When we begin practising meditation, we learn to focus on the breath. It is important because, unless there is a focus you won’t know what you are being distracted from. That is the purpose of the breath.
Let me give you an example. I want to get up at 4 am and work every day. I would set the alarm and even wake up – but after that would either waste my time on social media or dream on the sofa. This was because I did not have a focus. A distraction is something that takes you away from the object of focus. When there was no object of focus, how can there be a distraction?
That is why we start with the breath as an object of focus. And when our thoughts or emotions distract us, we bring our attention back to the breath. We generate about 50000 to 70000 thoughts in a day. And 90% of these thoughts are repetitive.
Thoughts can be useful, like when you make plans for an event at home or draft a proposal for a project. But they can also be useless. For instance, when you worry about things in the past, ‘I should have studied more’. Or when you worry about the future, ‘Will I get promoted?’
And thoughts can also be destructive when they come in the way of taking action towards your goal. So it is important to notice your thoughts. The more you notice them, you’ll learn a few things about yourself from them.
You may also read the related post Rumination and mindfulness if you like.
Click on the audio below to do the guided meditation:
Bell The Mind 
You must be logged in to post a comment.