018 -- Concentration: The Balance of Sustaining Connection; Johnathan Woodside, 05/03/22

Mindfulness Outreach Initiative

Are you any good at concentrating your attention? Is your mind able to sustain a connection, or is it often fragmented? In this week's talk, MOI teacher Johnathan Woodside explains the practice of concentration, stating that it's not as difficult to achieve as you may think. When watching a movie or television show we often experience a concentrated mind. But when it comes to sustaining a connection with the breath during meditation, many people struggle to stay present. Johnathan states that this is often due to our conditioning and the mind's habitual tendency to complicate things. "Are you forcing yourself into some idea of what you think meditation should look like?" he asks. "That sounds like a lot of suffering!" Concentration practice is not about the mind going out and setting itself to an object. It's not about hammering the mind to something. Concentration practice is all about allowing the mind to gently receive an object, and then sustain a connection to it. Just remember to keep beginning again. Have some self-compassion. Don't give yourself a hard time. Being distracted is all part of the practice.

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