A few questions on attention during meditation

[Eonwe5]

Greetings guys, 

I have started to turn my daily walk to the train station and back into a mindfulness exercise. I'm not sure whether to call it meditating, it's 15 minutes of me trying to be mindful while walking through my small town.

Now the thing I'm not quite sure about, is where to rest my attention upon, and whether or not to switch it back and forth.

 

As far as I understand, there are 5 options available:

1) I keep my attention on the sensation I feel most intensely at this moment (for example, a pain in my back, a loud noise, I'm getting really cold...)

2) I focus on one sensation only, for example my feet touching the ground every step, and nothing else. I try to ALWAYS be mindful of my steps.

3) I focus on one sensation only like in 2), but when a sensation arises that is much more intense, I switch to that instead temporarily. Once it's not so intense anymore I switch back to my "root sensation", my steps.

4) I try to be mindful of every sensation at once, and don't focus on a single one of them.

5) It doesn't really matter, I can pay close attention to any feeling I like. 

 

Am I missing something or are these the choices I have? If so, Is one overall better than the other? Do different options have different advantages? Or Is it just a matter of personal preference, and every option is right?

 

I would love to get some insights to this, it's something I always wonder about, also when doing seated meditation.

 

Have a wonderful day guys. <3

Jonas

 

Edited June 7, 2019 by Eonwe5

[Preetom]

@Eonwe5

Every single element you listed has its pros and cons.

They all develop various facets and modes of attention like being alert to small details, honing attention on one thing for extended periods, hooking and unhooking attention quickly from a thing to another. In other words they build the 2 functions of attention more or less which is the ability to turn attention from place to place and the ability to hold attention at one place.

So if you are into playing with this attention game, i'd recommend you try out each setting individually for 1 week. Then move on to the next element in the list. But stick to only one thing for that week. After 5 weeks, you can extend the period to 2 weeks for each element..so on and so forth..for the rest of your life as long as you walk.

But if you are interested in enlightenment, there is another mode of attention. Which is consistently trying shift attention towards that one who pays attention.

All the best. Enjoy your upcoming good life and flowstates from the practices you've listed

 

Edited June 7, 2019 by Preetom

[Eonwe5]

Thanks a lot for your great response!  Explains about everything I wanted to know.

I will start doing those weekly cycles you wrote about, let's see where this will lead me 

All the best!

Edited June 7, 2019 by Eonwe5

[Bill W]

Great topic. I'm pretty sure mindfulness meditation has virtually put an end to my insomnia. That and deep and slow breathing at night. 

My preference is to focus on one sound and for that focus to be as uninterupted as possible. Usually I will focus on the sound of the traffic. Some times a ticking clock. Sometimes the clunking of weights at the gym. 

I have found that focusing on a specific sound keeps me grounded in the present moment. 

[Eonwe5]

The details of this are still a little unclear to me... ^^

A lot of meditation guides I have read talk about "always bringing the attention back to the breath". In the next sentence they tell me to feel the weight of my body on the cushion, or to explore the sensation of sitting on my chair.

I don't really know how to interpret these instructions, does that mean that, when I feel like it, I shift my attention from my breath to the sensation of sitting, and when I've "had enough", I go back to the breath? 

[Preetom]

17 minutes ago, Eonwe5 said:

The details of this are still a little unclear to me... ^^

A lot of meditation guides I have read talk about "always bringing the attention back to the breath". In the next sentence they tell me to feel the weight of my body on the cushion, or to explore the sensation of sitting on my chair.

I don't really know how to interpret these instructions, does that mean that, when I feel like it, I shift my attention from my breath to the sensation of sitting, and when I've "had enough", I go back to the breath? 

As I said, these 2 seemingly 'contradictory' instructions develop different facets of attention.

When you specifically try to focus on the breath and bring it back to the breath over and over again no matter how many things distract you; in that case you training your attention to turn over and over again towards a particular object and trying to hold attention on that particular object. That's a very important facet of attention to develop. It develops concentration and quietude of mind. 

Then there comes a 2nd category of meditation where you are not forcing your attention on any particular object but letting your attention flow loosely to any experience that rises in your awareness WITHOUT being completely lost in any particular object. If attention stays, it stays. If it moves to the next thing, you let it move to the next thing. This meditation develops another important facet of attention which is quickly hooking and unhooking your attention from objects. This develops non-attachment and an undercurrent of equanimity by making your attention ''non-sticky''.

That's why I suggested that you try both of these types of attention(fixed attention and flowing attention) separately.

And then there is another realm of attention where you don't pay attention to anything in particular but try to turn attention towards the one who pays attention. It results in self realization or discovery of your existential true self behind the insentient, non-existent ego.

Edited June 8, 2019 by Preetom

[Eonwe5]

Thank you again.  It starts making sense for me now