5 Minute Guided Meditation for Focus
Clear a runway for work with this five-minute concentration sit. Attention rests on breathing. Plans can wait in the hallway. Every interruption is a chance to place attention again.
Before you begin
Chair, not couch. After the music ends, open one document or one tool — nothing else.
Read the transcript23 spoken passages
To begin this meditation for focus, find a seat, upright and easy.
When your body feels ready, you may softly close your eyes.
With your eyes closed, take a moment to choose one simple point.
First, simply noticing the breath as it arrives at the nostrils.
Cool air in. Warmer air out. Let that small doorway be enough.
What else do you notice around that rim of sensation?
What is it like to rest attention here, without tightening the face?
You can return without force. Coming back is the practice, not a failure.
There is nothing to win. Focus can be gentle and still be focus.
Soften the jaw. Soften the shoulders. Let the eyes rest in their sockets.
And letting the nostrils be home. Stay with that rim now here.
Continue now with this one point, as well as the rest of the body.
If attention leaves, notice the leaving, then land on the next inhale.
What do you notice at the rim of the nose?
Thoughts may keep moving. You do not have to chase them into the next task.
Keeping your eyes closed, allow your awareness to include the seat beneath you.
As if the chair is holding the body while attention stays small and clear.
There is nothing to do except return. There is nowhere else to be.
If your mind wanders, that is okay. Escort it back without a lecture.
Being connected to the nostrils, the breath, and this short stretch of attention.
You let focus be possible. Including the wandering.
Now let your attention travel back. Roll the shoulders. Wiggle the fingers.
Take this steady attention with you, as you slowly open your eyes.