Hey, welcome back to your Daily Mindfulness. In this session, we're going to discuss concentration. So if I were to tell you to really concentrate on something, to really bring all of your attention, all of your focus to one thing, how would that make you feel? Does that bring up a sense of ease and calm or does it bring up a sense of tension and forcefulness? In my experience, most people associate concentration with a forceful kind of effort or a caffeinated, burrow your head in your work kind of energy. And I used to think the same exact thing. I remember when I went to my first meditation retreat, we were meditating many hours per day, and I nearly burnt myself out after the first six hours because I was trying to concentrate so strongly on the breath, so forceful.

But that's not actually how concentration happens. To develop sustainable, deep concentration, we need to do it from a place of calm and relaxation because the mind naturally collects itself when it's at ease, not when it's frenetic, agitated and caffeinated. That can lead to a certain kind of concentration, but it's often short-lived and creates more tension over time. What we really need is high focusm low strain. So let's practice this right now.

As you're paying attention, as you're looking at me on the screen, see if you can bring your full focus and presence, as if this were the most important moment in the world right now. Anytime the mind wanders, inviting it back right into this moment, fully here. But simultaneously, as you have this quality of presence and concentration, start to invite the body to relax. Invite the jaw, to soften. Invite the shoulders to relax and be at ease.

Notice if the belly is tense, maybe invite that to soften. Still keeping full presence, full focus. You may notice periodically that the more you try to pay attention, the more the body starts to grip. And so our practices is to collect the awareness, but simultaneously soften the body. High focus, low strain.

So nice job. This is a practice that you can take into your day-to-day. It's especially effective when we have a lot going on. Maybe something at work or taking care of our kids, or having a lot of conversations or calls throughout the day. As you're going through that, see what it's like to practice bringing full focus, full care, attention, and concentration, but simultaneously being completely at ease.

I think you'll find that this is a much more sustainable way to cultivate concentration. So I'll talk to you in the meditation. As always, thank you for your practice and take care.