ROHAN GUNATILLAKE: Thanks for tuning in to today’s meditation about steadiness and distraction, two subjects that feel increasingly relevant in our world. If you’d like to listen to a classic Meditative Story, we invite you to enjoy the rest of our library.

Back in 2014, I wrote my first mindfulness book. I’d booked a desk in a co-working space in another part of town to my regular office and each morning would walk in, listening to a playlist named “Writing hype songs.” Pompeii by Bastile a particular favorite at the time. Once in, I’d knock out three hours of work and then head over to my day job. I did that for about five months, and I was pretty pleased with the end result. But then I would say that wouldn’t I? Re-reading it now, the book still holds up as a guide to my particular take on modern mindfulness, so yes I’m proud of it.

Thinking back to that time, there was a particular morning that stands out. I was writing the opening passages of the chapter dedicated to focus — what concentration is — and outlining techniques on how to achieve it in a range of situations, but while doing that I was just so distracted! Everytime I tried to write a sentence — write a word — before I knew it, I was on my phone checking my messages or the latest news or sports scores or whatever I could. Obviously I appreciated the irony. It was not ok to try and write this chapter with my own mind so far away from what I was trying to communicate and share. And with being authentic, one of the principles of the project, it wasn’t very. So let’s talk a bit more about concentration.

Whether your first experience of meditation is in a class, like it was for me, or via an app or a podcast, more often than not you’ll have first learnt a breath-based technique. Let’s do just that kind of technique now.

It’s a classic instruction. 

Become aware of the sensations of your breath.

Most people find they can locate the breath in the chest or in the belly.

Let your mind rest with those sensations of the breath.

Sink into those sensations.

And when you notice your mind drifting away from the breath, just bring it back.

Resting with the breath.

Coming back to the breath.

This is perhaps the most common mindfulness practice around.

And what most people experience as beginners is that they can’t keep their mind on the breath, instead it’s all over the place. 

Which then leads to people thinking that they’re not good at this meditation thing, they’re not cut out for it. Which then leads to many people not going any further with it, and that’s a real shame.

But that idea — that they’re not good at this meditation thing — that’s not really what is happening.

What you’ve just done is a concentration practice. You’ve chosen an object of concentration — the breath in this instance — and then are looking to lock your awareness into that object, bringing it back again and again.

It’s not very subtle and it’s not particularly gentle. And in my opinion, it may not work for beginners because — speaking very broadly — as a culture we’re just not very well trained in concentration. In fact quite the opposite. We are very well trained in distraction.

So give someone who is well trained in distraction a concentration technique, and it’s no surprise so many people bail.

Back in the Asian and Buddhist meditation traditions, concentration is where you typically start. Strong concentration is used as the foundation for everything that comes later. But, again speaking very broadly, the traditional Asian cultures where meditation techniques became codified were initially monastic and importantly pre-TV, let alone pre-digital, so concentration was a more accessible skill than it is today. 

So drop a meditation technique refined in the forests of Thailand and Burma into 21st century life, and no wonder it feels like threading the eye of a tiny needle while an earthquake is taking place.

Because remember, thanks to the nature of our information landscape and in particular our “friends” running social media and digital advertising platforms, we are now incredibly well trained in distraction. 

So I’ll share with you what I see as the three components that can help you on your way. Because in a world where attention is everything, having more control over where ours goes is worth it, isn’t it? 

The first thing to consider is what I call the framing of a meditation technique. The words “concentration” and “focus” can feel very tight nowadays. That is why I prefer to talk about stability and steadiness instead. Those words are more generous and relaxed. Can you sense the difference between how you relate to the ideas of concentration and focus as compared to the ideas of stability and steadiness? 

The second thing I look for in a good concentration technique — sorry, a good steadiness technique — is fun. The whole keep your frantic mind on your breath thing can be frustrating. Joy is the lubricant for success in mindfulness. When something is fun to do, we’re more likely to be able to do it and more likely to want to do it again. 

So my favorite techniques are centered on playfulness or pleasure.  For example, instead of trying to pay attention to the breath like we did at the beginning, now, first taking a couple of calming breaths.

Scan the body for where you feel the most pleasant sensations. It might be some coolness on the skin. Or some warmth in the chest. Whatever it is doesn’t matter; what does matter is that feels a little bit lovely, 

And having found that zone of sensations, let’s drop our mind into it. Letting the mind rest in the lovely, to really dwell in it. 

You probably found it easier to rest your mind in something pleasant than the maybe more neutral breath. That’s an important clue.

Pleasure and play can really catalyze a steady mind. So choosing the object of your awareness carefully makes a big difference to what your meditation is like. 

Related to that is the final component in any good technique: encouraging the attention to be relaxed and open. I’ve already spoken about how we too often think of concentration as a tight, narrow thing. But if we are pointing the mind to a tight narrow object, then it will be. So as well as settling the mind on a pleasant object, it can also help a great deal for that object to be expansive, such as our field of hearing or the sense of the body as a whole. It means that our attention is not tight or grabby but instead wide and welcoming. The difference between catching slippery fish with our hands versus catching them in a net. 

So that’s all my secrets.

I hope that helps in your ongoing adventures.

And I wish you a stable, steady, and fun week ahead. 

Go well.