Focus: It’s Not Just for Athletes Anymore
By: Joan Kent
Tags: Zen, Focus, Mind Body, Transcendence, No Preference

Photo by Chase Clark on Unsplash

Focus: It’s Not Just for Athletes Anymore

I spent most of my life as an athlete, so I’ve had quite a few coaches. One in particular was outstanding. He’s the one who taught me about endurance training and focus.

Focus turns ordinary workouts into mind/body training.

When some — maybe most — people exercise, their focus is on anything but the workout. It’s on work, calls they need to make, plans for the weekend, what to make for dinner.

That type of focus is “dissociated.” It takes no practice because it’s our default whenever we’re not disciplined.

Dissociated focus, my coach always taught, has no place in training. It’s NOT the way to push harder by taking your mind off a tough workout.

Instead, Coach Jim taught us to focus on exactly what we were doing. That’s “associated” focus. He wanted us to be aware of everything that was happening — with muscles, heart rate, breathing, and more — but not to think about it, to feel everything and then transcend it.

Dying Is Easy. Transcendence Is Hard.

As great as transcendence sounds, it didn’t always work for me. I’d strive to get into that transcendent state, and strive to stay there. The striving was antithetical to the state.

Striving for transcendence also linked “good” or “bad” with whichever state I was in at any moment. If I felt discomfort, was I doing it wrong?

My solution came from a non-athletic workshop with Zen master Genpo Roshi.

By modifying Roshi’s technique, I discovered how to keep my focus associated during hard athletic efforts.

The Zen of ‘No Attachments, No Aversions’

Visualize a triangle superimposed on your body.

FEEL all of the discomfort or pain in the lower left corner of the triangle. Let yourself react: “This sucks. If it hurts now, it’ll be worse in 5 minutes. Why did I come to class today?” And so on.

OPEN up the lower right corner of the triangle to transcendence. Transcend the discomfort and rise above any physical limitations.

COMBINE those two points. Bring them together at the apex of the triangle, directly over your head.

UNSTICK your preferences. Clear your mind of thought, and train with absolutely no preference.

SAVOR whatever the moment offers. With no preference, there’s no striving to reach the transcendent state. No striving to stay there because it’s better. Whatever happens is okay.

Is It Okay to Prefer ‘No Preference’?

One moment you might transcend the discomfort. Experience it with no attachment for as long as it happens.

The next moment, you might feel pain and react to it. Have no resistance to either the pain or your reaction. Experience it with no aversion and let it pass through. Whatever happens is okay.

No Preference is the ultimate mind/body state. More accurately, it’s a no-mind/body state.

Appreciate it all; let it happen and pass through.

Using this technique, I stay connected, associated with what’s happening. Because any state is okay, I don’t strive, fight the moment, or resist what is. I’m never doing it wrong.

This method is in the moment and fully conscious. There’s no fear of difficulty or pain, because it truly doesn’t matter.

I encourage you to try this and see if it can enhance your workouts — or much more!

Bonus Tip for Better Focus

What we eat can either help us focus or make it more difficult. Really. I use ordinary foods to change brain chemistry and see impressive focus changes in many clients with different health issues — mental, emotional, physical. For more information, just visit www.LastResortNutrition.com and grab your free Empowered Eating Consult.

Brought to you by Dr. Joan Kent, best-selling author of Stronger Than Sugar.