. Keep bringing your thoughts back the entire time.

This is how you retrain the neurons in your brain and body to stay focused, specific and constant on one thing and let the other chaotic messages get lost while you grow the super-highway of focus in your brain.

There is no other time in your day that you put this much focus on one simple thing and this is what calms your neural pathways down. Watching television, writing or reading don't even settle your mind down like this and it only takes a short time.

So, work it! You will start retraining your brain so you get the benefits of a calm mind and body.

Focus on all the constellations, earth, people, feelings, problems and happiness out there in the universe all orbiting around this spot until the time is up then go on with your day.

If it is too difficult to "picture" or "imagine" something in your minds eye, try this...

Ask a bunch of questions to keep you focused on one small object. Say you will focus on one part of a small design in your curtains, or on a blade of a leaf or a design point on your ring. Just stare at it for a minute and a half. Let your mind wander in all the questions you can ask about it or just look at it and appreciate it. If your mind wanders, just bring it back. ​​

Keep practicing and notice the benefits you feel.

If you want to track your progress, journal before and after this practice for at least 5 days. Just write a few sentences or words about what you're thinking and how you feel. Rate your anxiety on a simple 1-10 scale (one, it's barely there to five, it's moderate and present, to ten it's consuming and I think I am going to freak out). Hopefully you aren't feeling close to a ten. Cognitive behavioral therapy and a therapist might help you here as well. If you have been practicing for five days, ask yourself each day how your day went and what went well and see the difference in your journal entries form day one to day five.

You can do this simple meditation! 

Other resources:

• Regular exercise is another natural stress-reducer over the long term
• Lavender essential oil has research that shows it helps with anxiety
• Reducing your exposure to technology has been shown to help as well (especially turning off the blue light at night for better sleep)
• Sleeping well and at least 7-9 hours is key too

Warmly,

Dr. Julie Wilkening writes and coaches on healthy habit change for making health turn-arounds, losing weight, and healing emotional baggage that holds you back, through physical, nutrition and lifestyle self-care. She runs the Habit Change LAB for those who want to make habit changes or do the helping. She also hosts "The Weight Loss Show" and offers the highest quality habit change material in The Habit Change LAB.

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​Have you ever meditated? How do you feel after doing this? 

(Come back to answer this question after the beginning of your day has started).