Learning to hone your focus

In order to live in the now, and be one with your inner being continuously and constantly, it takes focus. The more you focus, your ability to live in the now second-by-second becomes second to none.

The first thing you need to do in learning to focus is to block out the chaotic noise around you. The thoughts, thought forms, ideas, ideals and belief systems that have nothing to do with your inner being. Be aware that none of that belongs to your inner being – so ignore everything and anything that is not coming from within. Look at it this way for a moment, a thought that declares to you: “Hey gorgeous, go get that chocolate bar, you deserve it” one minute, and then mid-chocolate bar “Go easy on that chocolate bar, honey. Ya booty won’t be able to fit through the door soon” is not your inner being. Know that anything by way of a thought is not your inner being, so let it all go. If your inner being wants that chocolate bar, by heck he or she is going to make it known to you and not by way of words and insults.

It’s like a process of elimination – learning to focus on your inner being is also about letting go of that which does not belong to her or him. It’s also the way you learn to focus on your inner being no matter what is going on around you, to you and within you. Your focus soon becomes so strong and laser sharp that nothing, and not even a world war kicking off around you can take your focus away from your inner being ever.

To block out the noise, sit comfortably and focus on your breath for five minutes. After the 5 minutes is done, you should feel more at ease and settled in your inner being’s inner peace and harmony.

Find something that you enjoy doing. A simple task such as listening to music, reading a book, playing a game on your cell phone or looking at a painting. Do this from that place of inner peace. Focus on doing exactly that – listening to music, reading a book, playing a game or looking at a painting. Ignore anything that comes up including beating high scores, memories of the first time you heard that tune, places that the painting reminds you of, or events in the book that are similar to what has occurred in your life. All you want to be doing is exactly what it says “on the tin” so to speak.

Notice how “alive” the experience becomes when you are just focused on the one thing – you may notice lyrics to a song that you’ve never clocked before; instruments become more defined or sharper; the brush strokes on the painting become more vivid or the painting becomes three-dimensional even; and you become so immersed in the book, it’s like watching a movie. That “alive” sense which you experience is conscious awareness. It is what living in the now is.

In order to exist in the now requires – focus. Every second should be focused on what it is that your inner being is directing you to do, and doing it whole-heartedly without distraction. When your attention is focused, you begin to see how freeing and liberating living in the moment is – free of any baggage, alive and truly awakened. It is this place that we as spiritual beings strive to live from every second of every day, because it is in the now where you find your inner being and true self. Your inner being or true self is neither in the past nor the future.

Focusing is not difficult at all. All it requires is a shift in what we focus on – when you focus on that which your inner being requires of you, life runs smoothly moment-by-moment.

When you focus, free yourself of anything other than doing only that which your inner being has directed you to do. What I mean by that is don’t go into any beliefs or belief systems of what focusing is, what it takes to focus, how to do it or focusing on focusing as it were. Be it making a cup of coffee, brushing your teeth or texting your beloved, put your all (heart and soul) in to the task by giving it your focus 100%. Don’t dwell, don’t analyse and don’t allow your attention to veer off until you get an intuitive nudge to go do something else.

Once you have learned to hone your focus, living in the now becomes second nature just like breathing. And it truly is as simple as that.

Rosalyn Medea is a journalist, spiritual life coach, intuitive reader and all-round creative warrior