Focus & Meditation
Jacob Felder, RYT

As a meditation teacher, I am often asked about the purpose of a focus. Speaking in terms of meditation, a focus keeps your mind fixed on something simple and non-thought provoking. It is used for keeping the mind away from a busy thinking mode, which soothes and relaxes the mind as well as the body. It is important to note that a focus can be used for short spot meditations lasting only a few minutes, or for light meditations lasting approximately five to fifteen minutes. A focus can also be used as a prelude to longer deep meditations where the focus often drifts into the background and the meditation itself becomes the object of your focus.

Furthermore, all focuses run the course of see, hear, feel – observing the stream of consciousness and the breath. Along with taste and smell, these are the means by which we experience and interpret both the world around us and the world within us. These are the vehicles that can comfort us into the relaxation response or stimulate us into the fight, flight, or freeze responses. It is remarkable that we humans can actually choose which response we wish to promote.  

Your focus could be verbal, repeating a word or a short phrase such as a mantra or prayer. Your focus could be visual, gazing at an object. It could be a still object like a flower, or mandala, or a moving object such as watching fish swim from one side of a fish tank to the other. A focus can also be auditory, such as listening to ambient or white noise, nature sounds, or music (usually without lyrics so you do not get caught up in the meaning of the words.) The most common focus is the use of the breath. You can either focus on the movement of the breath, count the breath repeatedly up to 10 or 20, or use it in conjunction with another focus, such as with a mantra or prayer. Your focus could be just about anything you can readily fix your attention on and bring your attention back to if the mind begins to wander. Just be sure that what you are focusing on does not promote thought or arousal of any kind. Of course, there is much more to meditation than this. Therefore, I want to re-emphasize that this is only an explanation of the aspect of “FOCUS” in regard to meditation.  Beginning with a clear understanding and use of focus will improve your meditation experience.

Jacob Felder, RYT is a meditation trainer in the Triad. He personally developed and teaches “The Awareness Approach.” 2010 Classes are available in Winston-Salem on Mondays, 7:45-9pm, beginning Feb 15 at The Yoga Gallery; in Greensboro on Wednesdays, 7:15-8:30pm, beginning Feb 17 at Mind/Body/Fitness Yoga; and in Asheboro on Tuesdays, 7:30-8:45pm, beginning Feb 16 at Santosha Yoga. For more information call 336-407-8602 or e-mail: yogajacob@hotmail.com.