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Key points
- Many people report difficulty maintaining attention.
- Focus practice can change your brain-wave activity.
- A four-part focus practice may be useful.
How big of a problem is distractibility and loss of attention? Let me start with a somewhat surprising statistic about attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. According to the CDC, "The estimated number of children aged 3-17 years ever diagnosed with ADHD, according to a national survey of parents, is 6 million." This number has increased dramatically over the years. Many adults, too, report difficulty maintaining attention.
Why is this so?
Maybe we shouldn't be surprised. We live in an age of trying to manage multiple streams of information. Maybe inattention is just the cost of living with advanced technology?
That would be fine, if focusing and concentrating weren't so vital to being effective in the world, as well as keeping things together. Interestingly, we may inadvertently be changing our brains by losing focus.
Research shows that a particular type of slower EEG brainwave frequency—theta waves—is associated with ADHD and an under-aroused brain.
To counter these slower brainwaves, we can wake the brain up through increasing faster brainwaves, such as beta and gamma. One interesting research study actually examined how "focused attention, characterized by beta/gamma activity, included meditations from Tibetan Buddhist, Buddhist, and Chinese traditions."
In addition to focusing attention, there are practices for opening the heart, moment-by-moment open monitoring, and quieting the mind. The good news is that the focus practice that I'll describe below is one of the easiest to use and learn.
Four-Part Focus Practice
- Turn off (or put away) your phone and other distractions. Find a quiet place to practice. Although, you can do this portable practice at your desk at work or anywhere. By doing this, you are setting your intention to increase your focus for the next one to three minutes. If you want, set a one- or three-minute timer on your phone. Or, just practice for a brief period.
- For your practice, you are going to notice where you breathe and just place your attention on the part(s) of the body where you most vividly notice the physical sensation of your in-breath and out-breath. It's that simple. To find that physical location, take a couple of breaths. Where do you feel that breath in the body? In your nasal passage? The back of the throat? The rising and falling of your shoulder? The movement of the chest or belly? There is no right or wrong place to feel the breath, and everyone will notice it in a unique place.
- Now that you've found your unique physical spot to notice the breath, you will place your attention on those areas as you breathe in and out. Just keep noticing them with each breath.
- Sometimes you will get distracted while breathing, Maybe you'll have a thought. Or, maybe you'll hear a sound or think, something you have to do, or have a sensation in the body that draws your attention. That's OK and quite normal. When this happens, you can mentally state "mind wandering" as a way to name your distraction. Or, you could even mentally state "distraction" before continuing and gently bringing your mind back to each inhale and exhale.
Final Thoughts
Focusing on the physical sensation of breath is just one method of strengthening attention. This and other focusing methods are examined in detail in the book Simply Mindful. When you are done practicing, notice if you are able to focus a little better. Maybe you'll notice more easily those times that your mind wanders or get distracted from whatever task you're working on. Then, just remember to mentally state "mind wandering" or "distraction" as a way to bring attention back to your task. This practice is ongoing, and one that you can use anytime you lose focus. Keep practicing, and remember one thing: You do not have to be perfect with this—that's why it's called a practice.
