Coaching practices for Focused Attention Meditation How to

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Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?

• When I do manage to focus, I do it by clamping down hard on the object, and within a couple of minutes I’m tense and worn out
• I’ve got the breath thing down
• When I try to focus on nothing my mind just floods with everything, and I have no idea what to even rest my attention on
• Every time I try to meditate my mind is so scattered I’m daydreaming within seconds and the whole sit dissolves into mental noise
• My attention feels welded to the inside of my own head

Practices that may help

1. Distinguish applying from sustaining attention
   First, aim attention at the object (applying); then, stay with it without tightening (sustaining).
   Shamatha: The Buddhist Practice of Calm Abiding
2. Choiceless awareness — resting without an object
   Sit with attention open and receptive, letting whatever arises in experience be the meditation object — without choosing, pursuing, or rejecting any of it.
   Open Monitoring Meditation, Made Practical
3. Use the breath as the primary anchor
   Rest attention gently on the sensations of breathing — not on the idea of breathing.
   Shamatha: The Buddhist Practice of Calm Abiding
4. Anapana — breath observation as the entry point
   Settle the mind by observing the natural breath at the nostrils before doing anything else.
   Vipassana Meditation, Made Practical
5. Attention training technique (ATT)
   Practice deliberately shifting attention across sounds — a drill that builds attention flexibility and reduces self-focus.
   Metacognitive Therapy, Made Practical
6. Develop introspective metacognition
   Train the ability to notice, in real time, when attention has wandered — before you’ve been distracted for a long time.
   Shamatha: The Buddhist Practice of Calm Abiding
7. Expanding to panoramic awareness
   Deliberately widen attention from its usual narrow focal point to include the full field of sensory experience simultaneously.
   Open Monitoring Meditation, Made Practical
8. The return — working with a wandering mind
   Treat mind-wandering during the body scan as the practice, not a failure — the noticing and returning is the rep.
   Body Scan Meditation, Made Practical
9. Mindful breathing
   Anchor attention on the natural breath and return to it, gently, each time the mind wanders.
   Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)
10. Sequencing focused attention and open monitoring
    Use focused attention to settle the mind first, then release the object and shift to open monitoring — this is the standard contemplative sequence.
    Open Monitoring Meditation, Made Practical

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