So I’m working with a client the other day and I notice that she’s having a wee bit of trouble focusing on the yoga practice that I’m teaching her. This person is new to yoga, so the postures aren’t all that familiar to her. At the beginning of class, I encouraged her to leave her prior beliefs about yoga at the door (she’s not familiar with the style of yoga that I teach, so I knew that the practice would feel new to her) and assured her that the practice would be about her rhythm in that she’d be moving to the pace of her breath. Still, the focus was missing. This person is constantly focusing on others and it made me wonder if her inability to focus during class was more like an inability to focus on herself.
Then, of course, there’s the other side of the coin — you’re with a person who has an inability to focus on anyone BUT him/herself. It’s as though the world revolves around this person and he/she doesn’t take others into account in daily life.
Where’s your focus? Is it on yourself or others? The positive or the negative? On what you don’t have or what you do have? On what you want to change or on what you’re grateful for? On the bad or on the good?
Sometimes your focus — and the shifting of it — can make all the difference.
Of course there’s a lot of things that get in the way of our focus, like for instance, our pesky thoughts, media hype, and other sorts of distractions. Somewhere along the way, you have to make a choice — to focus on something that will serve you rather than something that will bring pain. Simple but not easy.
My favorite focus RX is pranayama. I suggest keeping things simple and going with an easy, yet effective, 4-part breath. Here’s how you do it:
- Take a comfortable seated/kneeling position.
- Sit for a minute and notice your breath. Notice if your breaths are deep or shallow, fast or slow. Notice how the air is circulating through your body — is it moving freely or getting stuck in certain places. All you have to do is notice. Let go of judging what you notice and release the urge to create a story about what you’re noticing. Simply play the role of the witness and observe.
- Now — with a focus on the chest during inhale (visualize the breath here during inhale) and the belly on the exhale (tighten your lower abdomen on exhale) — inhale for a count of four.
- Hold the inhale for a count of four.
- Exhale for a count of four.
- Hold the exhale for a count of four.
- Repeat for anywhere from 5-25 minutes.
- Sit quietly after you’re done and breathe freely. Now get back in touch with what’s going on with your breath. Is what you’re noticing different than what you noticed before?
Again, I ask — where’s your focus? (just asking this question made me realize that I need to shift mine right now)
Namaste!
