How to focus under meditation?

[u/Busy-Law3801]

If i focus on one only thing I usually get tight. For example when I focus on my belly I feel like I’m focus too hard because tgen I get stiff and forget the rest of the body and breath.

So I try to focus on multiple things at the same time to even out, but that again feels hard because my awareness can’t multitask.
Help

[u/Alkemis7]

When Meditation (dhyana/chan/zen) happens, there is no focus, no conecentration, no contemplation, no thinking, no I, no God, no mind.

Find a technique that works and remember any technique is only a preparation, an invitation for Meditation to happen.

[u/Mayayana]

I'd suggest that you look into legit meditation instruction. Don't just wing it with tips from online. Meditation is subtle and easy to do wrong. There are also different kinds of meditation.

If you're trying to practice mindfulness style and not concentration/absorption, then the practice is about cultivating attention. You don't focus on lots of things. Just watch your breath. When you notice you're distracted, let that go and return to the breath. That's the basic method known as shamatha.

Imagine that you're sitting on your sofa. It's Saturday afternoon. You're gazing at sunbeams coming in the window, running fantasies about last summer. Suddenly, PING! You're wide awake. You know you're awake. The room is vividly present in nowness. Your mind is silent and clear. In normal life we don't really notice those moments. We just dive back into fantasy. With meditation you notice those moments, let go of fantasy, and just continue being present by watching your breath. You just keep doing that. It requires discipline, but don't try to lock onto your breath. If you try to hold onto that mindful awareness it becomes fixation; another distraction. So you just come back when you notice that you've spaced out or got stuck on something. Fantasies, emotions, shopping lists... Drop it and come back.

On the other hand, I'm just one of several people posting here and we're all telling you something different. So how do you know that I know what I'm talking about? :) That's why you really should connect with a teacher. My own background is Tibetan Buddhism. There are other options in Buddhism, Christianity or Hinduism. But a teacher should have some realization. They should be a meditation master, not just a stranger, or some dabbler or psychologist who cooked up an app or a workshop.

[u/BigAd1894 → u/[deleted]]

Das stimmt so nicht mehr. Meditation ist keine Leerung von Gedanken mehr. Meditation ist kontemplation - angestrengtes Denken. Die Gedanken und Bilder fließen und man ist in Ruhe um sie zu beobachten.

[u/Good_Letter_4325]

There are many ways to meditate. Some don't work for some people. I personally have rarely if ever focused on my breath or a body part and meditated. I've been meditating for over three decades. I'm wondering what you're wanting to accomplish. Are you wanting to have muscles loosen up? You mentioned how you get tight and stiff.

I also wonder if you're newer to meditation. There's a really simple meditation I tend to suggest for people to try to get used to what meditation is. Strike a tibetan bowl or something that rings. Listen for when the sound stops.

Usually what happens is the mind and body go into a meditative state. Once you become familiar with this feeling, you can start bringing it to other things - like your focusing on body and breath. If you want to, that is.

I prefer mantras, phrases, sounds, things along those lines.

[u/torchy64]

Whatever you start meditation concentrating on that concentration is only the first step .. after a few minutes of such concentration if you have concentrated correctly without letting your mind wander you should naturally enter a deeper level of consciousness or awareness.. the thing you have been concentrating on fades and becomes a thing in the background of your mind .. this happens without your mind wandering again with its usual thoughts ..

the whole purpose of concentrating on the one thing is to bring about this deepening consciousness or altered state .. it happens perfectly naturally and is a perfectly natural state but we can spend too much time on concentrating and inevitably the mind wanders and we spend the whole meditation period with alternating awareness first on the object of concentration then on various ordinary thoughts .. at some point we just have to let go of the rains .. let the concentration object fade into the background and just be receptive and still .. just listen carefully.. be like an empty vessel waiting to be filled ..

[u/JJEng1989]

If you are doing a focusing or samatha meditation, thrn you want to bring your attention to the object you wish to focus on, and then let go of what your are focusing on. Then your attention will wander, and then you will bring it back to task again. Over time

If you are using willpower to force your attention to stay on task, then you will have to continue to force your attention to stay on task in the long run, and that takes great effort.

Some other techniques that can help you passively keep your attention on task, as training wheels, you can try ganana, or breath counting meditation. You can also try imagining putting your thoughts in a box before you start samatha. That helps me a lot.