Where Focus Goes, Energy Flows

Hi, and welcome to your Daily Mindfulness. So today we're going to explore the phrase, where focus goes, energy flows and what you focus on gets stronger. So what does that first part mean? Where focus goes, energy flows? Well, in any given moment, we can focus on any number of things. So let's just say it's raining, like it is here now where I am. You could put your mental focus on how dreadful and dreary a day it is.

And you'll probably experience some negativity arising. You could also focus on a sense of gratitude for the abundance of the rain, how it feeds the food that we eat and the plants around us. And then you'd probably feel lightness and happiness. Really a sense of appreciation. You could also start thinking about all the ways that the rain might kind of slow you down on your way to work or how it might ruin your date tonight because it ruins your head.

You could start feeling really anxious and frustrated about the rain. And it's important to note that what you focus on, you feel. There's a connection. So it's really important to be aware of where we're placing our focus and how influences our emotional tone as we go through the day. So again, where your focus goes, energy flows and what you focus on gets stronger.

So how does what you focus on get stronger? Well, you know, when you start to think about something like what a dreadful day it is, you know, you might notice in your own experience, right, that those kinds of thoughts tend to proliferate. You know, we start to have more thoughts about how dreadful not only the day is, but our life is or how dreadful of the people are. And then more negative feelings arise. And it becomes a bit of a weather system, like a cycle insiders and vice versa with gratitude. Often, if you start to focus on that, there's a sense of happiness and appreciation that kind of carries us through the day.

And whatever you constantly ponder that will become the inclination of the mind. That was something that the Buddha taught many years ago. And now modern neuroscience backs it up. So we can see now through science that we can literally create these neural pathways in the brain when we dwell on certain patterns of thinking and behavior repetitively. So knowing all of this, the practice for today, the invitation is to notice where you're putting your focus and notice how you might be training the inclination of your mind and just knowing that you can change the quality of your life by changing where you put your focus and where that mental energy flows.

You know, in a split second, you can change your focus from something unhelpful to something more nourishing and uplifting. That is a power that you have in any given moment. So that's the practice for today. Do remember that where your focus goes, energy flows and you can cultivate a more nourishing, happy and lightheaded life by changing your focus. So as always, thank you for your practice and your presence here with us.

And just inviting you now to settle in for today's meditation.