[manmal]

When I meditate, I just focus on the act of breathing, and actually try to keep my mind from wandering. This flexes the be-in-the-now (awareness) muscle such that I have improved attention afterwards. I like this because then I become so much more attentive to the many little triggers of emotions I don’t want to experience. I also might be more creative, but not sure yet.

[shabuta]

Nice! I should try to focus on my breath at least for some of my meditation. I forgot about that style. I've been meditating on my own for too long probably.

There's another thing that I do that I found supportive, but perhaps again this is deviating from meditation. I count my breaths to keep track of how many minutes for each meditation that I do and I associate each number that I count with a feeling, memory, or emotion that I want to affirm in my life. It's kind of the opposite of mind-wandering, more like planting or reminding yourself of good thoughts. For example, #9 I think about what it feels like to be grateful even for a seemingly difficult circumstance, it's never going to be quite like this again and what unique aspects of it are actually good.

thanks for sharing!

[manmal]

Great idea about the numbers and associating good memories with them, gotta try that :)