'Focus on Rest' as one of the '5 Ways'

You're talking about your background in math and science your your your understanding of all the comparative religion, and your your how your background has come in the precision of language in using everything else to create these five ways that are pulling on all these this tradition. Can you give me an example of of?

These five ways described this to me, I mean, these techniques are these.

It is like 5 different techniques that you do that is correct, it's 5 different focus techniques. Each one of which represents a modern secular version of something that somebody innovated in the past within have to deal with the what you're focusing on that. You talked about earlier. That's correct is each one of these focusing on something else, Essentia Lee yes.

Oh, OK can you just give me an example of? What these certainly you focusing on here?

One of the strong influences is from early Buddhism.

And in early Buddhism.

They had practices that involved.

Attaining states of deep tranquility.

Those are sometimes referred to as absorption practices.

Other words are used. John AJJ&A and so forth and the idea. There was to create a positive feedback loop. You focus on a pleasant restful experience.

The more you focus on it, the more pleasant. It is motivating you to focus more that creates a positive feedback loop that Revs up your concentration power?

So I've I've taken and I've reworked that system into a technique that I call focus on rest. Most People when they think about the word meditation. They probably don't think about concentration power. They probably think of something that's going to cool me out and well. That's stress stress reduction. I say you know, I'm stressed or the mind spinning how it but you just saying focus on rest to me that.

That's like saying, I'm going to go to sleep. I'm you know, I mean? How do you keep People from going to sleep if you're focusing on something restful?

Very good point now remember I said that I've taken these innovations from the past and I put them on a sort of uniform footing within the framework of mindfulness now. You remember, I defined mindful awareness as a threefold attentional skill set consisting of concentration powered sensory clarity in that point image. So let's see how we can have an experience that is very blissful tranquilizing.

And would be a stress reduction cool out mellow out feel good kind of practice how we can have that as a builder of concentration clarity equanimity. Here's how we do it. I teach People how to detect create and focus on 6 distinct sensory.

Flavors of rest of course I don't teach them all at once. I teach it one at a time so you learn the gradually one is physical relaxation.

Another is to find a blank mental screen. Another one is quiet in your head OK mental quiet. But if I never have quite in, then just focus on one of the other ones. That's why I give you 6 OK sounds good. There's a high probability that it will be able to find create deepen and enjoy at least one of those, 6, so it's a numbers game. Maybe you can have quiet but you can have relaxation. Maybe you can't have emotional piece, but you're going to find the point mental screen.

So it's I like to give People a number of options. So we find number one what they relate to and #2? What they find pleasant and interesting and natural.

And works.

So I teach you how to find create certain pleasant restful states.

When your attention wanders you bring your attention back that's developing your concentration peace.

The restful states even if it's focusing on relaxation in the body that's the focus so if my mind goes somewhere. I just bring it back to the relaxation in my body and then I'm increasing my concentration absolutely because you can develop your concentration with any sensory experience any experience whatsoever. That seems like a good way to go well. That's that was the idea behind the absorption practices that you find these.

Natural pleasant experiences, so you're motivated to keep coming back, and it creates that positive feedback.

So the your attention wanders you come back to the pleasant restful experience.

Wanders again, you come back with more you focus the better you feel better feel you more you want to focus.

Certainly this is going to Rev up your concentration power.

The restful states like relaxation.

Peace emotional peace quiet.

Um or defocus in your eyes and so forth your external gaze you can defocus that produces a kind of gods felt as they say in perceptual psychology. That's uh that produces Alpha waves automatically anyway. The rest full states tend to open you.

So that they create an environment where equanimity is likely to happen. You'll be less fighting with with whatever is coming up.

So they induce.

Equanimity the other thing is I teach you.

Not just to cool out and mellow out, but to distinguish up to 6 distinct flavors of rest that sensory clarity.